Wildcat Whisperer

State of the Big Blue Union

2012-01-24T16:31:00.008-06:00

(Pictured at right: Reagan, 1983. Gone, but not forgotten.)

I don't know where all the time has gone this season, but after tonight's win over Georgia, UK has merely ten regular season SEC contests remaining. So if you'll allow me to play POTUS for just a second, we can take a look at a few hot-button Wildcat issues, bi-partisan style. Are you ready for a joint session?

Stay strong, Terrence. We're starting with Mr. Jones, and while I've been underwhelmed with numero tres, let me state for the record that I'm not about to give up on this guy. You could make a pretty good argument that he's cost himself some serious NBA cash with the mother of all sophomore slumps. He has not played like I personally had hoped this year, and he's taken plenty of heat for his overall performance. But dadgum it, I'm convinced that finger is still not fully 100% (although it will be soon).....and I'm also convinced that TJ has done the right thing by taking a less prominent role offensively to keep the freshmen more involved. In other words, I think Teague, Davis, and MKG are getting several shots per game that probably should be going Jones' way. How many shots? I don't know exactly, and it obviously depends on matchups. But spreading the ball around and keeping the whole rotation happy is what good teammates have to do. And to his credit, Terrence hasn't gotten stupid with shooting 3-pointers, which was a big concern of mine early this year. The cherry on top is that he has also cut back on some of the unnecessary flexing and mugging for the cameras....hopefully part of the growth process. So I say hang in there Mr. Jones. I've got a feeling things will turn for you as we get into February.
Where's the deeper depthiness? Still something I worry about: whether UK has enough quality coming off the pine. Kyle Wiltjer provides some outside accuracy and occasionally crafty passing. Personally, I love Doron Lamb off the bench for the "instant offense" vibe, but he's basically Cal's momentary sixth starter anyway. (I also like him more at point guard, but that's a different blog post.) So outside of a few minutes of Vargas every game, what else is there? *crickets chirping* Can Kentucky go all the way this season without that eighth, or occasionally necessary ninth guy when someone gets in foul trouble, or heavens forbid, goes down with an injury? The general consensus is that Wiltjer is a big defensive liability. Will the next 12 games prepare him for crucial post-season minutes? Can Vargas come up with a big rebound or putback when called upon? I still wonder. Maybe Beckham will bring something to the table in the backcourt, or at least provide some extra fouls and extra hustle. Gotta keep an eye on it.
Point play - basically the polishing of Marquis Teague and how Cal manages to prod, cajole, encourage, and just outright TEACH Marquis will play such a huge role in this team's ultimate success. True confession: I kinda like his jumper. I think it's a very sound, textbook style of motion, usually taken with a classic "squared up" look, and feet set properly, just like I'm instructing my 9-year old. Pretty solid. Now the question is: can Marquis determine the best times to take it, increase his overall percentage, and nail a clutch one under pressure on the road or during tournament time? I'm guessing so. And I believe the assist/TO ratio by season's end will also look pretty good. By the way, has anybody ever reminded you that he's no John Wall? Just checking. Also, memo to Marquis: make your free throws. Otherwise, people get hurt. People like me. I mean it. I get hurt when you miss those Marquis. It pains me, sir. Right here in my pain area. Please make them. Sugar on top.
Push it. And finally, I still maintain that Kentucky plays better faster. Tonight, the Cats were held under 60, and yet it felt like they blew Georgia out of their own gym. But generally speaking, I'm a fan of high pressure, faster pace, get up and down basketball, especially when you've got the talent. And there's no arguing, UK's got the talent. These guys have been lauded with more accolades than Meryl Streep's got Oscar nominations. (Yay! Margaret Thatcher wig!) Therefore I'm wistfully wishin' that the Cats will start pushing it towards the more dangerous RPM levels as the final third of the season rolls in. Start putting eye jammies on people. Extend that D out just a smidge and push it on the fast break, the secondary break, and the tertiary break. (Okay, I don't know what comes after tertiary.)

Thank you for your support, and God bless America. This post was type-written without the aid of a teleprompter.

UK Wins at Auburn; No Trees Killed

2012-01-11T22:44:00.004-06:00

OH MY GOSH.... did you know that until tonight, Kentucky has only played one other game on an opponent's home court this season? Oh, you did. Cool. But did you realize they lost that one? At Indiana? Knew that too? Oh yeah....well, that was the last time I posted about a UK game on this here blog thing. Surprised you're still checking back.

Scoreboard says Kentucky dropped the Tigers tonight, 68-53.

I'ma start with this: I really think the Cats should be pressing more. We have a lineup full of McDonald's All-Americans, future first-rounders, Mr. Basketballs, etc....and yet we allow a team like Auburn to to slow us down into a half-court game and play their pace..... because...why? Just doesn't make sense to me. It wouldn't have to be 40 minutes of hell type of pressure, or trapping every inbounds, but every now and then after made baskets or free throws, I'd like to see UK give some opponents a tougher time bringing the ball up the court. Seems that might pay some dividends late in games, or I don't know, cause a turnover fest that breaks one wide open. Kentucky should not be scoring less than 70, even on the road.

See, I haven't been out too long....I remember the UK fan's favorite pastime: complaining after wins!

Secondly, I can't say enough about how hard MKG plays, every time he hits the floor, no matter the opponent or the circumstances. I praise him despite the fact that he had a pretty awful game against the Barbees. Scoring-wise, he was obviously well off his normal pace, and yes I realize that he had 4 turnovers to match his 2-10 shooting. But I tell you what, the Kidd's a scrapper. And he came up with a couple of hustle plays tonight that were just uber-inspirational...like a Jay-Z song dedicated to his newborn daughter. Mr. Kidd-Gilchrist just flies to the loose ball with a linebacker's mentality, and with all the athletic ability in the world, the guy only has one speed: Ffast. I'll let you figure out what the additional f stands for.

When he gets beat off the dribble --which isn't often, but it happens--he doesn't quit on a play. Witness the blocked shot on a reverse layup attempt by [insert random Auburn chump here]. Reverse layups just aren't supposed to be blocked by trailers, you know, what with the rim being in the way and all. Plus, Mike's always first on the hardwood to tie up an opponent for a jump ball. Nice trait, that. Very useful. Dude just plays hard. He's not perfect or anything....he will take a bad shot and throw a ball away and look like a freshman like they all do. But I can forgive a lot when it comes to MKG.

Also, Fred and I had a chuckle about this at the Hound, but can we agree that Joe Dean Jr. should get a little more airtime? The picture never seems as sharp on the SEC Network, but I just love that voice. It takes me back. Stirs up memories. Or as George Bush might say: it gets me all nostalgified. Joe Jr. broke out the "string music" when Darius made that three at the 1st half buzzer, and I'll be darned if part of me didn't want to just giggle uncontrollably while some other part of me had to stifle a sob. Let's just say I'd rather hear Joe than quite a few other s0-called analysts *cough* Bobby Knight *cough*.

Looking ahead of course Kentucky has another roadie for this weekend (at Tennessee), and I will be watching for some continued growth from Marquis Teague and also improving health and play from Terrence Jones. Mr. Teague, I thought, played "well enough" at the new Auburn gym....3 turnovers in 35 minutes...but he's got to continue to attack smarter and finish better. I maintain that the youngster simply takes far too many field goal attempts for a point guard, but as the man from Ashland points out, the real concern is that he seems to miss a ton of 4-footers and layups. As for Mr. Jones, well, the farther he gets away from that grotesque digit misplacement, the better. Time heals. The mega-sophomore slump is about to fade for TJ as that finger returns to normal, methinks.

Lastly, I just want to give a congratulatory shout out to John Wall, placing 2nd on SportsCenter's top plays tonight, for his nasty left-handed high-flyer over a statuesque defender somewhere out in NBA-land. You should be able to find the video online Thursday morning.

Cats Fall Asleep In Final Minute

2011-12-11T08:14:00.004-06:00

For starters, I just gotta say it again this week: what a fabulous game. Just speaking as a sports fan in general, UK's loss to Indiana was by turns entertaining, thrilling, intense, pulse-pounding....basically everything you could ever hope for out of college basketball (and we say it again: IN DECEMBER!) The NBA should be grateful that they worked out their whole labor situation, 'cause the college game was going to absolutely steal some of their fans this season, and more than partially fill the void that the pros would have left. I'm convinced of it.

Now, coming at it from my usual Kentucky fan perspective: that ____ed. Especially that last part. You know, the one where UK missed free throws and let the Hoosiers get up the game-winner? Awful. I actually dreamed about that game several times last night (no joke) and my blue-demented, R.E.M.-driven cranium kept contriving these alternate scenarios where the Cats came away victorious, leaving the rabid Assembly Hall crowd in silence.

I suppose it's no wonder, since under most situations that's exactly what would have happened. Excuse me, "should" have happened. UK probably wins a best-of-seven against Indiana without breaking much of a sweat. Heck, they probably win most "best of ones" against Crean and company on any neutral floor, on any particular day, much less a home game at Rupp Arena.

But we all know that's not what college hoops is about. It's about one game, one moment, and yesterday it belonged to the folks in Bloomington. So before I continue my.....session, let me pause and give them their props: Well played, sirs. Nice shot, big guy. Nice dunk, other dude. Nice coaching, guy with the glasses. You beat number one. Pretty fair and square, I'd say.

You shoot lights out from three, you're always going to have a chance. And I think even the Hoosiers would admit, they nailed more than their share. Whichever Zeller that was, he did a pretty good job of neutralizing Davis. Terrence Jones: don't even get me started. What the foxtrot? I mean, did he even step off the bus? Jeez.

But to me the story of this one is absolutely about the end-game. It's about putting things on ice and walking away clean. Number one: Make your free throws.

MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS.

It's not easy, I know. Never will be. Not everybody can step up like Brent Turner at the Martin Luther tournament and act like it's really a two-footer in his backyard. But still. It is only fifteen feet, wide open/take your time/CONCENTRATE! ..... and it is a shot everybody practices, every single practice, and you know what? You've gotta want to shoot it.

The better free throwers absolutely prefer to get fouled late in games. And I believe Doron Lamb is in that category. But yesterday, he gacked one. It happens. I bet he feels like garbage today because of it. Anthony Davis on the other hand, whew...I don't think he wanted any part of that free throw stuff. That's what I saw.

It's so mental. It really is. Muscle memory helps. No doubt. Having a routine. All that stuff is true. But I think everybody in BBN expected Doron to make his. And unfortunately, I wouldn't say the same for AD. And what's more, I'm not even going to make a unibrow joke right here. I know you're disappointed. I guess that's how it is with freshman, one week you're the hero, the next week....

So let's just say Mr. Davis needs a few more reps from the stripe. Like about a billion. Whatever it takes to get him into a groove and a mental state of mind where he feels like the ball is going to swish through any rim, in any gym, whenever he really needs one. It's absolutely do-able. Confidence, man. Stroke it like you mean it, and stand there and pose on your follow through like you had it all the way.

Otherwise, Kentucky could have itself a real liability in the late/close ones for the rest of the season.

Man, this game was so winnable.

And secondly, on that SportsCenter Top 10 shot, let's listen to the coach, okay? Do what the guy in the huddle tells you to do. Don't lose that game like that with two fouls left to give. Dang it! That was just so.... just so....preventable. I imagine the "young team" excuse is fully applicable here, but I'd still rather not hear it. Pretty simple strategy: don't give up a 3. Under any circumstances.

Just foul early. Make it obvious. Not a shooter of course, preferably the guy catching the inbounds or bringing it up in the backcourt. Make them burn some clock. Easy-peasy. But repeat: do not give up a 3. I guarantee that's the last thing Cal said.

But the Wildcats did. Fell asleep on that one. And their guy made a nice shot.

Will the last student that leaves the gym please pick up the giant Dick Vitale head on a stick and drop it in the dumpster please? K thx bye.

The Brow Saves The Day

2011-12-03T20:07:00.003-06:00

Some guys are fast jumpers, and Anthony Davis is one of them.

Normal people, even a good percentage of athletes, take a bit of time to elevate. A slight knee bend, a quick gathering of oneself prior to leaping-- that is quite ordinary.

But fortunately for Kentucky, AD has got a good case of the bunny hops. The quick-twitch kind.

His wingspan and height don't hurt either, but sliding over to defend the light-blue clad John Henson, with UK clinging to one-point lead, Mr. Davis simply had to get up. On the double. Show us your best vertical, young man. And fast.

Thank goodness he got a piece of Henson's jumper, because the way UNC was raining it down at Rupp this afternoon, I kind of feel like the guy would have made it.

But you can't make it if you can't get it off. And Anthony Davis made sure that he got just enough of a piece of Henson's shot to save the game.

And what a game it was!

I mean: WHAT A GAME. Ya hear?!

Such a great ball game so early in the season! College football is playing conference title games today, and yet many have commented that it felt like March in Lexington, and I agree with both lungs. (Couldn't keep my mouth shut during this one. Just had to yell at the big screen a lil' bit).

So the Wildcats got the better of 'em at the end, and one could certainly argue that home court was the difference. (Although the way the Heels were bombing, they must have felt pretty comfortable with the rims). I do trust that everyone that got to see this instant classic™ live and in person would be sincerely grateful for the opportunity....I certainly feel that the on-site BBN did give Kentucky a very loud advantage.

And speaking of advantages, how great is it to have six starters? I know it sounds hokey when Cal says that stuff, but Miller played such a steady game today. (Now stay with us, Darius. Stay with us, buddy! Consistently!) His pump fakes in the lane are getting awfully crafty, and he's strong enough to finish against much bigger personnel. I really like that part of his game right now. The head fakes, drawing contact. Excellent.

Kidd-Gilchrist, for his part, made some absolute top shelf moves out there on the perimeter. "Quick as a hiccup", says Brother JC. Seems like it's all about angles for Michael. When he gets that little crack in the defense, or can get his guy wrong-footed, it's over. He's at the basket scoring again. All he needs is a sliver of space.

I mean, call them 5 and 5A. Or let Teague sit a little more. Whatever. They really are all starters.

But today, Mr. Davis was the finisher with that block.

An Exclusive Interview With Chris Mullin's Bangs

2011-12-01T22:16:00.007-06:00

Regular readers, you know the drill...

Wildcat Whisperer: Thanks for sitting down with us.
Chris Mullin's Bangs: My pleasure, Whis! It's been a long time since I've gotten any exposure.

WW: Well, that's a shame, because we figure you've got lots of great stories to tell.
CMB: Oh, I do. I most certainly do. Back in my day, you remember Chris had St. John's way up in the polls. We were an absolute contender, I tell ya....Dickie V couldn't get enough.... I'm talking around '84-85 here. We used to have some bona fide battles with Georgetown, BC, Syracuse. The Big East was awesome! You know, before they let teams like Louisville in.

WW: Zing! Nice one, bangs.... But tell us a little more about Chris. Some people still think he was overrated. A very poor man's Larry Bird. Is that fair?
CMB: Totally unfair, I must say. Chris was a great player. Dead-eye doesn't even begin to describe his shooting. All kinds of range and better off the dribble than most folks remember. Excellent passer... and Chris had a great NBA career, he was not just a college All-American. Made tons of money in the league.

WW: And he was a Dream Teamer, right?
CMB: That's right. Dream Team, baby. The most hellified assemblage of basketball talent ever. Michael was there, of course, along with his sidekick Scottie. Larry. Charles.... the best of the best. And Chris was a part of it. Barcelona, '92.

WW: But you missed out, I guess.
CMB: Yeah, that's the unfortunate part. Chris had gone flat-top by then, and he's never looked back.

WW: Such a shame.

CMB: Well, it happens, you know. I've got no regrets. Most people don't keep their college haircut throughout their entire adult life, I suppose. Times change.

WW: Yet some things remain the same....I'm sure you saw Kentucky is on top again, and defeated the Johnnies, er, Redmen last night.

CMB: That's "Red Storm" to you, pal.

WW: Oh. Sor...

CMB: ...no it's okay, I'm just messing with you! I don't go in for all that political correctness myself anyway. And yeah, I saw the game. Of course.

WW: And what did you think?

CMB: Well, first let me send a shout-out to Coach Lavin and wish him a full and speedy recovery, just like the ESPN crew and the UK student section. Nice gesture on their part. And I think that from what I saw, Big Blue has a helluva squad this year.

WW: Any particular standouts?
CMB: Davis, of course. If Cal had played him the full 40, he would have gotten that triple-double, I'm sure of it. And while we're talking about Davis, that kid could use some bangs himself. You know, to cover up the uni-brow.

WW: Well, I don't think Mr. Davis has the type of hair that grows....
CMB: Careful now! Political correctness, remember! (chuckles)

WW: (Also chuckling)...okay, okay....so what did you think of Miller's dunk off the lob?
CMB: Yowza! That was a humdinger! You take a bad pass and turn it into a highlight?! Very nice. I can tell you, Chris never threw one down like that. Ever. Not on his best day.

WW: Anybody remind you of Mr. Mullin out there?
CMB: Not really. Lamb can shoot it from distance like Chris did, but everybody forgets that Chris was a lefty. Made him that much tougher to handle at times. Crafty, that guy was.

WW: Any other Kentucky observations?
CMB: Not really. Pretty thorough domination, with still plenty of room to improve for your team. Nice win. But if you happen to run into Travis Ford's bangs sometime, please tell 'em I said hello.

WW: You got it. Thanks again for your time.
CMB: And good luck against UNC!

Up Where We Belong

2011-11-29T09:50:00.004-06:00

So the Cats have jumped to #1 (with a bullet!?) in the latest polls.

This comes on the heels of a loss.... by the Heels.... to UNLV.

I'm in the camp that says UK definitely has top-rated talent on its roster this season. And we may in fact be the best team in the country, sitting here in late November. It's arguable since Kentucky is young.

As far as where we truly should rank at this early stage, yeah, somewhere in the top 5 seems about right, with the other usual suspects in the mix. I'd rather not get too carried away about it, and of course the team needs to work on its weaknesses and obviously gain some more experience.

Despite the loss, UNC should be up there, Ohio State for sure, and Syracuse yes.....Duke looks decent.

But historically the Cats belong towards the top, and as the program moves forward, we should always be in that region of the polls. Kentucky needs to be situated in that lofty basketball perch just like the sky itself needs to be BLUE.

So cue up that Joe Cocker duet, "Mayo-nnaise". And get out the big foam finger. UK probably won't be spotless this year, but the nation recognizes that this team does have a legit shot at a title, and they have deemed us "top of the pops" before the calendar has hit December.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

2011-11-27T13:08:00.003-06:00

Wow. You go away for a little vacation and holiday time and stuff really starts shaking on the Kentucky athletics front. I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day. I know I enjoyed being with Brother JC, Miss, and the Jettster.... and I certainly ate way too much great food up in Olathe.

Just a few thoughts, since I did catch UK's win over Portland last night, courtesy of "the tres"...

Anthony Davis double-doubles should become rather commonplace this season. He's bound to get 10 points on putbacks and breakways without having a single play called for him in the DDMO, but Cal seems to run at least one designed backdoor lob for him per half. Result = dunk, 80% of the time. One can only hope that he puts on the "freshman 15" (lbs.) throughout this winter... in the form of muscles. While that's not very likely since these college basketballers get more cardio than Kelly Ripa training for a marathon. But if Mr. Davis continues to strengthen his slender frame, while continuing to develop that little drop-step and spin move on the block, he's going to be a handful for anybody, Tyler Zeller included. (Yeah, I'm looking forward a little bit).
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has a nasty side to him, and I mean that as a compliment. I'd like to come up with a better word to describe that dunk that he threw down in the second half, but I think I will just settle for..."vicious".
How in the world Marquis Teague missed those bunnies, we'll never know. I would agree that the first one had quite a lofty degree of difficulty, but once you go through all those gyrations to get to the rim, you'd think that the lay-up would be the easy part. But hey, 8 assists and 0 turnovers is okay with me anytime.
Darius Miller coming off the bench is still strange. That may not be set in stone, and I'm sure it seems more bizarre to Mr. Miller than it does to anybody, but as long as the minutes are there and the wins keep coming, then it must be all good. He's going to wind up with a ton of points in his Kentucky career and it just seems more fitting that he would be a senior starter, but team success is the ultimate goal and I'm sure that's all Darius wants.
It pains me to say it, but I don't think Kyle Macy is much of a color commentator. Great Big Blue player, probably my all-time favorite, in fact. All-around UK legend and nice guy by all accounts. But on these UK IMG television broadcasts, he just doesn't bring enough... well.... color. His voice is okay, and I think he has a sense of humor-- somewhere, buried beneath all of the coach-speak and cliches. But for whatever reason, it seems that he and Buzz Baker don't really click. There's no chemistry, to my ears, and Mace just comes across as far too vanilla. I'm not asking him to invent some ridiculous catchphrase or turn in to a weak Dick Vitale imitator, but I would like to hear a little more passion coming through the speakers. A little more insight. Something. (Still love the guy). Maybe it was those years coaching Morehead...
Getting out-rebounded at any point in the game by a crew like Portland is not a good indicator. UK's next two opponents (St. John's / UNC) will make that hurt for certain. Cats will have to focus on crashing the boards with a renewed frenzy against the more talented competition, and I'd like to see the guards pick up a few more rebounds rather than releasing too early for breaks.

Win Over Kansas Shows Importance of Teague

2011-11-16T08:28:00.002-06:00

It's no lightning bolt of revelation, but UK's 10-point victory over the Jayhawks last night demonstrates just how vital the play of Marquis Teague will be to Kentucky's chances this season.

Whenever the freshman point is under control and distributing the ball properly, the Cats look like world beaters. Conversely, when Mr. Teague is dribbling into traps, forcing the run of play, or even worse--firing up his own bad shots, Kentucky looks mortal. It really is that simple, and it was all on display last night.

Perhaps it was the Garden environment, the gaggle of basketball celebrities that were present, or the Coach K love-fest going on (excuse me while I barf)-- but young Teague was not on top of his game in the opening 20. Putting it kindly, right? And so Kentucky found itself in a tie game at the break, with Kansas looking eminently beatable.

Marquis was a walking turnover and looked seriously out of sorts. I don't want to say it was strictly the spotlight, but that had to be a factor. And granted, Kansas is probably overrated, but they aren't exactly Morehouse. It was a step up into the real world of D-1 hoops last night for the entire freshman class.

So credit Cal for settling things in the locker room, in whatever manner you prefer to describe such halftime chats, and bringing UK's floor general back to earth in the second frame. UK got out quickly with a much more efficient offensive attack, and Teague in particular seemed far more comfortable, finding open teammates (goggles, anyone?) and pushing the break only when appropriate.

I can't wait to observe Mr. Teague's development, and we all know Calipari's track record with point guards. He's truly a vital cog...yeah I said it....a COG! That's what Marguis Teague is...for this uber-talented Kentucky squad. Watch 'im go.

Anthony Davis Can Run

2011-11-07T20:22:00.005-06:00

I'm not sure what you can say about an exhibition game where the talent gap is wider than the mighty Mississippi, but I will give you one of my more astute observations.

The kid with the unibrow: he can fly.

And I don't mean vertically, although Mr. Davis most certainly can jump. No question he's got some hops. And some really, really long arms. He most definitely flies UP through the air, "with the greatest of ease". But what struck me most about UK's thrashing of a seriously outclassed Morehouse team was just how seriously quick Anthony Davis is from baseline to baseline.

That blocked shot early in the game, where the "blockee" quickly reversed and sprinted downcourt to try to catch AD? I felt sorry for that dude. Davis was already dunking by the time he made it to the top of the key.

What does it take? Two steps for Anthony to get to the other end? Three?

He covers 94 feet like Jesse Owens in Berlin.

I'm an old enough UK fan to remember Dwight Anderson. (Any "Blur" fans out there?) And John Wall isn't a distant memory for anyone. But Anthony Davis is listed at what? 6'11"? And he can flat get up and down the court like nobody's business.

If the Cats play a real running game this season, he's gonna have so many follow-up dunks and trailing jams this year that he could probably average double figures off of those baskets alone.

I understand the Kentucky trainers and coaches have been working to bulk him up, and with good reason. The college schedule will be a grind on the freshman at times, and he will definitely have some tough nights banging in the post with some SEC bigs, but Mr. Davis sure won't have any difficulty playing the press and getting into transition.

As for the rest of the evening, I'll just say that the Morehouse team really had no chance at being competitive, and it was such a huge mismatch that it's hard to fault them for the performance. When you hear that UK's starters didn't even miss a shot in the entire first half, you know something quite bizarre is going on.

So I'm not going to get too crazy with the Cheese Whiz over the final score, or UK's dominance over a vastly inferior opponent, but I did get a kick out of watching #23 zooming all over Rupp.

Wasn't that Dwight Anderson's number?

Cats' Road Ends in Houston

2011-04-07T22:01:00.002-05:00

I would have to say that the way this season ended for UK was far more sweet than bitter. Sure, you hate to drop a game in the national semifinals under some horrid shooting circumstances. It could have been different for Kentucky with a couple more free throws here, some better offensive execution there. It was a tough Saturday for putting the ball in the basket, and Monday night's final with UConn defeating Butler only seemed to underscore how stifling the defenses were in H-town.

Oh yes, H-town. How cool was it to have a Final Four right here in my hometown of the last 10 years? Very cool. The only problem was I had no time to collect my blog-tastic thoughts and pixellate them for you.

There was lots of buzz around town, an honest-to-goodness media interview for yours truly, even a visit from brother JC, who came all the way down from Olathe with his wife for the spectacle in Space City. And I have to give a shout out to PA as well, who scored the 12th row tickets and flew in from Atlanta on a quick turnaround just so we could see our alma mater slug it out with the Huskies. Come back soon, buddy.

But alas, the Huskies were just too much to handle. Since it's been a good 5 days now, we will skip any in-depth game summary, and just go with the old chestnut: Kentucky simply didn't shoot it well enough to win. I think our point guard got a little carried away looking to score it himself, and sure, DeAndre might have taken the ball to the hole rather than settling for a long three on the deciding possession. Yet the fact remains that Big Blue would have had a tough time throwing it in the ocean at Reliant Stadium vs. UConn.

That shouldn't take anything away from what a beautiful, surprising jaunt through March that this team took its fan base on. Jeez, I had a blast with these guys. The "Jorts" phenomenon swept the nation. The three goggles getting displayed. Jarrod Polson teaching us how to Dougie. I sound like some geriatric aunt to put it this way... but it was just a real treat. A treat, I say.

There's plenty of time to talk about next year, but I hope that when I look back on the '10-'11 season, the memories become only fond. Let's forget the unfond stuff, okay? Keep it fond around here. Good times. Kentucky made the Final Four, and it's been a very long thirteen years since we could say that. They got themselves a conference tournament title, and a couple of really nice scalps in the Big Dance in knocking off the Buckeyes and Tar Heels.

Best of luck to Josh Harrellson-- I hope you find a great place to play professionally and you have a productive, lucrative career. And to the rest of the team, as far as I'm concerned, bring it on back. Every one of you. To paraphrase Bum Phillips: This year we knocked on the door, and next year, we're kicking it down.

New Orleans, 2012. You heard it here first. Thanks for reading.

Kentucky 62, Ohio State 60

2011-03-26T00:28:00.003-05:00

Such a great game. Not the prettiest perhaps, but really an instant classic if you're a UK fan.

This matchup absolutely had me concerned. How could it not? With Ohio State sporting a gaudy record, a number 1 seed, only twice beaten this season. It looked awfully tough on paper.

But jeez I am so proud of how UK faced up to these guys. Josh Harrellson was every bit the player of "All-Everything" Jared Sullinger for one night. He played such a tough game, but also a very smart one. No stupid fouls for Josh, and he didn't get crazy with his shot selection. Just a super effort for Jorts. He even took a guy off the dribble for crying out loud!

Brandon Knight: take a bow, son. Outstanding clutch jumper for the win. He's getting that knack at the end of games for coming up with a play that needs to be punctuated by a magician's cry of "TA - DA!"....and for my next trick...

The team defense was just stellar, holding the Buckeyes to 33% and blocking a bunch of shots in a rather forceful manner. It was a scrum out there at times, but the Big Blue was absolutely game for a little contact and hand-checking. Not a Sweet 16 contest for the faint-hearted. I expected Liggins to be on Diebler, but you gotta love how it worked out with Cal's defensive game plan.

I may try to watch this one again in the morning after some sleep and some coffee. But it will be very peaceful, happy sleep.

Sixteen Late Thursday Thoughts

2011-03-24T22:10:00.003-05:00

I believe that Kentucky can beat Ohio State, and I really hope that everybody in UK's locker room believes the same. You gotta believe.
Congratulations, Billy Gillispie. Texas Tech should be a perfect fit. Put the Dr. Pepper on ice out there in Lubbock.
I hated to see Jimmer go out of the tournament this evening, but I'm glad for the SEC that Florida is still around. Not glad for Florida necessarily, but glad for the conference.
I agree with Darrin Horn: You have to take away the Buckeyes' three-point shooters and hope that Sullinger doesn't absolutely maul you in the paint. Josh has his work cut out for him, and Eloy Vargas better use all 5 fouls, if you know what I mean.
IF the Cats win, I hope nobody freaks out like it's the upset of the century. We are Kentucky. And there would be three more games to win in order to hang another championship banner in Rupp's rafters.
Big ups to Chuck Hayes for his first career triple-double vs. Golden State last night. I saw quite a bit of that game and he had me worried that he might get stuck on 9 points. Make your free throws, Chuck! It's a whole lot easier that way.
Safe travels to Danno-- I hope you enjoy your stay in The Garden State, and I hope you don't come back to Texas until late Sunday night.
I have gotten more emails from alums and fans interested in the Cats' tournament run this season than I did for last season's Elite Eight squad already. Don't know why really, I thought last year's team was more talented and entertaining overall. Just sayin'.
Terrence Jones: we need you. Don't run and hide now. You can make yourself a whole lot of money by having a big game against OSU. Please, please show up.
It's kind of hard to generate very much hate for Thad Matta from this distance. I just don't know that much about him... they're in the Big 10, he seems like a nice mild-mannered dude for the most part. Good recruiter, I guess. Now having said that, I hope he comes up with a terrible game plan against UK and coaches himself right out of the tournament.
Kind of like Bruce Pearl did. What's that? He's out of a job? Huh. Cue the Donald Trump voice for Sweaty Brucie: You're fired.
What kind of Kentucky basketball blogger doesn't fill out a tournament bracket? This kind. I have no idea how that happened. Must be the first time in probably 15 years. Just never did get it done for some reason.
I'm really tired of Dan Shaughnessy and his cheap shots against John Calipari. Must be something personal. I don't get it. Life's too short for vendettas.
I can totally see DeAndre Liggins shutting down Lighty....or, wait.... do you stick him on Diebler? That's the problem. Lamb and Miller are both going to have to play some tournament-level defense Friday night.
I wish that Jim "The Sweater Vest" Tressel was coaching the Buckeyes' hoops team also...cause then you know the SEC team would win. Zing!
You gotta BELIEVE. Go Cats!

Can I Exhale Yet?

2011-03-17T18:33:00.002-05:00

Holy Smokes, people.

That was a close one.

I give Princeton all the credit in the world for playing a very disciplined, deliberate game. And on just about any other (NCAA opening round) day, that kind of effort and strategy would be good enough for an upset win. It just was not to be for the Ivy Leaguers, despite their tremendous resolve.

Personally, to my chagrin, I was stuck in the office watching this one on the computer monitor, but at least I had "Madness on Demand" allowing me to catch most of it, in video quality that was quite good. We can't all take the day off to celebrate the tournament, right Brother John?

All I can really say and think right now is that Kentucky is VERY fortunate to have pulled this one off. Brandon Knight made a spectacular individual play after having gone 0-fer up 'til the final seconds.

Brass ones right there. Big shot for him, big shot for Kentucky fans all over the globe.

I thought Miller had a fairly solid game, and see where he wound up with 17 to lead UK in scoring this afternoon. So his late-season emergence continues, and honestly, where would the Cats be without him right now? Obviously Harrellson pitched in a little more scoring than usual (15), and I hope it doesn't offend anyone if I suggest that he matched up more equitably as an athlete vs. Princeton than he does against most teams.

Terrence Jones had a big three-pointer late, and a very timely blocked shot as well, but I keep waiting for him to have a HUGE game like we all know he is capable of....one of those, "I'm taking over now, fellas, and watch this left-handed tomahawk BAM!" kind of games. It's been a while for him. Maybe he's saving it for West Virginia.

Truth be told, Kentucky has to be thankful to be playing on Saturday, especially when you consider what happened to in-state rival Louisville today.

On to the next one.

Three more W's 'til Houston.

Popcorn Patterson

2011-03-16T16:01:00.005-05:00

Fired up for the Princeton game tomorrow? Great! Me too.

In the meantime, here's a little tidbit from the local Houston rag about Rockets rookie and former Wildcat Patrick Patterson, courtesy of Jonathan Feigen, the Rockets beat writer. It talks a little about his adjustment to the league, his first ever NBA start, and some other things:

Patterson article

If you only want to read the funny part, here it is:
______________________________

Patterson is, however, the Rockets' only rookie, subjected to the entire focus of teammates' hazing. Since Ish Smith was traded, Patterson alone carries a garish, polka-dot backpack at all times. When Patterson played for the first time this season, he was congratulated with a shaving cream pie in the face. When he returned to the locker room on Monday, his birthday was celebrated with a mountain of popcorn.

"I walked back to my locker and there was nothing but popcorn," Patterson said. "Popcorn in my pants. Popcorn in my pockets. Popcorn in my bookbag. Popcorn in my shoes. I'm surprised they didn't do anything to my car.

"I don't like popcorn anymore. They ruined me."

______________________________

Go Cats! Let the tourney begin! Getcha popcorn ready!

Up Your Nose With...

2011-03-14T21:23:00.003-05:00

Let me preempt the following with this: I am not a conspiracy theorist. Not at all.

I don't go around looking for strange coincidences and patterns that lead me to the conclusion that "the fix is in". Or that, for instance "somebody is out to get me." Or, if you prefer, that "this is all the work of a vast, complex, shadowy organization, (read: NCAA) that just absolutely has it in for my alma mater's basketball program."

That's not me.

I like my explanations simple. Maybe that's all my brain can handle. I don't know.

So when the brackets came out last night, I wasn't ripping off my shirt, screaming through the house, raving, and ticked off. Not worth it.

Kentucky got a #4 seed.

That sucks.

They deserved better.

UK beat Florida yesterday like they were Charlie Sheen on a ....Charlie Sheen on a....never mind. The Cats just, well, they looked awesome. They seriously did. And that's two wins over Florida, plus a win over Notre Dame, plus Louisville at Louisville, plus oh my gosh I'm not going to go through the entire resume right here in this spot since you probably know it by heart anyway.

But the fact is, Kentucky got HOSED by the selection committee.

Cause if you're seriously evaluating the last 10 games, like the committee says they do, and looking at RPI, like they also say they do, and strength of schedule, and wins over the top 50' and jeez, pick whatever criteria you want to look at-- then I just can't believe that there are 15 teams in the country playing better than the Commonwealth's team right now.

If anything, I think these jokers in Indy have demonstrated themselves to be clueless. Did you see that CBS interview? Did you hear the contorted logic? Does anybody really even understand the black magic juju that goes into making these brackets every year?

My gosh, it's like me trying to pick a thoroughbred at Keeneland back in the day. I figure a few of these dudes are playing rock-paper-scissors as a tie-breaker. "Sorry, Coach Cal, I went scissors, so you're stuck with a 4. My bad".

However, having said all that, and while it makes me upset that UK got slotted where they did, and they may face big, bad Ohio State in the Sweet 16....well, I say bring it on. Because first-round mismatches aside, there aren't any truly easy games in the Big Dance.

Heck, the Cats should be so lucky to be able to see the Buckeyes at all. At least that would mean that our grown-up freshmen survived that wacky, upset-riddled first weekend. I just don't want to take anything for granted in March. All of those victories are special.

Who's to say that Ohio State is going to be there anyway? They're pretty young too. They don't have a huge bench. What's Thad Matta really ever won? (I'm talking you into it aren't I?!)

So no, I don't think there's any conspiracy afoot. There were several other strange seedings, omissions, and downright funky explanations of the committee's decision-making being discussed all over the sports world today. But one of the other things you often hear as the fun begins this week, is that you've got to win 6 games to get yourself a title, and you're probably going to have to beat some good ones along the way.

Beat the best to be the best, right?

Let's start by kicking some Ivy League, hm?

Kentucky Bringing Home Hardware

2011-03-13T17:59:00.002-05:00

Throw another trophy in the case back in Lexington. UK finished off Florida by a cool 16 points in the SEC final. Just another notch in the belt for a program that has now won its conference tournament for the 27th time.

The next closest school?

Who cares!

Astounding is just about the only way to describe the growth of this particular edition of the Wildcats over the last several weeks. UK absolutely kicked the Gators on Sunday, making the regular season champs look like mere afterthoughts in the Georgia Dome. Florida is a far better team than they showed against the Cats, but some terrifyingly tenacious D and an off shooting day, particularly for the Gator backcourt, made the result rather anticlimactic.

UK built a solid 10-12 point lead fairly early and Florida had to chase it all afternoon. In the second half, with the game becoming quite stagnant, Darius Miller threw in a couple of three pointers to kick start the offense for the Cats down the stretch, and Florida never could get over the hump. Those were two huge treys for Mr. Miller, as it seemed that Kentucky had been stuck on a scoreboard total of 45 for quite awhile.

Miller was deservedly named Most Outstanding Player, but the team really did click on just about all cylinders in the Peach State. I would maintain that Terrence Jones was far less than his best, but he still contributed to the victories, along with fellow freshman Brandon Knight, and honestly everybody in Blue did a ton of growing up in a 3-day span.

What a great way for Josh Harrellson to go out...SEC tournament champion, again! What a relief to see Doron Lamb suffering no major after affects of what looked to be a severe ankle sprain. (Liggins too, for that matter.) What momentum for this team heading into the NCAA tournament.

So Kentucky has turned in a 25-win season, a nice shiny trophy, and now hopes to make 2011 even more memorable in the next few weeks. It's another great day to be a Wildcat.

A Word About Subs, Or Lack Thereof

2011-03-13T09:46:00.003-05:00

I realize basketball is a physical game. There's plenty of running, jumping, banging, and as Jimmy Dykes loves to remind us, "violent cuts", throughout 40 minutes of play.

Guys can get hurt anytime. At practice. In warm-ups (that one's happened many times, look it up). In off-season pickup games. You never know. There's just as much risk in the first two minutes of the game as there is in the last two minutes of a game.

I jammed a finger way back in 7th or 8th grade that I would swear to you is still not quite 100%. It just happens. You play enough ball, you will get hurt. Twisted knees, busted lips, rolled ankles are all part of playing hoops. Somewhere along the line-- hopefully not severely-- you will get hurt.

None of this excuses Coach Cal for having so little faith in his subs that he can't pull a couple of starters with a 20 point lead and oh, about two minutes remaining on the clock. That's absolutely on him.

You cannot tell me that Alabama was going to hit--what?-- six or seven 3-pointers in two minutes, while Kentucky--what?--either turned the ball over or didn't hit a single free throw during that entire span of time. I'm not buying it. That game was over. No disrespect to Alabama and their capabilities, but it was over.

All Kentucky really had to do was maintain just a little bit of possession, without completely and utterly imploding, for seriously...we're talking about just two minutes here.

Alabama was playing hard. Of course. Crazy comebacks do happen in the college game. But if you don't have enough faith to toss Vargas, Hood, hell probably even Polson and Poole (he is still on the team, isn't he? just checking...) for TWO MINUTES with a 20 point lead...then please explain to me why any of them is on the roster.

If you like, then forget the three games in three days aspect of it. I personally think it should be a big consideration if you really want to beat Florida. Jeez, if I were coaching, I think I'd probably be looking to steal a few minutes anywhere possible to keep the starters as fresh as I could for the final. But seriously, set that aside...just the amount of of that lead, with the amount of time remaining in the game...come on.

And then to try and put it off on the opponent, like "Well, they were still pressing, they were still playing hard" (not an exact quote). It's insulting. It is to me, anyway.

Kentucky has surely at least had Jon Hood and Eloy Vargas together on the floor for two minutes at a time-- I'm not going to be able to verify this, and wouldn't know where to look to find it anyway-- but I'm sure we've seen that combination in a game this season where UK was clinging to a lead, or perhaps even trailing in a contest-- where the situation was truly still competitive. And you can't do that with a huge lead late in the game?

Like every other Big Blue fan, I hope DeAndre and Doron both heal quickly. I hope those young, strong ankles bounce right back to 100%. And soon. The only point I'm trying to make is that the time and score against Alabama absolutely called for some substitutions. Period.

If not to reward and rest your starters, then at least for the sake of the subs themselves...we're not talking about 8 or 10 minutes here. Those subs practice every day too. They are Division I players, supposedly well-regarded. They've done all the conditioning and weight lifting and running too. They've got fans and family in Atlanta and watching on TV as well. There are no guarantees. But maybe you do that, and maybe nobody gets hurt.

End of rant.

Go Cats.

Miller Coming Up Big in Atlanta

2011-03-13T00:06:00.002-06:00

Wow. Somebody in blue is really starting to step it up in the postseason. And his name rhymes with "carry us".

That's two excellent SEC tournament games for Darius Miller, who looks like an All-American out of nowhere. Going back over his last eight games, Miller has now hit nearly 50% of his three-point attempts, he's playing with a ton of energy on both ends of the court, and perhaps most importantly, he looks both assertive and smart in attacking the basket.

I give Darius most of the credit for UK's win over Ole Miss on Friday, as he hit several of those hanging floaters in the lane, especially at times when the Cats really needed a bucket. Most opposing teams will have a smaller man guarding him, but Darius is still quick enough to get around someone with either a shot fake or a quick crossover-- and lately he's doing a tremendous job of knowing where to pull up and get that little 8-footer headed toward a swishy conclusion.

So long as he keeps his handle while driving, that can be a very effective weapon. The Cats certainly needed it against a very feisty Rebels squad....the game was much closer than the final score might indicate.

Fortunately, Miller's got that long distance drifting jumper working right now, too. (I almost hate to elaborate any further for fear of jinxing him.) Probably the key for the former Mason County star is making sure he takes the more appropriate three point attempts-- meaning he's catching a pitch out with the trigger already cocked, rather than trying to create something with a lateral move on the perimeter.

One thing I would like to see vs. Florida is for Darius to get some more chances in the open floor, and finishing on the break. It seems like most of the time, Miller is in more of a "trailer" position. If that's because he's crashing the boards, then so be it (he only pulled down 4 today vs. Bama), but if Miller can run out more often, and fill a lane properly, then he should get rewarded for it. Hopefully B. Knight will have several opportunities to find him on the break.

But any particular way that Darius can pitch in offensively is huge right now. Terrence Jones has looked rather lethargic in "Rupp Arena South" at this point, and it should be an extremely competitive rubber match with Florida in the finals. All I know is it's a wonderful, beautiful thing to have Mr. Miller peaking as we head into Selection Sunday.

Ole Miss Wants No Part of UK

2011-03-11T09:04:00.002-06:00

Well, with the matchup being set now, seeing as how the Rebels took care of Darrin Horn and company, the Big Blue Blogosphere is all tingly with the prospect of revenge.

Ole Miss notoriously took down Kentucky on a Chris Warren dagger in Oxford back on the first of February. Was it a lucky shot? Not necessarily. Warren's a good player and he made a clutch jumper when his team needed it.

But I don't think the University of Mississippi is looking forward to playing the Cats in Atlanta. They shouldn't be.

Kentucky will be plenty motivated. Kentucky is now playing much better than it was in early February. And Kentucky, for all intents and purposes, will be playing in front of a home crowd in the Georgia Dome.

I expect a close game early, maybe even into the second half, but I will be SHOCKED if my beloveds somehow drop this one. Coach Cal knows a good NCAA seed is out there for his team-- possibly even a #3 if you believe a few of the more optimistic analysts-- and I therefore think the Cats will turn in a nice, "professional" 40 minutes against the Rebs.

And hey, it's not like Mississippi has had a whole lot of time to rest after getting past the Gamecocks.

Conference tournament games tend to be tight, white-knuckle affairs, and I don't ever want to look past ANY opponent-- but I really think Ole Miss doesn't want any part of Kentucky in the SEC.

Cats Earn Bye With Win Over Vols

2011-03-07T09:22:00.001-06:00

UK Rips Up Vandy

2011-03-01T22:47:00.002-06:00

Okay, so the Cats didn't exactly "rip" Vanderbilt tonight; it was more like an "escape" given the 2-point final margin, but it does give me an excuse to post the below video....what can I say?

Josh goes out as a winner at Rupp, in front of about 23,000 denim-clad friends.

Kentucky ties Vandy for 2nd in the SEC East with one game to play.

Coach Cal is still perfect at home.

Big Blue proves it can win a close one.

And that make me happier than a laughing baby....

Giving It Up For Jorts

2011-03-01T10:33:00.002-06:00

Sometimes the interwebz really becomes an echo chamber, but I can't let Senior Day 2011 pass without a few words of tribute directed towards Josh "Jorts" Harrellson.

By now we all know the stories-- dare I say legends?-- of Josh being confined to bathroom stalls, having his Twitter account ceased and desisted, his dancing at Midnight Madness, and of course his absolute torching of the dirty Cards at the Yum! Center this season.

And there's no debate about how far Josh has come during his time on campus, going from a bit of an afterthought to a truly vital component as a senior starter.

So I will just add this: Josh seems to me like a guy who is enjoying himself, squeezing every bit of performance that he can from the talent that God gave him. And anybody that sticks it out as a Wildcat, and gives his very best for the program, deserves mad respect and whatever additional recognition or notoriety that comes with it.

So I say a big thanks to Josh, for all of the sweat, for all of the hard work, and here's wishing you the absolute best of luck in the future.

Cats Lock Down Gators

2011-02-26T23:30:00.002-06:00

We could discuss the home winning streak this evening. It's quite pleasant.

Or we could talk about Darius Miller elevating his game and tallying a new career high of 24 points. Peachy.

We could even expound upon Brandon Knight playing 37 minutes without a single turnover. Swelleriffic.

But instead, we're going to chat about intangibles. Just briefly.

Things like effort.

Desire.

Dare I say...pride?

This Kentucky team has taken its lumps away from home, absolutely. They've been criticized for failure to execute in late game situations. Fairly so.

Their coach, the one who just notched his 500th career win, has seen a bit of heat coming his way for how his squad has allowed the close ones to slip away this season, again and again.

But I saw another flicker this afternoon. A brief suggestion. The slightest hint of an inkling of a possibility that these Cats could really make the leap going into the second season, the one that truly matters. The one where they give out trophies.

Because that was a pretty darn good Florida team. And yeah, they have a couple of conference losses already, and they are in the middle of a road swing, but still....the Gators came in ranked #13. Legitimately. Plenty of talent on that side.

And UK absolutely imposed its will on Donovan and Co. when it mattered. The boys in Blue put on a little run-- a team run, featuring none other than our much-maligned Darius Miller--that Florida could not answer.

Kentucky looked confident. They looked well-coached. They looked aggressive. Everything you would want from a team aspiring to peak as it heads toward the post-season.

So I'm going to relish this one for a bit. Give me Sunday at least. Vandy awaits on Tuesday, but that one's in the friendly confines as well.

It's just heartening to see once more that UK absolutely can beat quality teams when it plays a smart brand of basketball with full effort and initiative. I just like it when they play HARD, and they really did it today, like a Kentucky team should.

An Exclusive Interview With Winston Bennett's Jheri Curl

2011-02-25T16:22:00.005-06:00

In an effort to lighten things up around here, I'm reaching back into my bag of tricks. It's another one-on-one sitdown with an iconic (and insentient) UK legend.

Wildcat Whisperer: So nice of you to join us.
Winston Bennett's Jheri Curl: You got, Whis. Glad to be here.

WW: So let's start at the top. Where are you from?
WBJC: Well, let's see. I guess you could say I "folliculated" from Louisville Male High School.

WW: So you're a Bulldog, then?
WBJC: Oh yeah, class of '83. Winston was the state's Mr. Basketball coming out of school, you know. Parade All-American. He brought me with him to Lexington after accepting UK's scholarship offer. But I started in the early 80's when Winston, um, activated me.

WW: Got it....the 80's....
WBJC: Yeah, I had a pretty good run for a little while there, but as you know, I was long gone by the time Winston left UK. He went with the short cropped look as a junior.

WW: So does it bother you that people think of you as just a flash in the pan?
WBJC: It hurts a little, yeah. Hopefully it hurts Winston a little bit too. Maybe not as much as his knee surgery, but some. Sure.

WW: So you and Winston...
WBJC: Yeah, we're not on speaking terms at all.

WW: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
WBJC: Well, to be honest I think he was always maybe a little embarrassed by me. Like he knew I was trendy and fashionable, but for him...... it really was just a fling, nothing long-term.

WW: Can you give us an example?
WBJC: Sure. That's easy. Just look at the picture above (photo courtesy of Jon Scott's archive). Winston isn't exactly staring at the camera and smiling proudly, is he?

WW: I guess not....
WBJC: And what about James Blackmon! I mean, that guy is so ashamed he can't even turn around for the photo. Me and James Blackmon's Jheri Curl, oh man, we used to be real tight. It breaks my heart.

(awkward pause)

WW: So what can you tell us about Winston, and his days as a Wildcat? Anything positive?
WBJC: Objectively? I think he was underrated. I really do. Voted All-SEC two times by the coaches. Nearly 1400 career points and 800 boards. He was even academic all-conference as a sophomore.

WW: Not a bad college career, then.
WBJC: Not at all. And Winston came back from that surgery pretty strong. He played a ton of minutes as an upperclassman. And while a lot of fans maybe expected more from him, considering his prep accolades, he was the kind of solid, consistent contributor that this current group lacks.

WW: Ouch.
WBJC: Well, think about it. Freshmen are going to be freshmen. Mistakes are part of the deal. Some kids take a little time to learn how to win at the D1 level, coaching aside.

WW: You realize BBN is tired of hearing that, especially this late in the season. I know I am.
WBJC: But I think there's really some truth to it-- allowing time for maturity. Gives you a little more respect for a guy like Josh Harrellson, who's turned out to be quite the late bloomer. Sometimes you gotta grow into it. Hey! Maybe you could interview his Amish beard sometime.

WW: Yeah....*coughs* .....moving on, then....
WBJC: Or Rex Chapman's mini-mullet!

WW: MOVING ON THEN...look...I hate to do this....but we can't talk about Winston without mention his...well, his....
WBJC: Addiction? Sexual addiction. You can say it.

WW: Yes, his addiction...that really threw a wrench into his budding coaching career.
WBJC: Well, I think I share some of the blame myself for that situation.

WW: How so?
WBJC: Well, think about it, do you imagine that so many women would have been interested in the guy if he had continued rockin' me up top?

WW: Ah.
WBJC: Yeah, I'm telling you by 1990, I was absolutely kryptonite when it came to attracting the fillies. That damn Eddie Murphy.

WW: Eddie?
WBJC: Sure man, you mean you didn't realize that Eddie Murphy single-handedly crushed an entire hairstyle. Little film called "Coming to America", 1988. You should check it out.

WW: Oh, of course....Prince Akeem. Arsenio! I remember.
WBJC: Yeah, Eddie was in his prime back then, and he was pretty ruthless with the Soul Glo plotline. Not to mention Sexual Chocolate. But things would never be the same after that couch scene.

WW: Oh yeah! *giggles* "They got the Big Mac, we got the Big Mick".
WBJC: (in Yiddish accent) "What about Rocky Marciano?"

WW: *laughs even louder* (also in Yiddish accent) "What is this, velvet?"
WBJC: Okay, that's enough. We could be here all day.

WW: (straightening up) You're right, Jheri. Can I call you Jheri? Well, thanks again for being here. Any final thoughts?
WBJC: Just this....don't you quit on your Wildcats. Not as a team, not as individuals. Freshmen, Seniors. Doesn't matter. Don't quit on 'em. Ever. They all thrive with that Big Blue Support.

WW: Wouldn't dream of it. You know we're Blue for life around here, Jheri.

Thanks for reading.

Road Crash Again For UK

2011-02-23T22:00:00.002-06:00

I'm ignoring blogger rule #1 tonight.

Rule #1 is don't blog angry.

Like the rest of BBN, I'm fairly hacked off at the way Kentucky has managed to drop another game to an inferior SEC opponent away from Rupp Arena. But if I never posted after road losses, well, I'd hardly get to post during this conference run.

It just doesn't make sense. It really doesn't.

The "youth" excuse is tired. Nay, exhausted. We know they're a young team. Can we agree to get over it?

You can't blame it on the refs. Not tonight.

Arkansas didn't just go absolutely bonkers from 3.

UK just got beat.

And mainly by their own mistakes.

I'd rather avoid the litany of mental breakdowns, but let's give a special acknowledgment to the "dumb foul" category. Fouling jump shooters. Fouling guys on layups. Giving the Razorbacks those chances for "and-ones"....not to mention technicals. Oy.

And each loss bumps the Cats further down the seeding ladder, with March a mere 6 days away.

It's a good thing Bobby was at the Hound tonight to talk me down before I got into the car to drive home. (Driving angry is worse than blogging angry.)

So. Can anybody figure these guys out? Help me.

I really think of this team as Brandon Knight's team. That's maybe not how it should be, maybe not fair. He's only a freshman blah blah blah, and probably playing out of position, but when the rubber meets the road, I think of Brandon as the "leader" -- quotation marks very necessary. Terrence can score plenty, Josh and Darius and DeAndre are older...I get all of that. But I think we only go as Brandon goes these days.

So I didn't mind him getting a good look, er, make that two good looks at the end of regulation for the W. Fire away! Knock one down.

Be the hero, B. It's all you.

And even the fact that he missed them both-- it just don't nag me all that much. He looked confident shooting them. He didn't hesitate like well, you know what, let's not go there.

But the turnover at the end of OT.... ye gods! (to borrow a phrase from Gregg Easterbrook) what's the rush? Inexcusable. You can't just chuck that ball into space like that. That's a panic play.

Throw it up at the basket if you must. Maybe a teammate gets the rebound. Call a timeout. Heck, just hold onto it and give up the ball on a 5-second call. At least then you can set up your defense. Don't throw it out there and give the opponent a chance to take it the other way and take the lead.

But unfortunately, Brandon had a brain freeze and it really cost Kentucky.

Grrr! Makes me wanna cuss.

And yet.

And YET!

The Cats get it back, with some time, and poor Brandon gets a shot at redemption, going towards the bucket, admittedly covered pretty well, and puts up an awkward attempt that didn't have much of a chance. A nice aggressive move, to put it kindly. But he was trying to make something happen.

You saw it.... we all did.

And I guess you give him kudos for effort. Hard to blame a guy who puts up 26 points on the night.

Insult to injury: who gets the last-gasp effort with less than two seconds to go? I'll give you no guesses. And it was no dice. Not tonight. Not in Fayetteville.

Man. I hope Mr. Knight has a short memory.

I just know I'm having a tough time getting over all these road crashes.

Cal Still Perfect At Rupp, Home Streak Now at 30

2011-02-15T23:47:00.005-06:00

Kentucky finished off Mississippi State by 6 on Tuesday night, 85-79, in a game that I personally figured UK would probably win by 10 or so. The victory keeps John Calipari's record spotless at home, and pulls the Cats up to 6 W's vs. 5 L's in SEC play.

The Vegas sports books (surprisingly) had the Cats listed as a 17.5 point favorite going into this matchup, far too kind-- but midway through the second half it looked as though the Bulldogs might be ready to start the bus. However, State managed to hang around thanks to some missed UK free throws down the stretch and several three pointers from Dee Bost and Jalen Steele.

Thus continues the Jekyll and Hyde UK season of looking nearly unbeatable at home, and shaky as all get out while on the road. I've always believed that Rupp delivers a home court advantage that is WAY above average in the world of NCAA basketball, but one has to discern that something else is afoot with the way that the Big Blue has struggled in conference away games.

Perhaps it's the rims, as Kentucky hit a respectable 9 for 22 from beyond the arc tonight, and even the "injured" Darius Miller had a 5 for 9 shooting game in scoring 13 points. Let's leave a description of the "injury" to others, since I've read the speculation and it does not sound pleasant at all....and besides, I didn't blog about the Vandy game and don't want to go back and revisit it anyway.

Player of the game for me was Brandon Knight, who had a better than usual assist (7) to turnover (4) ratio, and also tallied 24 points. Needs to work on his defense some more and getting around screens at the top, but it was a great game for B.

And keeping it short this evening, I just want to throw in a huge unendorsement of the ESPN skycam. I absolutely unendorse it. Heartily.

Riddle Me This: Where Was Darius?

2011-02-01T21:25:00.005-06:00

I could conjure up a nice explanatory blog post tonight about Chris Warren getting just enough daylight to launch the game-winner in UK's 71-69 defeat at Ole Miss....

A poor job of fighting through the screen by DeAndre Liggins (normally a great defender), and a slow step out to help by Terrence Jones (a freshman with nice wingspan), would pretty much sum it up.

Granted, when the shot was fired, I thought it was a fairly low-percentage look for Warren. Not a complete "out of your nether regions" heave by any means, (and I would say everybody in the gym knew that he would take the final shot), but still not the cleanest look in the world. It was well beyond the arc, and a hand did get up in his face in the last split second. So I think you give Ole Miss credit there. It happens.

I could also envision a lengthy post centering on UK's lapses in scoring--those stretches of 3 or 4 minutes seemingly every game where it looks like the Cats come up empty on a dozen trips down the court. Is it a lack of cohesion in the dribble-drive? Absence of a true, back to the basket, low-post threat? Perhaps just a simple loss of concentration by a freshman-oriented team? Most Big Blue fans might choose "D", and you know what "D" means....

But instead I'm going to darken up the pixels this evening by lamenting the recurring theme of the amazing(!), stupendous(!)....disappearing Darius Miller.

Because all you need to know about the loss in Oxford is this: Darius played a total of 31 minutes tonight, and in all that time, he turned the ball over four times, scored three points, and pulled down exactly one rebound. That's your ballgame right there.

Now, plenty of UK fans have been more or less confounded by the former Mr. Basketball... for almost as long as he has been on campus. It's a classic case of being brilliant "at times", but completely absent from the proceedings at others.

Miller has started all 21 games this season and averages 10 points per game. He hits 81% from the charity stripe and a quite healthy 45 % from the three-point line. Heck, his overall FG percentage is at 48! That's better than Knight and Jones, both of whom average over 17 points.

Stop me if you've read this before, but it just seems like Darius has all the talent in the world, the ability to score both in the paint and from the perimeter, and yet he's prone to simply vanish from games like a puff of smoke.

Why? Why is that?

In his defense, by all accounts Darius has played better of late. The last several games saw what many were describing as a "true emergence" for the young man that wears the number one on his back. More aggressive....looking to score...a real leader and a presence. But when he turns in a stat line like this, in a road game against a conference foe that really has no business in upsetting UK...well, he just gets me more frustrated than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest.

Of course to be fair, this loss is not entirely on him. UK had a very subpar start to the second half as a team. They allowed Ole Miss to hit 8 of 17 threes. Maybe Coach Cal again did a poor job of setting up a clear, concise play on UK's final possession. And certainly Warren had a good game for the Rebs, along with Reginald Buckner.

So I don't mean to just throw the goat horns on Darius, and blast away at him for kicks. But the fact remains that when you give a guy that much playing time, and get that little production in return, then you're basically playing 4 against 5. Makes it awfully tough.

And it's going to remain tough for UK as the conference plays out. A trip to Gainesville is next, and Mr. Miller needs to ensure that he makes it on the bus to the arena on Saturday.

I understand through the miracles of the twitter-verse that Darius has already sent out an apology for UK's loss tonight, in 140 characters or less. That's fine. I like the self-awareness and the courage that it takes to publicly acknowledge a poor performance. But Cal has got to have him playing closer to his potential if Kentucky is going to live up to secure any hardware this season. The riddle must be solved.

UK Gets Even with UGA. Barely.

2011-01-30T21:03:00.003-06:00

The Wildcats are not nerds.

I don't care what you think about Doron "Lambda Lambda Lamb's" headgear.

And the Cats held on yesterday to avenge their loss to the Bulldogs back on January 8th, although the second half did carry a very strong aura of pocket protector.

You know what we do with wins around here? We take 'em.

Cats Kick Roosters On The Road

2011-01-23T21:44:00.003-06:00

UK's win over the other USC on Saturday has to fall under the category of "much needed". The young Kentucky squad had Big Blue Nation in a near-panic after two road losses in SEC play. But a big scoring effort from Brandon Knight, some hella-jams from Terrence Jones, and the emergence (re-emergence? cameo appearance?) from Darius Miller all spelled victory away from Rupp Arena for the first time this season in conference play. Kentucky now stands at 15-4 overall.

First of all, we thank dear God in heaven that Devan Downey is no longer a Gamecock. He is not missed by this blogger. Not at all. Devan Downey played a total of 7 and a half full seasons for South Carolina, and reportedly Darrin Horn is doing his best to try to get him another 5 years of eligibility. When I heard that Downey was playing professionally in Turkey, I thought somebody was trying to play some kind of cruel joke on Enes Kanter, but apparently it's true.

Without Downey, South Carolina looked far less fierce. Kentucky got off to a fairly good start and was able to quiet the camouflage-clad student section-- and really, the arena looked like it had plenty of blue sprinkled throughout. Sam Muldrow had a couple of freaky-nice dunks himself which produced a good reaction, but otherwise the Gamecock faithful must have been saving most of their enthusiasm for the half-time appearance of Steve Spurrier. *pukes*

But that's one secret of road play that hopefully the Cats have begun to figure out: the first 5 minutes are so important to setting the tone. If you can get your offensive rhythm, get a few stops early (perhaps even build a modest lead), then the home crowd is far less apt to be a factor. Keep 'em quiet until at least the first TV timeout and you're well on your way. Kentucky had a 10 point lead at the half.

Of course, good teams are going to eventually make their runs, and SC did an admirable job of hanging around and even threatening late in the game. The Cats however knocked down free throws in the last couple of minutes and did not entirely succumb to the pressure. Knight was 9 of 10 from the line on the day, Lamb 7 for 8, and Miller was perfect on 3 attempts.

It would have been a very long week around here if UK had dropped another roadie. I'm not gonna lie. Instead, we get to think about how this team can close out January with a revenge win over Georgia at Rupp, and hopefully ponder the growing maturity that the squad is starting to show. UK has 5 more road games in SEC play.

Digesting The Loss To 'Bama

2011-01-19T21:54:00.002-06:00

Alright, so I've given it 24 hours, and what can we conclude?

If every other UK fan vacates the Fox & Hound premises early in the second half, it's probably not going so great for the Cats.
If Coach Cal is calling out Terrence Jones, loudly, very profanely, and most importantly-- in a very public way-- you can bet he was more than a little displeased by the freshman's performance. (How long until we see the first t-shirt that proudly says "Selfish Mother..."?)
Speaking of freshman, if you've got two of them closing out games in your backcourt, it's probably a good idea to make sure they both know EXACTLY what their responsibilities are on a late possession. Maybe you have to repeat yourself slowly during the timeout, or scribble it twice on the greaseboard, but you have to get it through to them: "Guys, here's what I want to see on this play."
Do not take free throws for granted. Missing 7 in the second half is like physically burning money....picture a nice little stack of $100 bills, soaked in lighter fluid, right over a lit match..... POOF! You gotta have those freebies.
Eloy Vargas. Ugh.
Division I Men's NCAA basketball games are regulation 40 minutes. I triple-checked this one. It's pretty clear. They don't let you just play 15 or 20 and call it a game. 40 minutes, guys. 40.
Going zone is not a crime. It can be quite refreshing for a change. Just mix it up a little, keep the other guy guessing. If you're not stopping them anyway, then what's the harm? Just for a few minutes. Not a crime.
This team will not get anywhere playing as individuals. And they do have several great individuals. Or perhaps I should say individuals who have demonstrated some greatness at times. The point is, they need to concentrate on the collective now. Both ends of the court.
I would NOT want to be a UK player participating in that practice today. Cal's one word prediction was, "Brutal."
Apparently Tennessee players are allowed by SEC officials to go explicitly, indisputably over the back for game-winning garbage baskets if necessary. I saw it myself on replay 8 or 10 times now.

So let's turn the page and look forward to a win for the Cats in Columbia on Saturday.

Better Sleep On It

2011-01-18T22:58:00.003-06:00

Very tough loss tonight for UK, dropping this one to the Crimson Tide (in Tuscaloosa) 68-66.

All credit to Alabama, but I'm a little upset, and I consider this to have been a VERY winnable game. I really think Coach Cal was not at his best tonight, along with some individual players-- which I suppose is clear considering the results.

But I'm going to sleep on this one, with it being a late game, and I may even watch it again on my DVR before giving further comment.

BIG BLUE will always prevail in the end....let's just get some Z's for now...

Get Well Soon, Patrick

2011-01-17T10:29:00.003-06:00

You may have picked this up on KSR or A Sea of Blue, but apparently Patrick Patterson has been battling some flu-like symptoms. Patrick is one of the Whisperer's all-time favorite Wildcats, so as a Houstonian it was spectacularly groovy to see him drafted by the Rockets.

Patrick is said to be doing much better, but here is the original AP story as shown in the hometown Houston Chronicle....

ATLANTA — Houston rookie Patrick Patterson returned home on the Rockets' charter flight Saturday night, a few hours after chest pains and congestion forced him to leave Philips Arena in an ambulance.

Team spokesman Bob Schranz said preliminary tests on Patterson, the NBA's No. 14 overall draft pick, were precautionary and revealed no problems other than flulike symptoms.

Patterson was taken to Piedmont Hospital, but was not admitted. The Rockets, who host Milwaukee on Monday, are listing Patterson as day-to-day.

The former Kentucky standout played 3 minutes, 54 seconds of the second quarter, scoring six points as a reserve in Houston's 112-106 win over the Atlanta Hawks. He did not return for the third quarter, leaving downtown in an ambulance after the medical staff at Philips Arena decided he should undergo further tests.

Schranz said Patterson and the Rockets' staff discussed his flulike symptoms before the game.

Patterson has been with Houston since getting recalled from Rio Grande Valley of the NBA Development League on Dec. 13.

Kentucky Beat LSU So Bad....

2011-01-16T22:28:00.002-06:00

....Les Miles decided to eat the remaining grass on the sidelines of Tiger Stadium.

...the Hornets announced that they want to follow the Jazz to Utah.

...Shaq said he was more embarrassed by the loss than he was by "Kazaam".

...that Dale Brown got a technical for complaining about the popcorn at Rupp Arena. (Nice seeing Dale again, wasn't it? You wonder what he talks about with Joe B. Hall.)

Anyway.

Kentucky beat LSU so bad...that the French were glad they sold everything to Thomas Jefferson.

...gumbo called in sick today.

...Saints fans were offering paper bags to LSU students.

...Bourbon Street actually smelled like bourbon instead of...well...you know....

...and finally...

Kentucky beat LSU so bad...Chris Jackson converted to Islam.

Loss to Dogs: Unsettling

2011-01-09T20:46:00.002-06:00

I'm not ready to go threat level red or anything. There's plenty of time to panic later. Heck, the artist formerly known as Danno is predicting that the Cats are going to run the table the rest of the way. (You heard it here first.) So it's hardly the end of the world.

However....the word I'm going with to describe UK's loss to Georgia (in opening SEC play on Saturday) is simply...unsettling. Like when you have a churning stomach. That slight nausea from a bad meal or a crazy amusement park ride. You probably don't have anything life-threatening, but that doesn't mean you don't feel like puking.

Kentucky did show a dab of fortitude in clawing back to a tie, and brief lead, in the second half. Terrence Jones somehow wound up with 24 (garbage) points. Josh again had double-digit rebounds (11). But when it came down to "winnin' time", as Magic Johnson likes to call it, Georgia asserted itself and continued to find its way to the free-throw line.

And at the free-throw line, Georgia absolutely buried the Cats.

30 for 34?! Craziness. I thought I was watching my little brother play Pop-A-Shot at Chuck E. Cheese. . I think the Bulldogs hit another 20 or so while I was sitting in church this morning! Don't you hate when teams do that to UK? A 60% team from the line all the sudden becomes a roster full of Mark Prices.

But that's how it goes. Coach Cal said as much...Kentucky should always expect to get everybody's "A" game, and he wants his young team to be better prepared for it. Cal was absolutely right to criticize UK's toughness, or lack thereof, in Athens. "Guys were shooting fall-away 1-footers." Somebody-- I won't say who, but his name rhymes with "carry us"-- put up a 2 for 11 game, plus a mere 4 rebounds, in 32 minutes of play. Unsettling.

Five Wildcats also fouled out. So there's that depth thing going on. And Enes Kanter isn't walking through that door, courtesy of the NCAA's double-final, we-really-mean-it ruling (no further comment.)

Not to mention Georgia won the battle on the boards 41-37, and they aren't what I'd call a huge team. There was a lot of tapping and poking at the ball from the Big Blue side, and not enough strong vertical leaping with two hands extended to really CLAIM the ball.

But going back to Cal's post-game comments again, he made the statement that Georgia wanted the game more. UK allowed them 48% from the field in the first half, and from what I saw the Cats did not look very interested in competing until after the break.

Brandon Knight had a very poor game-- what you might call a non-factor type of game-- especially in the sense of keeping his teammates focused in the half court offense, and setting the tone with a high intensity level throughout. Unsett....well, you get the picture.

Fortunately, it's a quick turnaround, with Auburn visiting Lexington on Tuesday. So I will leave it at that.

Go Cats. Beat the Cam Newtons.

Still Basking In The Aftermath

2011-01-02T19:37:00.003-06:00

For the most part, I'm not one to gloat. It's just not my style.

If you play enough games, you're gonna win some-- hopefully a very high percentage of them-- but you're also going to lose some.

But dang, that win over the Dirty Cards was pretty sweet! It really was. Admit it. Kentucky just looked SO good in dismantling Rick Pitino's squad, on their brand new floor, and pretty much made them like it. Louisville really had no answer this year.

So in celebration, I offer today another little video clip for your viewing pleasure. You might recognize this joint; it is also currently used during team introductions at Rupp Arena. It's DJ Khaled and company, "All I Do Is Win".

Not everyone's cup of tea perhaps: it's heavy on cars, bling, and video vixens. But if you can ignore the U. of Miami reference-- courtesy of my man Snoop (cue Frank the Tank, shouting "Snoop-A-Loop!")-- and you don't mind a little MTV-approved eye candy, then I just can't think of a better song to gloat to....

Knight Comes Up Aces Vs. Cards

2011-01-01T11:59:00.002-06:00

It was certainly a team win, UK's 78-63 victory over Louisville in the Yum(!/?) Center on Friday. And while Josh Harrellson is getting the lion's share of credit for putting together a career game against U of L, it was the quiet assassin Brandon Knight that was the straw stirring the Big Blue drink.

Knight had 25 points, and he put them up on the board in a particularly efficient manner. You probably remember the three-pointers. He was 4 for 6--and certainly Clark and Gus would love to remind you of Mr. Knight's "beautiful form"-- but I was probably more impressed by his free throw shooting (7 for 8) and above all, the way he simply managed the pace of the game.

Yes, points are nice. You gotta have 'em. But as Harrellson's emergence showed yesterday, points can occasionally come from some very surprising quarters. More than a few of Josh's buckets came off exquisitely run half-court sets that produced either lobs or back doors from Knight, or passes out of double-teams by Terrence Jones. Those points were a direct result of the Cats controlling tempo, and not settling for quick jumpers or forcing the issue in fast break scenarios.

It was brilliant coaching by John Calipari, and it was Brandon Knight at the control switch, runnin' thangs. He was credited with 4 assists on the day, and the 5 turnovers we will put off partly as freshman jitters early, and also give some slight credit to the Louisville defense for occasionally making a play. Overall, Knight did a wonderful job of keeping UK settled and focused on sharing the ball, and he looked far more like an upperclassman than an 18 year old.

This is not to diminish what Josh accomplished in scoring 23 points and cleaning off 14 boards, but most fans would recognize that it was a conscious decision by Louisville to make someone other than Jones (or Knight) beat them. UK shared the ball just like a veteran team should, and I see a whole lot of potential for these games where a "non-scorer" comes up big in the conference schedule. That would mainly be Josh or DeAndre (both of whom would flinch at the tag), but that's why it's so important for Knight to continue to develop his point guard instincts throughout the next couple of months.

And Kentucky absolutely looked like a team that could make a deep run this season... a very uplifting way to enter 2011. Happy New Year.

Cats Close Out Hoosiers

2010-12-12T22:31:00.003-06:00

Now that's how you finish a game! Absolutely going away! I love it! Indiana should be glad there wasn't another 5 minutes on the clock, or the Cats might have housed 'em by 30! Yeah!

*end sarcasm

So I was again stuck watching this one through the wonders of my DVR, which means that I missed a real large piece of the first half while a team that shall not be named finished up their win over Pitt. The four-letter network was kind enough to put Kentucky on t"The Tres" and also on standard definition, but that doesn't help a brother when he has holiday obligations and has to time-shift the game to Sunday morning.

Usually under such circumstances I will try to avoid seeing the score or listening on XM Radio if I am away from home. I will even pre-empt conversations with people who know me as UK fan by saying, "Don't tell me about the game, I'm watching it later."

However, by the time I got to viewing this one, I was aware that Kentucky had beaten the Hoosiers by 19. I tell you: it makes for a very strange perception of things. I wasn't necessarily surprised by the score being close at half, but watching the second frame unfold was pretty bizarre. I just found myself waiting.....and waiting....and waiting some more for UK to (finally) put Tom Crean's team on blast.

Obviously, the explosion came very very late. And you know, it really wasn't even much of an explosion. More like a small salvo. A cannonade, perhaps. UK just continued to execute down the stretch, make its share of free throws and force IU into some poor sets and low percentage looks on their end. Kentucky seemed pretty peppy in the final 5 minutes while the boys from Bloomington appeared exhausted. And by the time you add it all up, it was a 81-62 Big Blue victory that looked really good scrolling across the bottom of the sports channel feeds all evening.

True, it was a good day for a couple of upperclassmen in DeAndre Liggins and Josh Harrellson. I'm continuing to be stirred by the play of Liggins in particular, who's added (or at least upgraded) a fairly reliable three-point shot to his repertoire this season, and still always manages to scrap and scrape and leave his left ventricle out on the Rupp Arena floor defensively. Back in the Billy Gillispie days (what was that? 15 years ago?) I was more frustrated by Mr. Liggins than anything. But he dribble-drives it pretty good, and doesn't mind doing the dirty work of taking charges, getting after 50-50 balls, and setting solid picks for his more celebrated teammates.

And since I don't have a whole lot of analysis to offer on the win, and since he put up 19 points and 9 boards--we're concluding this post by giving DeAndre the Blue Grass Chemical Player of the Game award for Saturday's win. DeAndre gets a refurbished 55-gal steel drum, spray-painted in any color that he chooses. As long as it's black.

GO CATS!

Bobby Knight + Golf = Profanity Squared

2010-12-10T15:33:00.006-06:00

Okay, to get you in the mood for tomorrow's showdown with the Hoosiers, I thought you might get a kick out of this old footage of former Indiana Coach Bobby Knight.

It should be obvious, but the language in this video is highly NSFW....in fact, that's the whole point. (So before you click, make sure the kids aren't nearby.)

Of course, the video's been around forever, but it never fails to gives me big, deep belly laugh to hear Bobby cursing away in all of his highly creative, extremely ill-tempered, four-letter glory. Coach Knight is known for many things, and I would submit that profanity is perhaps chief amongst them.

Now, I really do try to keep things clean around here, but anybody who's ever played a round of golf knows just how frustrating the game can be. And let's just say that Bobby gets a little more frustrated than most with the little white ball.

So without any further ado....ladies and gentlemen....the vocal stylings of General Robert Montgomery Knight....enjoy....

Hansbrough Regains Conscisousness; UK Pulls Away

2010-12-09T00:37:00.003-06:00

Apparently the Ben Hansbrough Show is only a brief sitcom rather than a full-length drama, and it was a good thing for Kentucky. The second-most famous of all the basketball-playing Hansbroughs was playing Wildcat-killer in the first half Wednesday night. However, UK eventually managed to cool him off in notching a 72-58 win at Rupp Arena West (aka Freedom Hall).

The annoying little Benjamin was practically running wild and tossing in three-pointers from Papa John's stadium (or at least trying.....witness that little "heat check" 30-footer he chucked up)-- but reality bites us all eventually. In the second frame, Cal's young squad put 'Brough and the rest of the Notre Dame squad on lockdown, causing the Irish to go 1 for 15 to start the half. Could it have been smelling salts?

UK frustrated the Irish with some excellent help defense, closing down lanes and denying the ball to potential shooters coming off screens. I noticed that DeAndre Liggins in particular was "shading" his man while dropping into the paint quite effectively, and UK's young guards showed boatloads of footspeed in preventing any easy buckets on fast breaks. Notre Dame had a tough time getting any great looks, and to be fair, they did miss some jumpers during Kentucky's defensive run that probably would normally fall a good percentage of the time.

Quickly going up 6 to start the second half, and with the defense on full alert, the Cats really didn't have to do much more to earn the win. Super-frosh Terrence Jones decided that he wanted to do plenty regardless. Nearly giving Jimmy Dykes an announcer-gasm, Jones absolutely bulled his way to 17 boards, nicely complementing his 27 points on the evening. The display was impressive in its variety, with Jones showing a decent outside touch for a couple of threes, getting to the free throw line on slick moves to the basket, and hammering in a dunk or two for good measure.

The poise that Kentucky showed down the stretch was a nice bonus. They milked the shot clock just enough, and continued to force Notre Dame to work for their points at the other end. Slightly shaky I guess, with some turnovers and just being weak with the ball on some possessions-- but for a team with few upperclassmen, they salted it away pretty good. 17 for 22 from the charity stripe is a number that most any coach would love. And keeping Notre Dame under 60 on the night-- that's a solid defensive game.

Depth An Issue For Young Cats

2010-12-05T00:28:00.003-06:00

Let me first say that I thought UK's loss to North Carolina was a very entertaining game. It had a March Madness feel, despite the sloppiness, and overall the entire 40 minutes were plenty intense. Clark and Gus were pouring it onto their CBS microphones pretty thick.

The UNC crowd was quite vocal in their support the wrong shade of blue, and it all came down to the wire and some great free throw shooting by the Tar Heels at the end. It was a much better college basketball game-- in a frantic, back and forth way, than you might normally see on the first weekend in December.

Sure, the loss stings. You never want to have to learn through losing. Especially to those guys.

But what I have as a real concern for UK right now, and it's no secret to anybody that follows the team, is simply frontcourt depth. Josh Harrellson played 21 over-performing defensive minutes but eventually fouled out in trying to contain Tyler Zeller today. Likewise, Eloy Vargas and Terrence Jones were eventually disqualified via personals (perhaps mercifully in the case of Jones, who did not seem to have his A, B, or even C game at the Dean Dome.)

Being pessimistic about the Kanter situation, and knowing that Daniel Orton, his family, and everybody else obviously has to deal with Daniel's (ill-advised?) decision to enter the NBA draft, (why was that again?) I figure that Kentucky is going to have to find some methods to keep its "bigs" on the court.

For starters, Josh especially needs to learn the difference between good fouls and bad. His fifth was an attempt to deny an entry pass in the waning minutes of the game, in a situation where Zeller was not exactly established way down on the block. Better for Josh to not try and reach over top in that particular situation, and just play straight up "D" after the catch. Don't give the ref a chance to call that one....and that goes double knowing that you've already got four.

Crazy as it sounds, I think UK also needs to just spread the fouls around a little more when facing teams with size. Doron Lamb logged 32 minutes, and played a tremendous game-- especially scoring the ball-- but he didn't commit a single foul. Usually a guy would accidentally pick up one or two just by playing solid defense. No, I'm not implying that you want a guy to just hack it up for the sake of hacking, but the Cats don't have the luxury this season of just running another 6'9" guy out there like Perry Stevenson to absorb some contact.

I really believe the guards are going to have to help out and double down more when it's necessary. UNC was only 1 for 11 from 3-point land, so it's not like the Cats were asking for a bunch of trouble by selectively abandoning the perimeter. Pick your spots and help out down low, backcourt. They will occasionally need the assistance.

But truly, another big part of the answer is that the Cats are going to have to go small for larger stretches than Coach Cal may prefer. That's where Kentucky's more talented players are anyway, and the current roster simply has more guys at the 1, 2, and 3 spots. I'm sure Cal can strategize for some extended periods of uptempo, pressing, dribble-drive type basketball. The season looks to demand it.

Terrence Jones has already had several much better days in his brief UK career, and will surely have many more. Josh/Jorts will give you everything that he can, including some questionable facial hair. And Vargas will develop into a solid contributor; I'm confident of that as well. But if you want to give yourself a mini-panic attack as a UK fan, imagine one of those guys going down with an injury for a few weeks, or missing a big chunk of the conference schedule. Depth is a concern, isn't it?

Kanter Fatigue

2010-12-04T00:40:00.002-06:00

I wish that Enes Kanter had been declared eligible by the NC2A months ago. How cool would that have been? He could have played with the UK team in Canada and totally terrorized our neighbors to the north. All the Midnight Madness/Undertaker hoopla wouldn't have left a funny taste in everyone's mouth. Perhaps even the Cats would have beaten UConn and thus won the Maui Tournament again. We'll never know.

Because Enes hasn't been declared eligible. And maybe he never will be.

But what I do know is that this particular eligibility saga has me completely and entirely worn out. It's been going on now for what, four score and seven years? I think there are kids in this nation that were born, potty-trained, sent off to school, and are now eligible to vote since the first time I heard about Lexington's favorite Turkish import, and his possible eligibility baggage.

I honestly appreciate Dick Vitale stating the other night to an ESPN audience that he personally found it ridiculous that Kanter might not be able to ever play in a college game while Auburn's Cam Newton prepares for an SEC Championship and possible BCS title on the gridiron. Note to the NCAA: Hypocrisy ain't just a river in Egypt.

The Kanter kid was literally a kid, a mere 16 years old, when affiliated with a Turkish pro team, and his family did what they thought would best prepare him to eventually attend college and play ball in the US....and as such they are all victims of a very funky European basketball system that has its own interests to protect.

And I can also see where a reasonable person could look at the facts at hand and determine: you know what, the "kid" played (and was paid) as a pro....salary, benefits, compensation, expenses, whatever you want to call it....money changed hands, and nobody denies it, and that's that. No Division I eligibility for you. Sorry.

But really, what's got me completely exhausted is the ongoing saga-ness of it all. The near daily rumors. The reports of "legal strategies" and appeal processes and compliance issues. The t-shirt and sign-based FREE ENES movement (kinda funny, but still.) It's become a total drag to me. It really has.

I just want a Decision. With a capital D. (Insert your own "taking my talents to South Beach" joke here.) Seriously....ANY decision, with some finality and some closure and preferably some fairness. This hot mess has got to come to an end.

Yes, I'd love to have Kanter on UK's roster against North Carolina and every remaining game this season. That would be great. He sounds like a nice guy, a talented baller, and a young man who's truly interested in contributing to the UK program and giving his absolute best for Coach Cal and his teammates.

But honestly, I've just got to have a conclusion, melodramatic or not, to the Enes Kanter soap opera. Soon. Or I may lose what remains of my fan sanity.

Regular Programming Will Resume Shortly

2010-11-14T12:48:00.000-06:00

Hey thanks to all of you that have been pestering me relentlessly via email. Yes, I do plan to blog up the 2010-11 Kentucky basketball season. How could I do otherwise?

Fact is, I did not get to see the Canada exhibition games, missed the Pikeville game entirely and only saw a piece of the Dillard game online. (Nice suit, Dale!) So my early season prep has largely been of the "read up on all of the coverage that I can get online" variety. Would have loved to have seen them all from start to finish, of course, but circumstances conspired...

As for the opener against ETSU, my personal coverage was limited to viewing only the second half, at an undisclosed Texas location with some fellow UK alums. Okay, it was Bagpipes in Austin. Thanks to Brian and Darian, et al for your hospitality. If you're ever in the area, you should feel free to join the crew for any and all Kentucky games. I'd even give you a good food recommendation, but I was too stuffed from an early dinner to check out the menu there.

So my limited impressions of the Cats' victory over the Bucs are as follows: very pleased with Terrence Jones, first and foremost, and also highly encouraged by the team's 3-point accuracy. Mr. Jones had a pretty "loud" 25 points, and demonstrated a smoothness and confidence that surely belies his freshman status. He rarely hesitated on the offensive end-- and while not truly gunning the ball, or ignoring open teammates-- he seemed quite content to look for his own shot, whether by taking his man off the dribble, or by throwing a decent little ball fake to get up a quick jumper. I'm not ready to anoint him as a 20 ppg guy based on the competition, but I seriously liked the scorer's mentality that I saw from him. It's always nice when you can join the company of a guy like Cotton Nash in the UK annals, with Jones tying the Wildcat legend for second-most points in a Kentucky debut.

Better yet, UK managed a 50% rate from three, and wouldn't you have liked to have gone 13 for 26 against West by God Virginia last spring? In addition to Jones (who was 2 for 3), Miller, Knight, Liggins, and Lamb all tallied shots from beyond the arc. So it would appear that Coach Cal is not blowing smoke when he maintains that this squad will be a good-shooting group. I'm sure we would all take a 50% average for the season, if there were a way to have it spotted to this team right now. Shame it doesn't really work that way...

So thanks for catching back up with me here, and I hope to get back to a regular posting schedule as the season gets underway.

Almost Heaven: Cats Stopped Short of Indy

2010-03-28T00:37:00.000-05:00

Only one college basketball fanbase gets to end its season on a happy note. And as the flaming family room furniture lighting up Morgantown attests, that fanbase for 2010, much to our disappointment, will not be the Big Blue Nation.

So I guess y'all are going to have to find a good Butler blog to read for the next week or so. (Too soon?)

Unfortunately, as witnessed, UK turned up absolutely cold at the Carrier Dome this evening. You really can't expect to beat a Big East champion team when you miss your first TWENTY three-point attempts, let alone giving up another dozen or so points from the charity stripe.

But what really drives me crazy is the little things, like wondering if UK would have been better off playing against the Mountaineers' normal starting PG, Tuck Bryant (out with a broken foot). Instead, we get Joel Mazzulla, and the guy seemingly has the game of his young life. Unbelievable. Well, maybe not as unbelievable as holding WVU to zero two-point field goals in the first half, and still going into the locker room with a deficit, but still.

UK actually equaled its defensive effort from Thursday vs. Cornell in only giving up 8 buckets in the first twenty minutes, but the difference of course was that all of the 'Eers baskets were of the three-point variety. Just strange, I tell you. Strange as one of those extra breast pockets on a Greg Anthony suit. WVU is not supposed to be killing people from outside, but that was how it went tonight.

In the second half, Kentucky gave up too many easy baskets for its comeback to be effective. Mazzulla was seen blowing past Wall and Bledsoe on far too many occasions for wide open lay-ups, and I hate to say it about a guy who scored 19 points and grabbed 9 boards-- but I say it with sincerity, and of course with all due respect: John Wall had a pretty bad game.

Brilliant as ever in the open court, Wall did turn it over 5 times and was only 4 for 8 from the free throw line. From treyville, he made just 1 0f 5. Now, I'm not fitting the young superstar with horns, mind you. Just sayin' it was not his best game. I kind of noticed it more on defense; despite the 4 steals, he just seemed to get beat off the dribble way more often than usual. Plus, some of the quick possessions (i.e. bad shots) were ill-advised when UK was trying to regain control. Hey, it happens, and that guy can still play for my team anytime.

Bob Huggins' team rode the momentum of all those early threes into the second half and really had UK struggling against their 1-3-1. I honestly need to look at this one again (if I can make myself) to figure out where UK was breaking down on the attack. Certainly, there were times when the Cats simply settled for jumpers, and that of course did them no favors with a trip to Indianapolis on the line.

But hey, West Virginia absolutely deserved the victory tonight. They outplayed and outshot UK. Period. It was death by the long-range sword. And in closing, let me just say that I miss this '09-10 team already. Who knows what next year's roster might look like? Undoubtedly, there will be some beloved teammates moving on.....but we will have plenty of time to talk about that later.

So congrats to the Kentucky Wildcats on a great season, and to West Virginia for winning the regional. Now let's all root against the Dookies.

For Cats, It's One More to the Final Four

2010-03-26T00:17:00.000-05:00

Kentucky outlasted Cornell Thursday night, pulling away for a seventeen point differential in the end, 62-45.

Gotta be brief, but I first want to give the Big Red some credit for having a great season and keeping the game competitive. I certainly could have done without their 7-footer trying to throw a saddle on DeMarcus and riding him to the ground, but for the most part I thought the Ivy Leaguers played clean, hard-nosed basketball and did their school proud.

As per my policy, I am leaving the refs out of it.

The way Kentucky put the "D" on Cornell in this Sweet 16 matchup, they really just had no chance. Funny thing is, with UK's defense, there are times when you almost want to talk about them like a separate unit. As in football--where the offense and defense are made up of 11 different players, with different coordinators for each side of the ball.

I submit that at times, the Cats can put on a defensive performance worthy of it's own nickname. No, I am not going to try to put a witty tag on them myself...the point is, like when Cornell was still sitting on 16 points for the entire first half-- you know they were up against a college basketball version of the Wrecking Crew, or the Purple People Eaters. A game-altering, championship level defense. Media darling Ryan Wittman was turned into a complete non-factor when UK cranked it up.

And honestly, I felt like the team did not play anywhere near its best game offensively. John Wall looked pretty bad early in the game, IMO. The guys were only 2 for 16 from three. Tons of missed free throws. And still a seventeen point win? Yikes.

So now it's a Saturday matchup vs. the second-seeded Mountaineers of West (By God) Virginia...Robert Huggins and his Beasts of the Big East are all that remains between Kentucky and a trip to the Final Four.

Competitions In Which Cornell is Likely to Defeat UK

2010-03-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

CHESS: this one immediately came to mind. Probably a cliche, but the game of chess is of course strictly cerebral, and requires no athletic ability whatsoever. However, I would personally envision Patrick Patterson as a super smooth bishop, moving diagonally in space, and John Wall would make an awesome attacking knight. Bruce Pearl? Definitely a queen. Hey-o!

JEOPARDY: I bet those Ivy Leaguers could really give the Cats a run for their money on this popular syndicated game show. Alex Trebek: "Oooh, sorry DeMarcus, but you forgot to phrase your answer in the form of a question. Darnell, you control the board."

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: I just can't see anybody on the Kentucky team really being into this kind of "alternate world" stuff. Sure, maybe some of them might play Call of Duty 4 or Metal Gear Solid for kicks, but let's face it, if you are a UK basketball player, you're like that Dos Equis guy...you live vicariously through yourself.

MONOPOLY: Possibly the most classic board game ever, I figure the Cornell players break this time-killer out on those long bus trips to Brown and Princeton in lieu of playing spades like all the cool people.

WOMEN'S HOOPS: Uh, no. Scratch that. The Kentucky ladies have been kicking tail all season long and have now advanced themselves to the Sweet 16 of the women's bracket. (Congratulations.) The lady Cornellians, meanwhile, were 7-20 on the year.

ROWING: Just seems like something in which all those northeast schools would truly excel. In fact, their website shows that Cornell has both heavyweight AND lightweight rowing teams, so there you go. (Apparently, no middleweights in the sport of rowing. Hmmm.) But I'd honestly pay some good money to watch Daniel Orton trying to fit into one of those skinny little boats. Wouldn't you?

SUDOKU: Edge would once again have to go to the Big Red here. And you can guarantee that Cal would be complaining that our guys picked up all their bad habits in the summer AAU sudoku leagues, and they think they "puzzle" ice cream. But Cal would also be chasing that 5-star junior from Brooklyn who's been flashing some mad logic skills and recently narrowed down his list to four, with Syracuse as the front-runner.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Probably one of those games where the script would be flipped so that Cornell would land a top seed, and UK would be UK garnering a #12, coming from the lightly-regarded SEC. (It's a football conference, for crying out loud. As we're constantly reminded.)

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: Self-explanatory.

RUBIK'S CUBE: This is one game where the Cats' propensity for letting up on the gas could really come back and haunt them. I mean, you get those first couple of sides done and think you can coast, and then BAM! Cornell's got it solved and you're knocked out of the Sweet 16. Bummer.

STEEPLECHASE: You'd think Kentucky would have the advantage in the heart of equine country, but the fact is, both freshman members of UK's starting backcourt have a documented and near-crippling fear of horses. In fact, Eric Bledsoe was actually once bitten by a crazed gelding at the Alabama state fair. True story.

TWISTER: I don't know....something just tells me those Cornell guys are really, really flexible.

UK Squeaks Into Sweet 16 By A Hair

2010-03-23T00:42:00.000-05:00

If this is what Cal means by "landing the plane", then this team looks ready for the challenge of a shorter runway, or maybe even an aircraft carrier. What a fine manifestation of basketball that was in the first two rounds for Kentucky.

That's how you put away lower seeds, Dorothy. You eviscerate them. With prejudice.

ETSU: not really surprising. Should have beaten them pretty good, and the Cats did just that. Wake Forest: slightly different story.

Wake was a power conference team, had legitimate talent, and had won a lot of games this season. Yeah, quite a few people had picked Texas over them in the opening round, and the Deacs needed some extra time to advance, but not in my wildest dreams did I think that Saturday game would be such a rout.

First off, let me summarize the "electric postseason atmosphere" of New Orleans Arena as I experienced it this weekend. I think I can sum it up for you in one word: Eh.

The lower section was filled, of course. And yes, the crowd was predominantly made up of Big Blue fans. But man, there was plenty of space available. So much space, in fact, that Mrs. Whisperer and I took advantage of some empty seats much closer to the court, very near the tunnel where the team entered and exited-- and very close to the always effervescent CD, a fellow alum who recently relocated to Beaumont.

(The original upper level tickets won't even make a great souvenir, as they get printed so far in advance that they are unable to show which teams will be playing. Nice hologram, though. And yes, I'll keep 'em.)

So we did our share of yelling and clapping at the appropriate times, and there was a steady buzz of support for the Cats, but the place just was not exactly cracklin'. Even the ODU-Baylor game, which was much tighter, did not have that intense, hold-your-breath kind of frenzy that you expect in a tournament climate. Perhaps everyone was completely spent after hanging out too long at Pat O-Brien's.

But we could see Ashley from where we were sitting, and we could also see the life draining out from the Wake Forest team as UK opened up the margin-- and the triple XL can of you-know-what-- all over their entire squad and its ACC pedigree.

A magnum opus by the Cats, really. You've read all about the statistics and the reaction and the press conferences by now.... and I'd describe the Bledsoe jam for you if I had gotten a great view of it, but you would only accuse me of further dunk envy. (Guilty.) I've only watched it about 3 or 4 times online.

Instead I'll tell you how cool it was to see the guys leaving the court triumphantly. (Warning: more crappy cell phone pics to come.) I was even in a pretty good position to catch Boogie's sweaty headband as he tossed it into the crowd, but it went to some guy about 8 feet away from me who apparently judged the wind direction and angle of descent better than I did. I also spied Brandon giving Coach Cal a high five on his way off the court. CORRECTION: he now also claims to have given high fives to several team members as well. Whatever. If they win the Kentucky's 8th championship, he'll probably be telling people 20 years from now that he was the walk-on who earned a scholarship.

But perhaps one of the things I'll take away most from the weekend is how, as many have mentioned, the Big Blue Nation seems like a family. No, not dysfunctional and inbred. You know what I mean. There were the ubiquitous C-A-T-S cheers on the walk back to the French quarter. Other UK fans asking about your thoughts on the game, or whether you were going to Syracuse (I wish.) Fist bumps from people you've never met from places like Mercer county. I don't know, just the way sports brings people together in a good way and all that rot. It was just cool.

So naturally, we wound up on Bourbon Street to celebrate. And more strangers were telling us that they had seen some of the guys on the team out there the day before. It was raining pretty good in The Big Easy on Saturday night, but I can't say it bothered me. As we headed back to the hotel, we left our man CD with his hard-earned Jagermeister hat on backwards (don't ask) and a smile on everyone's face.

Of course, there was the one hater (there's always at least one) who spotted my UK gear and just had to ask me a smart-alecky question. I just tried to roll with it....probably a sore loser Wake Forest fan...

Loser: "So how much money did you guys have to pay John Wall to get him to come to Kentucky?"

WW: (very slight pause) "I have no idea, but he's worth every penny."

So that's pretty much my take on the Cats in "Blue Orleans." Thanks so much for reading. And I'll leave you with one last snap (since I know you really care), of my delicious Sunday morning breakfast, courtesy of the beignet capitol of the world...you've got to admit, that's more than enough powdered sugar for a Sweet Sixteen.

Oh My!

2010-03-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

It's finally time! Can you feel it? Got your bracket ready?

Well, I'm pretty geeked for the Madness, but I would not expect a very suspenseful Thursday evening for the Cats. Just too big of a talent gap for ETSU to overcome, I would imagine. Yes, it could be close early, like plenty of #1 vs. #16 matchups start...but eventually the depth will show, UK will settle in, and the final margin will be healthy.

It's probably more a matter of how interested these guys will be from the outset. Hopefully, they take to heart Coach Cal's admonitions about the "first five minutes" being so crucial, at the start of both halves. (Don't you love his Jeannine Edwards interviews? Tell me there's not some chemistry there.)

Anyway, why let the Buccaneers hang around at all? It's a given that East Tennessee will be playing with fully adrenalized, nothing to lose, shock the world abandon. So I say to the starters, especially to John, Big Cuz, and Patrick: Get your work in early, don't let them hang around, and let's see plenty of Perry Stevenson and Josh Harrellson in the second half.

And while they don't give any style points in the tournament, it'd be nice to hear at least one of those patented Dick Enberg exclamations before the final buzzer. You know the one. So rather than predicting a final score, I'm going to predict that Mr. Enberg will blurt it out after one of those furious John Wall drives to the basket, where J. morphs into a spinning, smoothed-out Tasmanian Devil wearing high tops.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to pace yourselves. It's another full slate of games on Friday.

Busting the East Bracket

2010-03-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

Letting the dust settle a bit, I guess I don't have too many gripes about the path that has been laid out for the Wildcats. Getting to a Final Four is never going to be easy, and you have to like the fact that UK did get a number one seed, which was well-deserved. The oft-cited statistical probability is significant, when earning a #1 seed as opposed to a #2-- it greatly increases a team's likelihood of making it to the last weekend of the season.

Now personally, I wanted to see the Cats come through Houston so that I could check out a regional here in my own back yard. Instead, it will be the Puke Blue Devils coming through the Lone Star State (barring an upset). Whether that particular seeding was fair or not, I will leave for others to argue. Certainly the #2 seed there in the South (Villanova) would seem to have easier path for the first couple rounds-- vs. UK likely having to play a more "name brand" opponent in the Wake Forest/Texas winner.

Now, I do think Bob Huggins will use the classic "we were snubbed" motivational tool to get his West Virginia team fired up. They are obviously a very talented (strong, even rugged?) group and I have seen them several times this year. Their bigs are a lot to handle. But I'd be wary of looking too far ahead, as perhaps Temple or Wisconsin would provide a very good test in the Sweet 16. (See?! I'm already guilty of looking ahead myself!)

The point is, I don't get too much out of complaining over the bracket that Kentucky is up against this year. UK has always had more than its share of haters-- in the conference, in the media, and yeah, probably on the selection committee. But I do feel like this is a special team and it has Final Four talent, no matter how inexperienced. So let's just talk about East Tennessee State for now, and then after that, we can see who's next.

Cats Look to Use SEC Title as Springboard

2010-03-15T00:36:00.000-05:00

Heckuva weekend, Brownie.....must have been truly insane to be a UK fan in Nashville these past few days.....Lord knows there were plenty of them there to testify to it.

So I really don't know where to start, but I suppose the Cousins putback would be the most logical place. That particular play goes right up there on the burned-into-your-memory list of last second heroics in the Kentucky pantheon. (A la the Brassow tip, the Nazr runner, the Padgett three, etc). What a testament to the nimble feet and the basketball savvy of Big Cuz, to weasel in there and flip that thing up off the backboard.

The fact that he did it to Mississippi State, well, I'm gonna have to consider that poetic. You think DeMarcus is still getting texts and phone calls from Starkville? I reckon the Bulldogs must have done some serious offending of the basketball deities to lose a game like that. Oh, man! The old miss the second free throw on purpose trick!? How many times does that even work? One out of ten? Ouch.

Cuz certainly had to earn his keep all afternoon long versus Jarvis "Please tell me he is graduating" Varnado. (If not graduating, then at least tell me he's used all his eligibility). But you also have to credit Bledsoe for "making" the perfect miss-- and J. Wall for getting up a prayer/heave just to give UK a chance. That was one of those plays that makes you wonder once again if this team is working with just a little extra pixie dust this season. Or if you want to go with "Cat" terminology, let's say that I hope they are saving another life or two for the Big Dance.

And quickly looking back at Saturday, UK certainly beat the life out of the hated Vols. Kentucky pretty much initiated a full security threat orange lockdown on Bruce Pearl's squad and outright suffocated them defensively in the second half. Tennessee looked absolutely discombobulated by UK's intensity and I honestly think the defeat was bad enough for UT that it really hurt their NCAA tournament seeding. Not that I care.

So the semifinal was a lot easier than it should have been for Kentucky, if you think about it. And the final was as close as it gets, with State being a mere tenth of a second away from taking down the top-seeded Cats. Shoot, looking back to the Friday opener vs. Alabama-- a pretty tough win-- this little Nashville trip was quite the challenge for UK, and it should be a more than adequate preparatory course for the Dance.

The team made it clear that they were not interested in cutting down nets at the conference level, but I would have been tempted to get the scissors out after running that gauntlet. Of course, all that Coach Cal has been preaching lately is that it is "the next level" that he and the Wildcats are really interested in-- that the SEC was not exactly at the top of their "to do" list. But those three wins, and especially the final this afternoon, ought to make for a nice little momentum builder as the Cats get ready to invade New Orleans.

Kentucky Regular Season Awards

2010-03-11T19:05:00.000-06:00

Ahead of tomorrow's SEC Tournament tipoff for the Cats, I figured I would hand out a few awards in honor of UK's tremendous 29-2 regular season.

The REAL Coach of the Year: Cal! (Duh.) All due respect to Kevin Stallings, and he had a great interview on Jim Rome's show today, but I really don't see how John Calipari got overlooked by his SEC coaching brethren on this one. Lil' bro and I had a brief discussion about this-- again, admittedly, Stallings is great and they do a nice job there at Vandy-- but come on now, in less than a year on the job, John Calipari just assembled a HUGE amount of incoming talent, installed a brand new system and coaching staff, won the conference, all but locked up a #1 seed, completely re-energized an entire fan base, dare I say an entire state, and oh by the way (wait for it.....wait for it....) beat Vandy twice in the process. Yes, you could say I'm bitter about it.

Enigma of the Year: Darius Miller. I don't want to say he underperformed, so we'll stick with the enigmatic label-- and I'll grant that he has shown some consistency down the stretch. However, a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball with his size and skills should be expected to completely lock up a starting spot, and we all shouldn't have to wonder what type of outing we're going to see from him on a night-to-night basis.

Overexposed Dance of the Year: Okay, so I'm a little tired of people flexing their arms and moving their fists back and forth. It was cute for a while, though, and I'm guessing the rest of the country is going to get caught up with it during the NCAA tournament.

Rupp Arena Visitor of the Year: Vitale? Um, no. And keep your LeBrons and Magics and Roethlisbergers, too. I'm sticking with my second favorite Ashland Tomcat, Miss Ashley. You'd like a picture, you say? Sure. Twist my arm.

Game of the Year*: Hmmm...well, it's always nice to thrash UNC, but that turned out to be pretty underwhelming given the Tar Heels' fall from grace. And beating Indiana anymore just seems like punking a first grader for his Pokemon cards. There were some good conference victories to consider, but I guess I would have to say the Louisville win is just about always the sweetest. All right, it was ugly this January. It was hard-fought. It looked like football at times. But when you beat an in-state rival like that, it just puts a little pep in your step. *Hopefully Kentucky's true game of the year comes in the postseason of course.

Headwear of the Year: (Tie) DeMarcus Cousins' headband, DeMarcus Cousins' bomber hat. One for work, the other for play. "Peter Parker Swag". Ha! That guy kills me.

Dunk of the Year: Could easily have just renamed this category the "John Wall Dunk of the Year." Tough call, actually. Really liked that breakaway at Georgia last week. But I suppose I'll take the left-handed tomahawk at IU's Assembly Hall in December. Oh man, I'm gonna miss that kid. I don't even want to think about it.

Villain of the Year: Bruce Pearl would be the obvious choice, and I thought about Downey too, but instead I'm giving this to the Mississippi State fans as a group. Y'all know what you did.

Comeback Player of the Year: DeAndre Liggins. Unanimously. Went from the deep, deep end of the bench-- for reasons still not entirely explained-- to becoming a valued contributor throughout conference play and an excellent energy guy. He makes the occasional three, plays well above average defense, and gets tons of loose balls. And for the longest time, I really thought he would be transferring elsewhere over the Christmas break. Nice job, Mr. Liggins.

Lovefest of the Year: ESPN's College Gameday visit to Rupp Arena prior to the Tennessee game. That was awesome. Really wish I could have been there. Jeez, even the reviled Digger Phelps got into the spirit of things. Just a cool event and a tour de force for the entire program. I was very, very proud of my alma mater that day. Sadly, it had nothing to do with academic achievement.

Cal-ism of the Year: "They think they poop ice cream" (referring to his freshman stars in particular).

Venue of the Year: The Moon Palace Resort in Cancun. Bizarre. Cracker box of a place, essentially a ballroom with chandeliers possibly in play. An open bar in the concession area. But hey, that turned out to be a good trip for Kentucky. Got a couple of wins, some good team bonding, fun trip for the boosters, and nobody got swine flu.

But speaking of venues, it's apparent that the one destination UK has on its mind this season is Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (And maybe they can take some hardware out of the Sommet Center in Nashville first.) Enjoy the tournament.

Wildcats Take Care of Business In Athens

2010-03-03T23:17:00.000-06:00

Georgia's Dogs found themselves on the short end of an 80-68 final on their own senior night, largely due to UK turning up the defensive heat in the second half. Kentucky looked awfully good over a 10-minute or so stretch, especially when the turnovers were being converted into some nice fast breaks..... and this game featured several highlight reel dunks (from both teams).

Boogie Cousins definitely got down to business, handling the ball like a point guard on a couple of fast breaks himself, using a delicious little right-to-left move for a layup and also dropping a tasty dime for P-Pat.

Overall, a very "professional" type win for UK on the road, and a nice way for the Cats to begin what we all hope will be an undefeated month. What say we celebrate with a tune...

Georgia Is Surely on Calipari's Mind

2010-03-02T21:47:00.000-06:00

I don't figure Coach Cal is going to be too distracted by the Maker's Mark commemorative bottle hoopla to have his UK team ready and rarin' to take on the Georgia Bulldogs Wednesday night. The worst-kept secret in the SEC might be this: 13-14 UGA is pretty darned good.

In addition to wins over Illinois, Tennessee and Florida, Mark Fox's squad also played a pretty competitive game in Rupp Arena back in January. Georgia was up by six late in the first half in Lexington, and was within two points with only 1:05 remaining in the game. So we shouldn't necessarily expect UK's trip to Athens to be a simple walk in the park.

The last thing UK needs at this time of the season is to drop another game, especially to a much less-heralded (albeit underrated) team the likes of Georgia. Consecutive losses would seriously jeopardize the Cats' chances at a 1-seed, not to mention raise an hysterical outcry from Big Blue Nation and the sports media in general. (Honestly, if I have to read another article about Kentucky's weak 3-point shooting, I'm going to have to choke somebody. Preferably a Kansas fan.)

But I would imagine that Cal, as usual, has it under control. He's already spun the loss in Knoxville effectively enough that I was nearly convinced that the Fiddlin' Five (v. 2.0) had actually pulled that one out. *Sigh*

Now.....I do like Calipari's idea of just a bit more playing time for Ramon Harris, if for no other reason than the fact he is a seasoned player and he also gives consistent effort, especially on the defensive end. If Ramon fails to make regularly make the outlandishly athletic play, you can at least usually count on him to make the smart play. UK just isn't going to win many games from that small forward (by committee) spot, but it can't afford to lose any either.

On paper, this should be UK's 28th "W" of the year, but obviously Calipari knows his team can ill-afford to count it as a hatched chicken. He's got to have his guys fired up from the start for this road game. Personally, I could do without another soaring Travis Leslie jam (which I am sure Big Cuz remembers quite well), and I think Trey Thompkins is also absolutely legit. The calendar now says March, and that means the old cliche rings more true than ever-- you have to take them one at a time.

Absorbing A Second Loss

2010-02-28T22:05:00.000-06:00

All right, so I gave it a full day (and a half), trying to simmer down a little. Had myself a pretty decent weekend otherwise, the weather was great, had some fun with the family and all that stuff. Took a virtual chill pill. But I gotta say I'm still a little peeved about the Cats losing to Tennessee.

Mainly because it was Tennessee, I guess.

Objectively, there's not a whole lot to be ashamed about, losing to the 19th ranked team in the country on their home floor-- a team that had knocked off #1 Kansas earlier in the season. And sure, UK was coming off the quick turnaround of late Thursday to early Saturday, having avenged their only previous loss of the season to the "other" USC.

But man, you have got to show up a little better than that if you're Kentucky. No excuses. Potential clincher for the conference title on the line. National CBS coverage. On a day that the #1 Jayhawks took another "L" themselves. You knew that Knoxville was gonna be extremely hostile and the Sweaty One, Bruce Pearl, would be pulling out all the stops, including but not limited to, the day-glo sportscoat.

You just can't dig that deep of a first-half hole for yourself. That would be the main takeaway from this one. A certain former UK coach used to say, "When you lose, don't lose the lesson." And we all know how young these Wildcats are, but they must recognize that it is imperative to keep a team from running away from you to that extent. Nobody's 19 points better than UK this year.

So even when you can't buy a shot and aren't catching any breaks, you have too find a way to keep things reasonable on the scoreboard, confident that you will eventually make a run and get back into it.

And certainly, I was encouraged that the Cats did just that. They clawed right back and managed to tie it. They showed some grit and intensity in the second half. Absolutely. But they left themselves no margin for error... and in classic SEC rival form, a native of the Commonwealth makes the big shot to seal the deal against UK. Take a bow, Mr. Hopson. Now go jump in whatever the heck that river is that runs by your orange-infested campus.

Now seriously, am I apoplectic over this setback? Hardly. Some might even argue that this was a good loss that will sharpen the team's focus as the calendar turns to March. (Try telling it to Dan-O...."good loss" Ha!) But I was disappointed that at this stage, UK tried to simply mail it in, especially defensively. Way too much matador action yesterday. Mildly disturbing.

Must.... chill.....27-2......#1 seed still in sight...

Payback Is A (Something That Rhymes With "Witch")

2010-02-25T22:19:00.000-06:00

Say, can anybody tell me where Darrin Horn is from? No? Whether he might have any Kentucky connections? At all? Anybody? Hmmm...maybe next time ESPN should mention something about his background, oh I don't know, maybe about forty-six times or so. Can never have enough of that story line. No sir.

(NOTE: I like Darrin. I really do. I've made that known. Hell, I even like Devan Downey. I think he's a nice player-- a gunner, to be sure-- but fun to watch from an objective point of view, pulling for the lil' guy. The problem is that for every deeeep three or crazy layup that he makes, he also bricks something from 24 ft. that he shouldn't be shooting. They don't tend to show those on the highlights. But we're not here to talk about Devan Downey.)

No, I'd much rather pontificate on how the Kentucky Wildcats brought the heat in turning in their 27th victory on the season, avenging...well, you know....that one little blemish. The Good Lord saith that revenge is His, and I always let him have it, but Big Blue just absolutely had to get 'em some in Rupp....to the tune of about 20 points by the time it was totaled.

Defense tonight was pretty good, I'd say. Yes, Downey got his, as he always does (26 points, on a whopping 25 shots). But when these Cats get serious about clamping down, they tend to put together the runs that ultimately make the difference. There was a rather extended stretch in the first half, where, as I like to put it, South Carolina just got "stuck" on 23. UK just decided to really get some stops, to make SC really work for their offensive looks, and there just wasn't much the Roosters could do about it.

(NOTE TWO: How many points would Patrick Patterson wind up with if he took 25 shots? Patrick had a tremendous game and more than atoned for his poor outing in Columbia three weeks ago.)

And sure, Cousins was certainly his beastly self tonight, making a spin move dunk that had me jumping off the couch. He notched yet another double-double and had Dickie V raving about his potential as a pro. Magic Johnson also had nice things to say about Cousins, and especially about John Wall. What I found most interesting was that Magic stressed how "cool" they both seemed, for lack of a better term-- that the freshman weren't allowing the hype to get to them, or wear them down, and that they were managing to exceed the high expectations. Not just the talent, but it was the attitude was what impressed him.

(NOTE THREE: Magic's put on a few, but that was a sweet purple-checked shirt he was wearing. I'm totally gonna wear mine to the office sometime next week.)

I really thought Kentucky might run away with it early, since they jumped out quick for a change. Kind of nice to play with an early lead, right guys? But credit to Horn's team for settling down and making at least a contest of it. That "points in the paint" graphic that the Worldwide Leader kept showing was really the story of this one, IMO. Daniel Orton provided some good minutes off the bench, and really, who can match up with Coach Cal's frontcourt when everybody is clicking?

It will be a quick turnaround with the early start Saturday vs. the Tennessee Gangst...excuse me...Volunteers, so I do hope that the young Cats get plenty of beauty sleep tonight and Friday. No Two Keys, tonight fellas, okay? I really expect that to be a tough one in the building that Pat Summitt built, and I do still think UK looks a bit tired (another missed dunk by Patrick and I'm gonna seriously rob a liquor store).

An Exclusive Interview With John Wall's Shooting Sleeve

2010-02-22T20:07:00.000-06:00

You know exactly where to come when you need a hard-hitting, ground-breaking, investigative interview with a notable inanimate object connected with UK basketball. And this time, we've got something special...

Wildcat Whisperer: Thanks for joining us, John Wall's Shooting Sleeve.
John Wall's Shooting Sleeve: No problem, thanks for having me.

WW: So, what should I call you, just.... Sleeve?
JWSS: Yeah, sure. Some people call me Double-S, or Sleevey, but yeah Sleeve is cool.

WW: Please tell us a little about yourself. What's your background?
JWSS: Well, I'm a Nike product, of course, so I'm from Oregon...what? What's so funny?

WW: (chuckling, resisting Mitch Barnhart joke) Oh, nothing...go on.....Oregon?
JWSS: Yeah, well, not really from Oregon, but I guess you could say I was designed there. My earliest memories are actually from a textile factory across the Pacific, quite a long way from Oregon, if you now what I mean.

WW: I see... and you are made from what, exactly?
JWSS: Well, most of my siblings are 84% DRI-Fit polyester and 16% spandex, but since I'm John Wall's shooting sleeve, I'm actually a proprietary blend of 100% awesome.

WW: I'll say.
JWSS: Yeah, it's good to be me.

WW: Can you shed a little light on what it is that you do for John, exactly?
JWSS: Well, not a whole lot, to be honest. I squeeze his magic right arm a little bit. Provide some padding. Bring a little more blue and white into the mix, I suppose. But John really does all of the work. I'm just a little extra support is all.

WW: Uh-huh. Well, a lot of readers want to know...are you concealing anything under there? Some scars, perhaps? A tattoo?
JWSS: Oh man, John would probably kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but yeah, there's a tat on there, just a little slogan on his right forearm.

WW: No way! What does it say?
JWSS: It says, "Duke Sucks". (Pause.) Just kidding, man. Had you going there for a second, didn't I?

WW: Ha ha, verrry funny. But I guess a sense of humor is valuable in your line of work?
JWSS: Yeah, I mean imagine if it had to spell out Krzyzewski...(pause)....anyway..... if you want to talk valuable, sleeves like me are actually available for under 20 bucks online. They've been flying off the shelves, too.

WW: Do you figure that's because of their association with the so-called Basketball Jesus?
JWSS: Well, you know, lots of guys are wearing them now. Bledsoe has one too, Patrick sometimes, and of course plenty of NBA guys, so it's not just J-Dub.

WW: Yeah, but your man Wall is white-hot these days....SI cover...player of the year candidate....
JWSS: Oh sure, but it's all deserved, is it not? You saw the Miami game, right? Season opener in Rupp, true freshman nails the buzzer-beater? And how many players have the skills and the cojones...can I say cojones?
WW: You just did.
JWSS: ...the cojones to pull off that defensive stop at Vanderbilt. The kid's big time. Cal knows it. Even LeBron knows it. (More of a headband guy, than a sleeve guy, but still. Gotta respect LeBron.)

WW: Yeah, I suppose we could talk all day about the phenom. What's been your favorite game, or highlight so far?
JWSS: Well, that reverse lob dunk against Hartford was pretty sweet. And then the left-handed throwdown on IU was all kinds of nasty, too (although the left arm is bare, if I can just point that out) but really, the best thing about the kid is that I always feel like the NEXT game could be even better. He could still get that triple-double, that 30-point game, that jaw-dropping, did-he-really-just-do-that kind of highlight on any particular night. Fact is, I don't think John has peaked as a college player yet, and I don't think the team has peaked yet either. Feelin' me?

WW: (suppressing fit of pure, unadulterated joy) Yeah, Sleeve, I'm feelin' you. I believe you're absolutely right. We're all looking forward to March in the Big Blue Nation, that's for sure. So is there anything else you'd like to say before we let you go?
JWSS: Yeah, there is. And I'm glad to be able to get this out in the open. You know The Dance? The one everybody's doing now? Totally my idea.

WW: Seriously?
JWSS: Yeah man, think about it. You put that arm up there and make the fist and start twisting back and forth...what's that focus on? What's the first thing you're gonna notice about a guy doing that?

WW: His sleeve?
JWSS: Exactly!

WW: Well, thanks again for stopping by.
JWSS: You got it, man. Peace.

photo credit: Walter Cornett

Another Great Escape

2010-02-20T23:38:00.000-06:00

They just keep doing it. This young, at times extremely immature Kentucky team continues to find ways to snatch victory from the jaws of you-know-what.

Turnovers can't stop them. Missed free throws can't stop them. Abysmal shooting (36%? Really?) and even silly technical fouls (we're looking at you, Mr. Bledsoe) can't stop them.

And perhaps most importantly, a picture-perfect length of the floor inbounds play at the buzzer on Saturday, could not stop them. Sure, that Ogilvy shot would have only been for the tie.....but every UK fan knows exactly what memorable play that long pass, catch, and shoot was reminiscent of. So....let's change the subject.

Hey, how about the Patrick Patterson renaissance? It's great, isn't it? Big Pat's three from the corner was probably the play of the game. (Although Wall blocking a Vandy shot, and then pulling it down to get the the free throw line was pretty brassy, too.) Anyway, Patrick put up 13 and 13 this evening, and it was a steady, heady, upperclassman-in-charge type of performance, IMO. Sure, he got a little flustered and slammed the ball to the floor (after that mild tussle with a Commodore in the second half)-- but dang it, Patrick CARES!

I kinda like Mad Patrick. He could really be awesome. Gotta work on the hops though, Pat. (Maybe the guy's a little tired?) Long season. So get some of your spring back, big fella. No more missed dunks, k?

Truth be told, Kentucky seemed awfully ripe in Nashville. I believe the Cats could have absolutely been had, and Coach Stallings has to feel like his squad let one get away. But I suppose the so-called Memorial Magic wasn't fully effective this season-- leaving a lot of very strange gold-painted persons (and one really big dude in a military uniform) extremely disappointed. The way UK was shooting it from the floor today, coupled with how the free throws weren't falling either, left the Cats as vulnerable as they are likely to be for any particular game.

This season's Five is certainly much more of the Fiddlin' variety, but all ugliness aside, Cal and Co. get another big conference road win, and you just can't argue with the results.

Little-Known Facts About Vanderbilt's Memorial Gymnasium

2010-02-18T21:55:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm not gonna lie. This game at Vandy on Saturday scares me a bit. They have a solid team, they will of course be jacked up like Robin Williams on three Red Bulls, and they have that stupid stinkin' gym working for them. But I did manage to uncover a few items about the place that I hope you might find intriguing....

* The facility holds approximately 14,000 people, of which 13,988 are country music lovers.

* As freshman, all Vanderbilt players are given special instructions for locating the dead spots in the floor and avoiding the indoor air currents that are used to deflect opponents' shots.

* The playing surface is made from rejected wood that was deemed unsuitable for Cornelius Vanderbilt's coffin.

* This floor is polished with the same brand of wax paste that Kevin Stallings uses to shine his forehead.

* Vanderbilt's all time leader in blocked shots, Will Perdue, proposed to his girlfriend at halfcourt of Memorial Gymnasium during the Tennessee game in 1986. She said no.

* The lights are dimmed during game play to give AJ Ogilvy a more dramatic background for his frosted tips.

* Former Kentucky player/athletic director and former Vanderbilt coach, C.M. Newton, was once quoted as saying the place smelled a little bit like a pair of his old Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

* After beating Vandy on a last second runner in '98, Kentucky's Nazr Mohammed fell from the court, breaking his leg. He then shouted "Sic semper tyrannis" before hobbling to the locker room.

* Nashville locals often refer to the gym as "The Lil' Opry".

* A 2002 facility renovation, tabbed at $25 million, did not expand the women's restroom facilities. In fact, no public arena ever has enough women's restroom facilities. Federal law.

* Memorial Gymnasium-- the building itself-- hated Saul Smith, too.

Trio of Double-Doubles Needed for UK Win in Starkville

2010-02-16T23:40:00.000-06:00

(Admit it, this picture makes you a little hungry.) Jarvis Varnado finally met his match, with three Wildcat amigos notching at least 18 points and 10 rebounds Tuesday night. John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Patrick Patterson combined to ensure that all was right in the SEC basketball world as Kentucky snapped a recent Mississippi State bugaboo with its 81-76 overtime win.

Varnado, who fouled out, was unable to re-create his famous Gillispie-era block party and was close to a non-factor in only 23 minutes of play. Perhaps predictably, it was Big Cuz who was the main beneficiary of Varnado's absence, leading the Cats with 19 points and 14 boards. Maybe someone should scatter Cousins' cell phone number around Vanderbilt's campus for the rest of the week.

State came in with the greenest of all lights from three-point land, attempting 35 treys in all, and fortunately for Kentucky, making only 10 (28.6%). Kentucky also enjoyed a very wide overall rebounding margin of 52-35, which led to a lot of put-backs for the Big Blue and limited the Bulldog's own second-chance opportunities. Even Liggins, Dodson, and Orton pulled down 4 rebounds each-- and the Cats were certainly in need of every possession as the game required an extra period to decide a victor.

Rick Stansbury sounded so dejected on his post-game radio show that I almost, almost, felt a bit sorry for him. The Bulldogs were playing their third game in only six days and fell to 6-5 in the SEC. Stansbury lamented the fact that his home fans had to leave disappointed after creating such a great environment and cheering their hearts out for the nationally-televised game. He was heartbroken that State had several empty possessions at the end of regulation that could have closed it out.

To which I say: Silly rabbit, wins are for Cats.

If you've been watching Cal's team all season, you had to feel this was the type of contest that UK has learned to pull out. Yeah, they mess around too much, and I for one, (although I'm most assuredly not alone) hate it. These Cats play down to their competition at times, and I've criticized it (you know, like last week). They do act like a young team, no argument about it. But you know, twenty-five in the "W" column doesn't come by accident. That's TWENTY-FIVE and counting.

Did UK hit every single free throw down the stretch and in OT? No. Did they get themselves a really great shot at the end of regulation? Nah. Silly turnovers? More than a few.

But they did get enough from the charity stripe (attempting 15 more than the Dogs.) And DeAndre Liggins surely could have made that baseline "J" and saved us 5 more minutes of nail-biting. (Not that I'm against free basketball and pushing back SportsCenter to get some additional coverage).

Put it this way: if you told me that Kentucky could get another 6-point road win at Vandy this weekend, I'd take it all day long. Nice win.

And if you'll allow me a brief personal note in closing: my good friend and fellow UK alum Paul experienced a horrible family loss earlier this week and I just want to send him my condolences. He is somebody who encourages me all the time, has read this little blog from the start, and I really just want him to know that he has my fullest support and sympathy. Hang in there, PA.

Does #2 Need to Try Harder?

2010-02-09T22:59:00.000-06:00

The second-ranked Kentucky Wildcats defeated Alabama by a score of 66-55 in Rupp Arena Tuesday night, in an effort that I will kindly refer to as "workmanlike". The current ESPN/USA Today poll has UK trailing only Kansas in the national rankings (third in the AP), but the Cats displayed their frustrating, if not infuriating, tendency to let opposing teams linger-- prior to finishing off the Crimson Tide in the second half.

In being held to only 66 points at home, and once again putting in an especially tepid start (NOT THAT I COULD SEE IT, ESPNU-- gotta take care of all those George Mason fans, right?) Kentucky opens itself up to rightful criticism that it doesn't fully focus when playing squads that are lower on the food chain.

We've seen it several times this season of course, and most recently the sloppy beginning at LSU makes for a good example, but perhaps it's not entirely fair to fault UK for not always slamming the door shut earlier. After all, the Wildcat faithful are always quick to point out that opponents usually bring their "A" or even "A+" games when they face the seven-time national champs. And we're talking about playing in a BCS conference (albeit more known for the pigskin) with rosters full of legitimate Division I talent. You can't blow them all out by 30 and scorch the earth in the process.

And yet, that is exactly what I want, and undoubtedly what you want as a Kentucky fan, too. It's in our blood.

We could discuss expectations 'til the cows come home, but I do sincerely feel that the '09-'10 Cats are prone to spells of disinterest when playing lesser teams such as the current 'Bama squad. I don't pin this on a true lack of effort per se, but more of a proclivity to play slightly less aggressive defense while ahead, coupled with a strange aversion to making the simple or basic basketball play on the offensive end...and favoring the more spectacular play.

If you're counting, that's two games in a row for a behind the back layup move by John Wall. And yes, they are admittedly fun to see on the highlights. But can we also cut out some of the turnovers, please? Not all of them are of the forced variety, after all.

So yeah, DeMarcus Cousins tossed in his seventh double-double in a row, UK goes to 8-1 in the conference, Wall himself had 10 rebounds.... and here I am, picking nits. I guess it's a tradition going back to when? The Alex Groza days? But I just really feel like this could be an extra-special team. And at the end of the year, I don't want Kansas, or Syracuse or anybody else ahead of UK. That means Coach Cal is going to have to stay on the young'uns to keep "grinding" (his words) more effectively and not take 3-4 minute breathers when the game is still undecided.

As demonstrated in this win, you can get away with it at home in February, but I'd rather not see it come tournament time.

Monday Night Gumbo

2010-02-08T22:22:00.000-06:00

Highlighting a weekend trip to Baton Rouge to view the Cats live and in person for only the second time this season....(I witnessed the Hartford game in Rupp back in December, notable only for J. Wall breaking the UK single-game assist record)....apparently, there was some kind of NFL football thing going on that had the local cajuns a little excited...

*You know Kentucky's off to a slow start when your son asks, "Dad, are they gonna get more than one today?" and you can tell he halfway means it.

*Catching the recorded version back at home this evening, it truly was hard to believe that about nine minutes into this one, UK had only a 12-10 lead. Considering the final score, I don't think the Tigers knew what hit them.

*It was nice that Perry Stevenson at least got some minutes (and a bucket), being a Lafayette native who undoubtedly had plenty of family and friends present at the game.

*Also present was one Durand "Rudy" Macklin, who had his jersey retired at halftime by LSU; Macklin gave a very nice speech that showed a true humility and grace--mentioning former teammates, coaches and of course, his parents. Class act. But it probably wouldn't have killed them to keep the house lights on for the ceremony, because the inadequate spotlights cast a very strange pall over the proceedings.

*Darius Miller turned in another uhhh...unremarkable performance. Put me in the VERY concerned camp here. 17 minutes, 1 shot? I like the 3 boards and 3 assists, but that's not what I think Cal is looking for from Mr. Miller. I'll leave it to the speculators to figure out what's going on there, but we all know that the former Mr. Basketball is severely underperforming.

*Also, I was not very impressed with Tas Mitchell on Saturday. Credit to Patrick Patterson and UK's team defense for keeping him off kilter, but usually a player of Mitchell's caliber will manage to "get his" even in blowouts, and yet he was held to only 10 on the day. The guy settled for a lot of threes.

*A fairly tepid crowd IMO at the Maravich Assembly Center. The students did manufacture a bit of spirit with the random assortment of large craniums and a couple of crazy costumes. But you can tell that's a football school. Even with the early lead, you could sense the Bayou faithful weren't really buying in...and given their team's winless conference record, it's tough to blame them.

*Big Blue, on the other hand, always manages to get into the building, doesn't it? And Big Blue makes its presence felt. Road games, conference road games, neutral site, tournament, no matter. I figure if the university scheduled the Martian All-Stars to a home-and-home, the UK faithful would fill at least 20% of the Red Planet Coliseum. (And probably gripe about the drink prices.)

*The Mike the Tiger exhibit was very cool. Gotta give credit there. Money well spent to give your school's live mascot a sweet place to hang out and be seen by the fans. Mike was actually up and pacing around for a change, really showing off and relishing his own tigerness. And honestly overall, the LSU fans were quite nice to me. Again, I hear football would be a much different story.

*I hate to say it, but it looked like Wall could have been called for traveling on that behind the back layup move. However, that's one of those calls that superstars are never whistled on, and who knows what's traveling anymore these days? One-two-shuffle-step and jump? It was a beautiful and creative basketball play regardless. And Mr. Wall has a penchant for those.

*Big Cuz remains the Eighth Wonder this season. Just a massive guy that has agility and coordination that is so uncommon. That little flying tip-in was amazing. I think Trent Johnson's team was more than a little awestruck by DeMarcus. Well, it was either that, or Bobby C's beard.....both are true forces of nature.

*And finally, I also reviewed the tape that the refs were checking out when DeMarcus inadvertently clocked (insert random LSU player name here) on a rebound. I saw nothing intentional at all, and figured those Arcadians wouldn't have such a big issue with a little "elbeaux."

GO CATS!

LeBron Witnesses UK Win Over Vandy

2010-01-31T23:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, King James was in the house yesterday. Yes, he wore a spectacularly funky sweater. And yes, Big Cuz is perhaps on his way to eclipsing John Wall as best freshman in the country and top pick in the NBA draft later this year.

Hard to believe I'm typing that, but seriously...DeMarcus Cousins added yet another double-double to the resume yesterday, and if this kid can just keep himself under control in the heat of battle, he is displaying the kind of talent that will surely propel him to a VERY high position in the lottery come summertime.

His penchant for technical fouls and run-ins with opponents remains disturbing. The headband: inadvisable. But jeez, the feet on this guy! Have you ever seen a 280 lb dude that was more nimble? He's got a little bit of range and whole lot of touch. He can make a good percentage of free throws. He goes after rebounds and loose balls like someone half his size, flinging his 6'11" frame around the court with a reckless abandon that his this blogger gushing after Kentucky's triumph over the 'Dores.

Oh yeah, the game.

Well, it was bit of a mess. Way too many whistles. For crying out loud, if I hadn't thoughtfully tivo-ed the hour long wrap-up show on ESPN, I'd have missed most of the of the second half. What can you say? Sometimes the refs think everybody came out to see them, and not the players. Maybe they figured their flight out of Lexington would be canceled due to the snow, and so there was no rush.

But good gravy, what a foul-fest. Made it really hard to watch, even on a Sunday morning with a nice cup of coffee, and no distractions at all.

However....what I most certainly did enjoy watching, aside from Cousins' performance, was the three-point shooting of one Darnell Dodson, and his partner in perimeter crime...Patrick Patterson? Yes, Patrick Patterson! P-Pat been puttin' some work in, hasn't he? Nice. Very nice. Less treys is probably more for Patrick, but if that stretches the D out for the team, then I'm all for it. More importantly, Mr. Dodson has to continue to stroke it with confidence, and I like how he was making the catch-and-shoots look so fluid against Vanderbilt.

As far as the presence of Mr. James goes, well, I suppose it's kind of cool. Additional buzz for the program, and all. I know all about the Nike connection, and I believe Cal is sincere in his admiration for the King, and that LeBron can function as a mentor of sorts to J. Wall and Cousins and the rest of the possible NBA-bound Kentucky roster.

I just don't want it to become a circus or anything. I prefer a brighter line between college ball and the NBA, in the old-school, amateur athletics kind of way. Obviously, Cal has done a tremendous job of raising/restoring the profile of Kentucky basketball in his brief tenure, and this is just another example of that. At least #23 isn't going to Kansas or Duke games, right?

But the take home message from this win is that the Cats "bounced back" from the South Carolina loss in a most effective manner. They practically shut down AJ Ogilvy; maintained, if not expanded, a comfortable second-half lead against a very solid conference opponent; and now look forward to a Groundhog Day matchup with the Ole Miss Rebels in a very winnable home tilt.

UK Falters in Columbia

2010-01-26T23:17:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'd really like to blame this on President Obama. I mean, the nerve of that guy, bringing his bad health care mojo over the telephone to congratulate Cal and the UK program, honoring their efforts to raise relief funds for the Haiti earthquake victims. For crying out loud, why don't you get Roy Williams on the phone again?

But I know at least one Democrat reads this blog regularly (she knows who she is) and so I'm not going to put this all on the POTUS.

Now the refs, on the other hand....

(Okay, so I'm trying to keep the sense of humor intact.)

But really, there's nothing funny about this loss. Kentucky got outplayed tonight. Period. If you would have told me the Cats would only tally 62 versus the Gamecocks, I'd have said you were crazy. And really, I think that's where the problem was.

It wasn't really Devan Downey. Not in my opinion anyway. The guy took 29 shots. And let's face it, a few of those were complete, unmitigated cr@p that just went in. Of course he's going to wind up with 30 points. And yes he's a good player, and yes Jimmy Dykes has borderline erotic dreams about his crossover dribble, but I really don't think it was Downey that won the game.

It was more like UK lost the game.

Not blocking out. Rushing on the offensive end. Settling for bad shots.

Patrick Patterson absolutely disappeared in the second half tonight. That just cannot happen, folks. John Wall turned it on late, sure, but he was largely absent as well.

I like how Kentucky responded at the end and played with real urgency to try to pull it out, but seriously, where was that effort for most of the game? Did this group get the big head after beating Arkansas over the weekend and ascending to the top of the polls? You can bet that John Calipari was preaching his best "we're not really 19-0" sermon leading up to this one, but was his locker room flock giving him an "amen"?

Now, Big Cuz certainly showed up with his 27 total, but that's probably more a function of his actually staying in the game for 30+ minutes. It's almost expected, which says a lot about the freshman and his potential when he stays out of foul trouble. But if Eric Bledsoe plays 30+ minutes and only gets two field goals, well, it's going to be a very long night for the Big Blue. And it certainly was. Patterson's line is even more flabbergasting: 35 minutes, and only FOUR ATTEMPTS. Wha?

The balance was just way off tonight. It was a little reminiscent of Jodie last year: it's nice when he had a big game, but you didn't really want him to have to get 40 for UK to have a chance to win.

I suppose the classy thing to do in defeat is to credit the victors, and unquestionably "the other" USC had a great night on the glass, out-rebounding the Cats 44-40. Lexington native and WKU grad D. Horn kept his team composed and focused all game long. They responded well when UK took a 5 point lead in the second half. But the Cocks only had 6 total assists and shot but 34.4% from the field themselves. Not exactly a fantabulous statistical effort, but hey, it was enough to have the court stormed when the final buzzer sounded.

Calipari warned that there would be games like this, that the virtual bulls-eye on Kentucky's collective back had only grown larger with each win, and you would have to say that it caught up with them. The real test for the young Wildcats will be, how do they respond? Do they take a second loss quickly, a la Texas last week? Vandy is going to be capable, after all. With perfection now out of reach, will the squad regroup and focus on what remains attainable?

I maintain that if Kentucky plays to potential, it is still far and away the best team in the conference and amongst the best in the nation. The optimist in me therefore hopes that the silver lining in this loss will be that UK's Fiddlin' Five (redux) learns to quit fiddlin' around so much and take care of business. Step up, Patrick. Play every minute with urgency, Great Wall.

If you must lose, then at least learn from it. And after this visit to Columbia, UK must. Or, to borrow a phrase from a certain Chicago politician, Yes We Can! *pukes*

Tebow Scoreless in Florida Loss

2010-01-12T23:30:00.000-06:00

Kentucky left Florida with its second true road win of the season, defeating the Gators 89-77. The Cats moved to 2-0 in conference play, with a trip to Auburn slated for Saturday.

It was a fairly balanced Kentucky attack. 25 for Bledsoe (a career high). 19 for Wall (what a freshman backcourt! Never gets old.) 15 solid points for Patterson and a mostly quiet 13 for Cousins.

Really, I thought Florida shot themselves out of this one. I can understand the thinking that you simply need to make the 3's rain on UK in order to have a good chance at winning....but man, Billy D had those guys launching from 23-25 feet consistently. Like that was the plan. And you don't get any extra style points for those, people. Just a lot of crazy, short possession 3-point shots for the Gators that I could not make much sense of strategically.

Granted, Florida did come out pretty hot at first, and when Tyus made an early bomb, I guess they thought it might be their night. But that would be like Kentucky getting excited because, oh say, Perry Stevenson hit an early trey. A certain former UK coach would call that "fool's gold."

Now I absolutely loved the fact that with the score tied at 72, the Cats went to Patrick Patterson and he came up with a hoop and the harm. And this was one of the rare times where a missed free throw was a blessing, leading to a 5-point trip that more or less sealed the game. Midway through the season, UK still tends to forget about Pat at times, although it's tough to argue with undefeated results.

Also loved the continuing variety of lob plays that Cal runs for John Wall. That type of thing really takes the air out of the competition, IMHO. Has to be demoralizing when you're defending an out of bounds play or coming out of a timeout-- and Kentucky looks like they're trying to just get into their offensive set-- but then you see Wall streaking the baseline and rising for a thunder jam in your grill off of a super sweet pass. Yeah, that never gets old either.

Now, can we do something about all these missed chip shots early in games? UK's big men seem to make a real job out of hitting a lot of simple put-backs and layups that should normally be very high-percentage shots. I can't really explain that one; maybe they're just too amped, or get in a big hurry at the outset. Kentucky hasn't really lacked for points in the paint this year, but making some of those bunnies would really change the complexion of things as conference play rolls on. If you can make enough 2-footers, you don't have to make as many 18-footers, right?

But the beat goes on for the Wildcats, with Dick Vitale and Erin Andrews (sigh) there to see it in person. The perfection continues.

"W" Over Georgia Not E-Z

2010-01-10T22:09:00.001-06:00

I guess somebody forgot to tell Georgia that they weren't supposed to be that good. Certainly I came away very impressed with the Dogs after they hung, hang, hanged with UK throughout 40 brutal minutes at Rupp Arena yesterday.

You're just not supposed to posterize Big Cuz like that. Not at home. And you aren't supposed to hold the Cats to 2 of 14 from three-pointsville (again). And you're definitely not supposed to be just a hair's breadth away from victory in Lexington. Not in UK's conference opener, and especially not with the divine Ms. AJ in the house.

Of course, ACC rival Georgia Tech learned a thing or two in the Bulldogs' previous game about just how tough a squad they really are. And certainly John Calipari had done his best to warn his #3-ranked Cats about how difficult a task it would be to keep that goose egg in the loss column with UGA coming to town.

Georgia played a stifling zone and showed tons of athleticism to go with metric tons of toughness. Fortunately, this Kentucky team has a bit of grit itself and managed to make enough plays (and free throws) down the stretch to keep streaking in the victory column.

I am again mucho encouraged by the '09-'10 Wildcats' ability to rise to the occasion and defend the home turf. Once again, its too bad that Billy Gillispie's not here to enjoy Billy Gillispie not being here.

And certainly I agree with much of the blogosphere that this game is an indication of just how strong these SEC teams are going to come after Cal's Cats. Good grief! Things will be hoppin' in Gainesville on Tuesday night. UK will have to absolutely earn every conference win that it can get....and it wants oh, about 15 more.

But Tennessee over Kansas?! Seriously?! Just how good is Bruce Pearl's team? Think Mississippi State will be tough? I do. And Vandy too. Everybody will play Kentucky tough. Everybody. It's not all chinstraps in the south, after all.

But as they say, you gotta take 'em one at a time. And UK took one from Georgia yesterday. But it weren't easy.

Cats Double Up Drexel, Remain Perfect

2009-12-21T23:11:00.000-06:00

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

2009-12-20T21:30:00.000-06:00

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

2009-12-09T23:41:00.000-06:00

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

2009-12-05T23:02:00.000-06:00

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

2009-12-01T19:34:00.000-06:00

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

2009-11-25T23:28:00.000-06:00

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

2009-11-24T22:08:00.000-06:00

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.

Rider Remarks

2009-11-23T00:19:00.000-06:00

Honestly, I'm still just a little giddy from yesterday. Very enjoyable sports day in the Kingdom of Blue.

Real quick, I just want to remind everyone to add Georgia quarterback Joe Cox to your Christmas card list, since I know a lot of you people jump on that stuff right after Thanksgiving. Poor Joe.

Anyway, I did want to throw a few thoughts out regarding the basketball game. It was every bit as fun as the win between the hedges, without all of the nail-biting and drama. UK threw a decent beatdown on Rider that bodes well for their trip to Cancun.

John Wall looked like he had a little extra bounce out there, although the guy probably eats bounce for breakfast. I really loved the 11 assists, and note that he got all of his 21 points the old fashioned way (no 3-pointers). Mr. Wall is one of those sneaky-quick guys too. I mean, everybody knows he's quick, but he makes it look so easy, and he has that glide to his game that gives it a little... deceptiveness... when he starts to make a move. That unstoppable hesitation dribble ought to be illegal for a guy as ath-a-letic as John Wall. Hardly fair.

Great game for Orton, too. Jeez, these freshmen! Orton had 14 of course, on 5 of 7 shooting and looked more comfortable than I've seen him in limited viewing this season. He still seems kind of boyish to me, I dunno. Am I crazy? He's a big guy, but looks like he's literally still growing into his Nikes and his Kentucky jersey. Maybe he'll be 7'4" by March. Regardless, I liked how he handled himself against the Broncs for the most part. He's a very important piece.

Quick turnaround for the team, in the midst of a multiple game stretch over this end-of-November time span. Really, I keep marveling at the overall talent upgrade that Cal was able to pull off and can't wait to see them on the court again. Next game, please! Not all of them are going to be 30-point wins, but my goodness these Cats are awfully easy on the eyes when they can get out and run.

Thanks for reading.

Football Cats Get Seventh Win

2009-11-22T00:03:00.000-06:00

You're damn right I'm putting up two blog posts in the same day. It's just a little rule that I have whenever UK's football team beats Georgia in Athens. And seeing as how that hasn't happened since, uh, well, since way before my wife got caught up into teenage vampire dramas, I figure what the heck.

So you watched it, no doubt, or have seen the game highlights. You know about Randall Cobb playing through shoulder issues. You saw Georgia cough it up repeatedly. You jumped off the couch like me when Locke broke that screen pass and took it to the house. And you were most definitely nervous when the Bulldogs drove it down inside the Kentucky 5-yard line with a chance to tie.

But it really seemed like Georgia just didn't want to prevail. Obviously not in a literal sense....but man....on a Senior Night, in a week where their beloved mascot UGA VII passed away (no jokes here, I truly am a dog person), with Coach Mark Richt feeling some intense heat...just a pretty sloppy performance from what is normally a true SEC East powerhouse.

But let's not make this about the G-men. No, sir. We credit Rich Brooks and a great effort from his own seniors and stout underclassmen. That was a well-deserved road win by an opportunistic group of Cats. They took enough advantage of the fumbles, interceptions, and other assorted miscues to finally put the game away.

We shall give basketball a little love tomorrow, but tonight...take a bow 2009 footballers. Congrats on win #7.

Will The Rain of Allmonds Continue?

2009-11-21T09:28:00.000-06:00

The Big Blue blogosphere has been full of dismay regarding UK's 3-point defense over the last couple of games. As you know, the Cats have given up a total of 19 treys in the last two games...to TWO PLAYERS.

Corey Allmond in particular had a career vs. the Wildcats, notching a Rupp Arena-record 11 three-pointers on Thursday. This comes on the heels of Miami's Nick Winbush tallying 8 of 10 himself in the previous game.

So what gives? Will this assault continue as UK takes on Rider this afternoon?

Well, you can bet that Cal is working on it. And there are several reasons why the threes have been raining on UK thus far:

1.) Poor switching on the perimeter. Players need to learn to SHOUT at each other, if that's what it takes, in order to communicate switches.

2.) Not closing quickly enough. When teams penetrate, there are going to be some spacing issues all over the floor. UK must learn to charge hard at the open jump shooter and not just lazily, leisurely try to close the gap.

3.) Hands up. All the time. Simply keep those long arms extended and make a special effort to distract the shooter and get a hand in his line of vision towards the target.

4.) More respect. Especially in the case of known sharpshooters like Mr. Allmond, players need to just...stick with the guy. There are certain folks on the opposing roster that require that type of attention and effort, even 20 feet from the basket.

5.) Desire. When it comes down to it, defense (like rebounding) is mostly about desire. Hunger. Having as much pride in stopping your man as in beating your man off the dribble on the other end.

Surely there are other more complex factors in consideration, not to mention the relative youth wearing blue this season, but I trust that the Cats will improve on the perimeter, sooner rather than later.

John Wall's Cape Size?

2009-11-17T09:52:00.001-06:00

I'm guessing Mr. Wall is about a 44 long, and looking at the highlights he was speeding down Rupp Arena's hardwood faster than a speeding bullet last night, before the draining the "stop and pop" game-winner vs. Miami OH.

What a huge shot for the freshman, and a nice escape for the Cats in a very tough early season game. Looking at the stats, you can't expect many opponents to shoot that well from three-point land throughout the season, and this scenario makes for a great teaching tool for Coach Cal: UK manages to win while learning that they must bring tremendous defensive effort every night, regardless of the opponent.

image from capedwonder.com

Let The Day Begin

2009-11-16T18:07:00.000-06:00

There have been tons of "debuts" and "firsts" for the Calipari era, and tonight represents the beginning of what will probably be a very short Kentucky career for John Wall, with UK taking on Miami, OH. All Kentucky fans can hope for is that Wall's one-and-done brings some significant hardware to Lexington.

So here's to you John Wall, and here's to you Tim in Columbus....

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Call:

The Time Is At Hand...

2009-11-05T18:18:00.000-06:00

...and I have time on my mind. Perhaps that's due to the annual "fall back" of daylight savings last weekend. Lord knows an extra hour of sleep never hurt anybody. But more likely it's the heated anticipation of the very promising basketball season that lies ahead for us Kentucky fans and followers.

Not coincidentally, one of the more intriguing aspects of this season will rest upon the very concept of time itself. Specifically, playing time.

I would expect that any blue-blooded UK fan is going to have an opinion regarding playing time: Who's starting? Who's the sixth man? Who's buried at the end of the bench? Who should be seeing more of the court?

So consider one of Dan-O's favorite activities-- a little game of boxscore observation that I like to call "adding up the minutes."

The math is simple. A college basketball game runs two, 20-minute halves. (Barring overtime of course.) And with 5 players on the court at all times, that means John Calipari is going to have 200 minutes per game to divvy up amongst his players as he best sees fit.

Personally, I don't think there's any way that Patrick Patterson falls to much less than the 35 minute range. (Note: all estimates disregard the very real possibilities of injury and/or foul trouble. So just buckle up and play along.) Furthermore, Mr. John Wall should be putting in 35 minutes. Every. Single. Night. Basically those two guys figure to have one frontcourt and one backcourt spot on permanent lockdown for the entire season. November through (hopefully) April.

You give those two studs the occasional breather. Maybe you have to pull them for some specific tactical instruction-- again, only occasionally. They are by most accounts two singular talents, All-SEC if not All-American level projections.

Now personally, I think Eric Bledsoe is going to get the most minutes at the other guard spot. He's a freshman, like Wall, and he's going to be raw and learning throughout the season. But probably too good to keep off the floor much. And Sophomore Darius Miller is listed on my roster as a guard as well, although I think of him more as a "three". (He's 6-7/223). But I figure those guys are both good for 25-30 minutes per game in Coach Cal's system, given their skills and potential. In the spirit of this exercise, we will call it 27.5 per game for each of them.

Likewise, I figure the freshman tandem of Cousins and Orton (the poor man's Twin Towers?) are looking at 20-25 minutes a piece on the blocks. Perhaps this is optimistic. Maybe the DDMO won't fit their closer to 7-foot frames, or they have trouble adapting to the college competition. Cal has warned us that he won't be able to "hide" anybody in his system. But again, moving along, I'm going to pencil them each at 22.5 mpg.

Obviously, that's 6 players, and not all of them can start. We'll set that aside since Coach Bolus always said starting is overrated. So looking at my abacus, that would quickly get us to a total of 170 minutes out of Kentucky's 200 total.

Which is where it gets really interesting. You've only got a half hour, a mere sitcom's span of time remaining, to split between Hood/Harrellson/Liggins/Dodson, not to mention the team's two seniors, Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson. (No offense intended to Mark Krebs.)

But think about it. Jon Hood was only Kentucky's prep Mr. Basketball last year. Dodson had 19 points to lead the team in the Campbellsville exhibition. Harrellson is allegedly shaping up to be a legitimate perimeter shooting threat. Stevenson would start for a LOT of D-1 teams. And so on.

Is it a nice problem to have, trying to split up 200 minutes amongst the available talent? You bet it is. And surely this little parlor game is not going to play out exactly as I've drawn it up.

There will be times where the rotation is overly tight against any given opponent due to matchups. I would also expect there will be blowouts where everybody gets in on the fun. Maybe a player or two comes down with the dreaded swine flu at some point.

Thus there are plenty of alternate scenarios to chew on, and I'm not sure what exactly we will be able to take away from an opponent the likes of Clarion. (Over/under on Patterson jams vs. John Calipari's alma mater: 6.)

We already know Bledsoe is probably out with an ankle injury for Friday night, and we also know that Wall is going to miss the opener vs. Morehead St. Plus, DeAndre Liggins tallied ZERO minutes against Campbellsville, apparently at Cal's discretion entirely-- and Cal has hinted that he is not ruling out further benchings of anyone on the roster, as necessary.

Which leads me to conclude that playing time figures to be a hot topic all the way through to spring time.

A Halloween Nightmare

2009-11-01T10:18:00.000-06:00

No, I'm not referring to the football game vs. Mississippi State, painful though it was.

Instead, consider this scenario, dateline Lexington:

BLUE DEFEATS WHITE 55-48

Ramon Harris netted 15 points for the Blue team yesterday afternoon in Memorial Coliseum, leading all scorers in UK's intrasquad scrimmage. Harris also chipped in seven rebounds in a very sloppy pre-season effort attended by approximately 4500 fans and students.

Head Coach Billy Gillispie lauded Harris' toughness in getting to the glass, noting, "Ramon picked up a lot of those baskets on putbacks and second effort plays. He was really a fighter today, very gritty in the paint." The Cats will need plenty of production from Harris this season after the departures of Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks to the NBA.

There was little buzz leading up to the scrimmage, with most fans focused on UK's so-called "blackout" at Commonwealth Stadium last night vs. MSU. It seemed the majority of Big Blue fans preferred the tailgating scene rather than taking an early season look at Gillispie's squad. Most prognosticators have UK's hoops team penciled in towards the bottom of the SEC East.

Perry Stevenson and Josh Harrellson battled to a draw opposite one another in the post, netting 10 points each for the blue and white squads respectively. Both seemed a bit sluggish, perhaps due to the added bulk they were instructed to pack on during the summer. "Yeah, Coach had us focused on the weight room quite a bit this offseason," said Harrellson, "Personally, I hope to be pushing 280 by December. And believe me, I need every bit of it going up against (Matt) Pilgrim in practice."

Gillispie seemed especially impressed with the play of the White team's lead guard Landon Slone. "Landon was all over the place, scrapping for loose balls, taking charges. He does everything we ask of him, and I really look for him to see a lot of playing time, not just early, but in conference play as well." Slone did manage four points, three steals and three assists to go along with his 7 turnovers.

Many have wondered where the scoring might come from this season, noting it will be difficult to replace the nearly automatic 40 points or so per game that Meeks and Patterson tallied. Gillispie seemed to look largely to the backcourt, where true freshman Jon Hood appeared to be aggressive in taking the ball to the basket, and Darius Miller displayed a variety of drives and pull-up jumpers out of several disorganized-looking offensive sets.

The team also seemed notably lacking in athleticism without its NBA-bound stars, not to mention the transfer of long, lightning-quick DeAndre Liggins. The 6-6/202 sophomore to-be is sitting out this season as per NCAA regulations concerning his jump back to his home state of Illinois, where he will be playing for a different set of Wildcats, at Northwestern.

Michael Porter had 12 points for the white squad on 4 of 14 shooting from the three-point line.

Jack O'Lantern photo courtesy of "Riv"on Flickr.

Louisville: A "Trapalry Game"

2009-09-15T09:28:00.000-05:00

Something does feel a little different about the U of L game this year.

I have read plenty of commentary regarding the lack of sex appeal for '09, with reasons ranging from "it's not the opener anymore" to "no high-profile quarterbacks" to "uh, the Cards really stink". Taking a slightly longer view, certainly Bobby Petrino's departure has brought down the temperature on this face-off, which I have always looked forward to with ketchup-like anticipation ever since it was resurrected in the early 90's.

Now, there's no getting around the fact that Louisville is a rival. The online dictionary indicates that the origin of that term goes back to describing one who uses a stream (i.e. river?) in common with another. Although I don't suppose, given my present suburban existence, that I have a whole lot of concern about my neighbor's water usage-- what this does tell me is that the root of these things is proximity. I won't bore you with how many miles it is from Commonwealth to Papa John's, but I am sure ESPN will throw up a map, or maybe a cute little graph during the game broadcast which will paint it very nicely.

So the two largest state schools play each other annually now, the pads usually pop pretty good, and they give out a sweet trophy to the winner. And we all understand that they are close enough physically, and have more than enough history (across all sports), to hate each other with a righteous hate. It's often a surprising game, and it has seen more than its share of trash talk, not to mention blowouts, thunderstorms, and heroic performances.

And yet, I cannot get around the fact that this one-- this year-- doesn't quite fit under the typical rivalry/border war/backyard brawl kind of designation.

No.

From a Kentucky perspective, it has an added nuance, a different feel....for all the world....it seems like a trap game, too.

Being a much more recent sports-phrase phenomenon, all that means is there could be a tendency in any particular game for the favorite to overlook its opponent. I don't think I ever heard Keith Jackson utter the words, but clearly Louisville comes in to the Governor's Cup battle more lightly regarded than it has in quite some time. And subsequently, the Cats could find themselves in a trap.

Of course, being a UK football fan I will likely never get used to being the overdog.

But I realize that on paper Coach Brooks' team would seem to have the advantage in depth, momentum, and even the home field this season. So it is on Brooks and his staff to make sure the Big Blue comes out well-prepared and properly motivated.

Don't even THINK about top-ranked Florida visiting Lexington the following weekend. Tebow, like heaven, can wait.

Many are speculating that this might even be a must-win for Steve Kragthorpe, although I would expect U of L AD Tom Jurich to look at this season and Krag's tenure as a whole when making any personnel decisions. Suffice it to say that the Cardinals will view this contest as a great opportunity to make a statement for their coach and their program. They should be awfully hungry, and the Cards do have enough skill players to be dangerous.

Question is whether UK will respond with the proper intensity that this combination trap/rivalry game will require. I believe a legitimate, hard-nosed, thoughtful effort from the Cats should bring a victory with a margin of a couple of touchdowns. Respect the trapalry game.

Randall Cobb, Football Player

2009-09-12T14:56:00.001-05:00

So yeah, I enjoy a little grid action around here, too.

And like most followers of Kentucky athletics, I came away fairly impressed by UK's 42-0 win over Miami (OH) in the season opener last weekend. Mike Hartline showed improvement, and the promise that perhaps he could get outside of that "just manage the game" box that he had seemingly been placed in. The defense? Well, it's pretty hard to find too many flaws in a shutout.

But what I loved most about the victory had to be the performance of Randall Cobb. The Alcoa, TN product was seemingly everywhere and always a threat to score when the Cats had the ball.

Mr. Cobb of course spent quite a bit of time under center last season, but looks to be logging all of his reps at receiver this fall. His speed, good hands, and savvy return moves should be keeping Steve Kragthorpe sleepless this week. (Cobb also returns kicks.)

Heck, Cobb's parents even had enough of a sense of humor to name him after a 70's actor and boxing legend. Jokes, people.

Cobb is listed as 5'11" and 188, but he plays awfully big. He caught a pretty (so pretty) 27-yard TD toss from Hartline to start the Cats rolling, and also ran for an 11-yard score on a direct snap from center vs. the RedHawks. The dreaded sophomore slump phenomenon must not apply to this young man. He looks like a game-breaker.

Football of course is a game of specialists, but Cobb has already demonstrated quite a wide set of skills in his brief Kentucky football career. I certainly look forward to seeing more of him this fall.

How Thorny Will Rose Allegations Be for UK?

2009-05-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

(Forgive the bad pun, I'm a little rusty.)

So I'm trying to watch some NBA action when my heart literally sank upon seeing the crawler: "NCAA alleges major infractions at Memphis for 20007-08 season." I was initially hoping that perhaps it would be involving Tigers football. Or baseball. Or anything but men's basketball.

No such luck of course....although that women's golf program must really be a bunch of renegades (!)

Naturally, I sprang to the interwebz to see what could be found. I'll admit I feared the worst.

Apparently, the main (or key) NCAA allegation concerns whether Derrick Rose cheated on his SAT exam. Per the early indications from Memphis's internal investigation, he has denied it. I would expect plenty of details to emerge later, and I would be very interested to see how Mr. Rose's score improved, when and where he took the test, etc.

Will there be shades of the Sutton-era Eric Manuel ACT fiasco? Somebody try to pull the old switcheroo?

Let me get this clear before commenting further...

Cheating: not cool.

I hate cheating, and cheaters in general. I hate BEING cheated. Nobody likes a cheater.

So it should go without saying that I want Kentucky to run a squeaky clean program. Period. I want it like that glassware you pull from the dishwasher when you use Calgon and it doesn't even show any streaks. No improprieties. No taint.

But we don't have very many facts yet. Certainly the NCAA report itself does not appear to name Coach Cal personally. It's way too early to paint a clear picture of how this will all shake out, and apparently his presence has been requested at a June 6th hearing before the committee.

As of this posting, there has been no comment from UK's administration or from Coach Calipari.

Now, having said all that-- despite my previously stated distaste for cheating-- I also try to give people the benefit of the doubt. And it's always wise to hear both sides of the story and weigh all the evidence before delivering any verdicts. So I would expect the NCAA to do a thorough job of investigating this situation, and I would expect the University of Memphis to do the same.

Everyone deserves their day in court, and I hope this entire episode results in a fair and impartial hearing for everyone involved. Justice should be served.

In the meantime, the haters will hate on. Kentucky will take a lot of heat. Rivals and critics will do their thing. Pat Forde was already taking a swipe on the four letter network's site. Not unexpected.

As it relates to UK and Coach Cal, I can say that I do feel better knowing that Memphis was supposedly notified of the allegations back in January, and they still made every effort possible to keep Calipari when Kentucky became interested. That tells me something.

More importantly, UK's Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart gave multiple reassurances that he and Sandy Bell in compliance had done their homework prior to extending a job offer to Coach Cal. They felt absolutely comfortable with the hire.

Still, there's no denying this is a thorny situation.

Delk, Padgett Return to UK

2009-04-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

John Calipari continues to press all the right buttons during his honeymoon period as UK's new basketball coach. With the announcement that both Scott Padgett and Tony Delk will be re-joining the program in administrative/coaching roles (albeit not yet clearly defined), Coach Cal certainly stays on a hot streak. This seems like a great move by Calipari and it stands to benefit everyone involved.

Unfortunatlely, it has been understood that former players had felt more than a bit of a cold shoulder under former coach Billy Gillispie's brief tenure. In fact, at least a couple of past UK stars went out of their way to openly criticize Gillispie during the team's tailspin last February (most notably Kenny Walker and Mike Casey). Calipari has wasted no time in starting to mend some fences, and I expect him to continue to create an environment that former UK players would find to be open, warm, and welcoming.

Although it will be difficult to judge the impact of this move until we learn more about the exact responsibilities that Tony and Scott will have, it does seem fair to say that Cal has continued to honor the Kentucky basketball tradition by bringing them on board. It is encouraging to see an effort by the new coach to reach out to these Wildcats and provide some assistance as they get along with their post-playing careers.

I don't think it would be any great stretch to consider these two young men to be amongst the finest to wear the UK blue. Without recounting all of their career statistics and accolades-- not to mention championships-- both Delk and Padgett exhibited great basketball IQs as college stars and while playing in the NBA. (I personally saw Scott play quite a bit as a Houston Rocket, though never really enough IMHO, under Jeff Van Gundy.)

Pure coaches-in-training? Well, again, that will remain to be seen-- yet there is little doubt that both of these guys should have much to offer in terms of experience at the college and professional levels, and they also strike me as the kind of guys who would have great work ethic and find ways to contribute to the program off the court.

I figure nobody would want for Kentucky basketball to excel as much as the guys who actually wore the uniform, and they will also have that unique background to draw upon when counseling players on the current roster. UK lost so much with the passing of Bill Keightley last year, and while it would be unfair to expect either of these guys to fill the shoes of Mr. Wildcat (understand: there will never be another like him), it never hurts to have people around your program that really "get it", that know what it's all about. Delk and Padgett lived in the Lodge. They had lockers at Rupp.

Additionally, I gather that Calipari gets a real kick out of assisting people who are entering the coaching profession. He's the kind of guy that has climbed the ladder to great heights, but left it there for others to use, rather than pulling the ladder up behind him. I took it as a positive that he was pushing former assistant Tony Barbee for the Memphis job upon his own departure. Obviously, that scenario did not play out, but I do admire that kind of perspective from Coach Cal.

From my view, there just doesn't seem to be any downside to this kind of move right now. The return of Tony Delk and Scott Padgett to the Blue Grass looks like just another reason be excited again about Kentucky basketball.

An Open Letter to John Calipari

2009-03-31T22:13:00.001-05:00

Dear Coach Cal,

Welcome to Big Blue Nation! We're all very excited to have you aboard. I can't tell you how long it's been since we've won a national championship. Oh, who am I kidding...of course I can. 1998. Looks like you've got some work to do!

But first things first, pull up a chair. Whoa, not that one! That was Bill Keightley's chair. Pick another one, please. You probably know about Mr. Wildcat already, but if not... well, let's just say there's going to be a bit of a learning curve here, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle.

Listen, Coach. One thing we want to get out of the way right up front: we have high expectations. Very high. Astronomically high. Kind of like what Oscar Wilde once said about his preference for finer things, "I have the simplest taste. I'm always satisfied with the best."

Yeah, we want banners hanging in Rupp. And we don't hang banners for just making the NCAA tournament, or even making the Sweet 16 like your most recent Memphis team. That's not a slam on the job you did; there's no shame in losing to that tough Mizzou squad this season, but I'm just sayin'. High expectations. Banners.

Also: don't be a jerk. You might have heard a little bit about the guy who you're replacing. Pretty good coach himself. Lots of potential. But you probably got the highlights from your new boss, Mitch Barnhart. The previous coach... well, let's just say he wasn't exactly a people person. In fact, you might even say he was the polar opposite of a people person. (Maybe he was a dog person?) But I hear you're great on the lecture circuit and love selling your program, so we'll just leave it at that. Play nice with others and things will be fine, really. No sense beating a dead horse.

And speaking of horses...man, can you recruit 'em or what?! Wow, Coach...two of the top four according to Rivals.com and the inside track on John Wall. Impressive. Just keep in mind, any student-athlete you want to bring to Kentucky will have to meet some standards. No, this isn't Princeton or anything, but we do have our minimums and we do expect our guys to be good citizens. Above all, we expect you to recruit hard but according to the rules (more on that later.)

And if I may offer just one piece of advice on the recruiting, it would really be nice if you could keep some productive Kentucky kids on the roster. They don't all have to be super-duperstars, but surely you can find a few contributors. See, the trick is in determining which 17 year old is going to turn into the next Scott Padgett and which is going to turn into the next Todd Tackett. (Sorry Todd, it was either going to be you or Brandon Stockton. I just needed an example here. No offense.)

In the meantime, you do have a nice young man by the name of Darius Miller on the roster. Kid's a player. Really grew a lot as a freshman. And Big Blue Nation adores him. A big reason why is because he is in fact a Kentuckian. Excuse me, a former Mr. Basketball in the Commonwealth. So yeah, we dig Darius, and other players like him. That's just the way we are. So please, we're begging you, don't let the Darius Millers or the Chris Loftons of the world slip away. Especially to Tennessee. Jeez!

By the way, great move in calling up Joe B. Hall, et al on Tuesday. That's some real thoughtfulness on your part. Honors the tradition, pays some respect to those who have gone before you, and demonstrates a willingness to listen and interact that will surely serve you well in Lexington. Loved it! We're all about the tradition, Coach. We jammed a 60 year old gym for an NIT game.

We also halfway filled our next opponent's gym, on one day's notice, for a game 400 miles away. But I digress....

If you'll allow me just one quick comment on strategy: push the ball, Coach. Run when you can. Not mindlessly, of course. Not just for running's sake. But take advantage when it's there. You'll have superior athletes (right? you will have superior athletes)-- so don't keep them on a chain. Let 'em go. I like what I've heard about your offensive philosophy, so again, I don't expect any problems here. Just be advised: we much prefer it when our teams are allowed to run.

Finally, and this is really simple... PLEASE, I'm begging you...keep it clean. I would imagine UK's compliance people have been going through your laundry like nobody's business over the last 72 hours. We know about the Camby thing. And we know you can't be with your players all the time and force them to make good decisions. But seriously, do your best to win honorably. You must. No man ever cheats that first doesn't cheat himself. Frame a copy of that horrible SI cover (you know the one) and keep it in your office as a reminder if you have to. Never again.

So again, welcome. Looking forward to getting to know you better. Can't wait to hear about how the roster situation will settle out. Do yourself a favor and check out the spring meet at Keeneland. I was always more of a fall man myself, but it's still very nice if you catch a good sunny day. Talk to you later!

Sincerely,
Wildcat Whisperer

P.S. Banners.

Gillispie Broke A Rule

2009-03-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

I'm one of those guys that thought it would be smart to give Coach G another year. I figured he might be able to adapt a little bit, and grow into the responsibilities that the UK coach must assume outside the lines. I saw the incoming class he had put together, along with the possibility of Meeks and Patterson returning, and figured Billy Clyde would really be able to turn the corner next season. Most reasonable people agree that under normal circumstances, two years is just not long enough to make a solid evaluation. Even Mitch Barnhart stated as much-- and he's the guy that sent Gillispie packing.

Yes, I was disappointed with Coach G's media interactions, and posted here about the initial Jeanine Edwards sideline fiasco. Speaking of the four-letter-network, I was also disappointed with the so-called "all-access" segment that promised some real insight into the program. Apparently, Coach had quite a different idea than me about what "all-access" was supposed to mean.

Some of the really preposterous losses stuck in my craw, too. Your VMI, your Gardner-Webb, your Georgia on Senior Night. Egregious, one and all. Certainly the NIT is nobody's idea of what Kentucky postseason basketball should be (much as I managed to enjoy it), and let's just go ahead and hit on the stupid game-day practices, puzzling substitution patterns, and apparent mishandling of the DeAndre Liggins and AJ Stewart "incidents" while we're at it.

As far as any other flagrant rumors or innuendos regarding Coach G's personal life, I simply refuse to go there.

Now... all that being said... again-- I would have supported a decision to bring him back for another year. Personally, I just thought it prudent, considering he's been a conference Coach of the Year multiple times, he's by all accounts a very hard worker, and and he seemed to have a boatload of help on the way in the form of recruits like Orton, Hood, et al.

However, as we all know, UK President Lee Todd and AD Mitch Barnhart decided to fire Coach Gillispie. They cited the fact that they considered him to be a "bad fit", and noted that "We obviously did not achieve the results we all desired on the floor this season".

But I believe the main reason Gillispie won't be returning to the Rupp Arena sidelines is the fact that he broke a very important rule-- and obviously we're not talking about any NCAA misdeeds. It's much more basic, and some might say, much more important than any recruiting infraction, for instance. What I'm referring to is something that mothers usually teach their children, a staple of Sunday Schools across the Commonwealth. That's right: The Golden Rule.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Eleven little words that carry so much weight, and so much wisdom. It's about basic decency. Respect for other people. Simply treating your fellow man as you would wish to be treated.

Had Gillispie followed this maxim, I believe he might still be in his office today. Instead, he reamined a stubborn, intractable individual who talked down to the media, never developed a good working relationship with his superiors, alienated alumni and boosters, and by many accounts simply ran his team into the ground. The comments from the Meeks family after Coach G's dismissal seem particularly relevant here.

I truly have no interest in "piling on" with this observation. Numerous writers and commentators have weighed in regarding this particular personality deficiency in Coach G, and it can be argued that his reclacitrance is just part of the package-- and even a strength in many ways. Certainly it's true that if he had been able to channel that stubbornness properly, things could have been quite different for him in Lexington.

But if coaching the Big Blue can be compared to Greek mythology, then Gillispie's poor treatment of others must be considered just as fatal a flaw as losing 27 games in two years.

Photo credit: collegehoops.net

Loss Ends Kentucky's Season, Perhaps Gillispie's Tenure

2009-03-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

Notre Dame defeated UK 77-67 in the NIT quarterfinals Wednesday night amidst continuing speculation that Kentucky will part ways with its head coach sooner rather than later.

The game came down to the Irish raining in three-pointers seemingly at will throughout the evening, combined with Luke Harangody doing his best wide-body shuffle over the Kentucky frontcourt. Mike Brey's team finished with 12 treys and Harangody tallied 30 points, while UK's offense-- and Jodie Meeks in particular-- sputtered for most of the night.

The Cats did make a run to cut the deficit to 5 late in the second half, in a classic case of too little, too late. Meeks contributed the bulk of his 21 points in the last 8 minutes. UK finished with 10 turnovers on the game, with Kevin Galloway responsible for half of that total.

Patrick Patterson managed 18 points and 7 rebounds, but once again there were no other Kentucky players that reached double figures in scoring. UK fans can only hope it was not Patterson's last game wearing the blue and white, and that he will stick to his original plan of returning for next season.

Obviously, what transpires over the next few days will have long-lasting repercussions for the Kentucky program. Reports are that AD Mitch Barnhart will be sitting down with Coach Gillispie for an end-of-season meeting and evalution that will go a long way towards determining whether UK will retain Coach G, or go in another direction. University President Lee Todd was reportedly at the game in South Bend and indicated that no announcements would be made before Friday.

For now, it only seems appopriate for me to comment on the effort that this team gave under some very difficult circumstances as this season concluded. These young men are certainly not immune to all of the criticism and negativity circulating around their coach and the program's direction, and I just appreciate the fact that they did not completely "mail it in" for the NIT. Yes, that sounds like a very low bar being set, but I believe there are plenty of other college athletes out there that might lack the character that it took for these guys to beat a decent UNLV team, and to beat Creighton at their house, in the midst of such adversity.

The "Memorial Coliseum Game" was certainly a sweet note within the overall sour ending to the '08-09 campaign. I can't see myself ever forgetting the night Jodie dropped 54 on Tennessee, either. So the season was not without its highlights.

But at this point, the focus will surely be on the impending news from Lexington regarding one Billy Clyde Gillispie. I'm truly fatigued with all the rumors and speculation, but each day that passes gets me, and all of Big Blue Nation, one day closer to a resolution.

On, on U of K.

Kelly Tripucka's Mustache Announces Comeback

2009-03-24T21:54:00.000-05:00

Dateline: South Bend, IN

In a press conference earlier this afternoon, Kelly Tripucka's mustache proclaimed that it was about to re-enter the area just below Tripucka's nose. "It's been awhile", announced the whiskers, "and I'm sure it will be tough at first, but the time has definitely come for my revival."

Observers could not quite pin down the last time Mr. Tripucka had sported facial hair, but most agreed that it had reached its peak sometime during his early 1980s stint with the Detroit Pistons.

When asked what precipitated the comeback, the 'stache cited several factors. "First and foremost, I love March. There's something about spring, the time change, that just really gets me itching to go. Oops, probably shouldn't use the word itching." The whiskers continued, "Anyway, Brad Pitt had a little cookie duster going for a while there that almost made it cool-- but really, I gotta be honest here-- I'm pretty jacked about the Notre Dame basketball team reaching the NIT quarterfinals against Kentucky. I dunno, it was just like some kind of sign or something. It's all about the Irish, baby!"

When asked what it had been doing for all these years, the mustache seemed non-plussed: "Doing!? What do you think I've been doing? Kelly's been dragging that Mach 3 over my (expletive deleted) every morning and rinsing me down the drain! That's what!"

The mustache's agent, Scott Boras, was also present at the news conference. He presented a list of demands, including daily hair conditioner treatments, weekly trims, and said that Tripucka's mustache "Absolutely reserves the right to use Just For Men, if it is felt to be necessary to demonstrate the proper ruggedness at any time." Boras then refused to answer further questions and left in a gold-plated Rolls Royce that was being physically carried by AIG executives.

The 'stache reflected further when asked for additional remarks about its Notre Dame affiliation. "Oh, that was when it all started all right. Back there with Digger. Jeez, what a blowhard that guy's become, huh? But still...good times for me and for Kelly, no question." However, the mustache went on to say, "If you're looking for a highlight, it has to be the 56 we dropped on the Bulls back in '83. People forget that one. We were on fire."

The 'stache seemed fairly confident that Tripucka was bringing it back for a substantial run. "Listen, Kelly's got nothing but love for me. He's heard it all, the Freddie Mercury jokes, everything. So I'm just going to keep doing my job and hope for the best."

Attempts to reach Tripucka's mullet-perm were unsuccessful.

Photo credit: Jim Cummins/NBAE/Getty Images

Cats Leave Blue Jays Feeling.....Blue

2009-03-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Advancing to the NIT quarterfinals with a 65-63 win over Creighton, UK managed to overcome a rowdy Qwest Center crowd in Omaha, Nebraska, and an all-too-brief first half performance from Patrick Patterson. Aided by some missed Blue Jays' free throws down the stretch, Jodie Meeks got 3 the old-fashioned way for the final margin, and UK survived a potential game-winning trey from Booker Woodfox (you just can't make these names up, people) as the clock expired.

Patterson figured to put up some monster (Warren Buffett?) numbers in the contest, with Creighton lacking comparable inside muscle-- but Big Pat picked up two early fouls that sent him to the bench with under 5 minutes gone in the first half. UK managed to keep the game well within reach for the opening frame, trailing by 2 at the break, and Pat did finish with 12 points. This one was practically a barn-burner from the tip, with multiple lead changes and neither team able to put together a big run to serve as a knockout punch.

Ramon Harris played a terrific defensive game in hounding Creighton's outside shooters. Also lost in the box score, Harris made an absolutely outstanding hustle play in diving for a ball near the endline, thereby securing possession for the Cats. Say what you want about Ramon's offensive skills, but the guy will give you that kind of effort almost every night, and Coach Gillispie has made no secret of his admiration for the dirty work that Ramon is willing to do.

The game winner was no work of art, either. Meeks effectively improvised off of a soft pick-and-roll with Patterson that didn't result in a clear scoring option. Basically, Creighton played it pretty well, and Jodie was fortunate to be able to slide past a defender and get "the hoop and the harm". Of course, that's what you expect of Jodie when the game is on the line... you tell him to put on his cape and go win it.

Creighton's crowd was fairly frothing at the mouth the entire game, and could easily have left happy had a few more breaks gone their way. The Jays carried the "mid-major" banner very well and were obviously a talented and well-coached team. I must admit to loving all the blue atmosphere everywhere-- the uniforms, cheerleaders, signs, fans with painted faces-- I would even go so far as to say that the feeling was....mutual in Omaha. (Sorry. Couldn't resist.) But honestly, Kentucky was just able to make a bucket and then get a stop at the end to survive tonight.

This game didn't have the sex appeal of Memorial Coliseum going for it, but from a UK fan's perspective it was still March basketball at its nail-biting best. Again: nobody wants to get too excited about NIT wins, yet it is admittedly nice to see this group of players get rewarded with some post-season success.

Coach G has made it a point to let the media know that the team has shown a lot of maturity since missing out on a bid to the Big Dance. He has cited inexperience as being a huge contributing factor to some of the losses UK suffered in conference play. Therefore, in the bigger picture, this would suggest some good foundation work is being laid for the '09-10 season, questions regarding Gillispie's return aside.

Kentucky continues its NIT run on Wednesday night vs. Notre Dame, with a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line. I understand that the team will not be returning to Lexington but rather will travel directly from Omaha to South Bend, IN. It should be interesting to see how the Cats will respond given the circumstances. Color me eager (like everyone else) to see the Patterson-Harangody showdown. First to eat 3 Big Macs wins!

Memorial Rocks Again

2009-03-18T00:31:00.000-05:00

So it's unanimous.

The old girl still has it.

In a place that Kentucky basketball fans consider to be absolutely hallowed ground, the Wildcats opened the NIT with a 70-60 win over UNLV on Tuesday night.

But the biggest buzz of the night was not generated by Patrick Patterson's double-double, or Perry Stevenson's absolutely SICK dunk over (insert UNLV poster victim here), but rather the venue itself.

The Coliseum.

I almost want to spell it like the Romans-- exchange the "i" for an "o" and add another "s".

Big Blue Nation showed up for her. They wore their blue. They painted their faces and they cheered and they supported the Cats like it really was the Big Dance, and not a consolation event. The fans definitely wanted to see some more Wildcat basketball this season.

But I think most agreed that the night was really all about that old gymnasium where Rupp used to prowl the sidelines. Where Kentucky had accumulated a record of 306-38. (Make it 307).

In a building opened in 1950 to honor the true heroes of the Commonwealth-- those who had fallen in battle during both World Wars and the Korean War-- the Kentucky fan base seemed to truly sense what a rare opportunity it was to be able to pay that most special place another visit.

Memorial can still rock in '09.

Thoughts On A Sad Selection Sunday

2009-03-16T08:32:00.000-05:00

Let's start by congratulating the teams from the Commonwealth that did make the field of 65. So we raise a glass to the WKU Hilltoppers, the Morehead State Eagles, and *ugh* my wife's alma mater...the overall top seed in the tournament. Congratulations. If I were to throw my entire support behind one of these teams, well, it's no contest. My rooting interest would lie solely with Ken McDonald's "Big Red" Machine. The boys from Bowling Green surely won't sneak up on anyone this year, (after crashing the Sweet 16 in 2008) but Brother JC swears that the #12 seed suits them quite well in a matchup with #5 Illinois. Again, congrats and best of luck.
Anyone wondering how I spent those precious few hours on Sunday evening as the NCAA brackets were revealed (and fully dissected) will surely sympathize that I just had to get out of the house for a while. I really couldn't bring myself to watch (even knowing that Billy Packer would not be involved). Naturally, I have gotten caught up for the most part, and certainly I will participate in an office pool or two-- but the "bracket reveal" itself....I just couldn't bear it. The thought was too much like Santa Claus skipping my house this year.
Of course there's no time for continuing self-pity when UK will face off against UNLV on Tuesday night in the National Invitational Tournament. The Cats could only manage a 4 seed, which tells you just how far the team had fallen off the NCAA bubble. I can't help but wonder how many more wins it would have taken for Kentucky to get serious consideration(?) My guess is somewhere between 2 - 4, depending upon which victories might have materialized. Convert a couple of those close calls against quality teams (U of L / LSU) along with a couple of the "bad RPI losses" (best example: Georgia) and UK is singing a much different tune this morning. Okay, okay....water under the bridge.
It will be rather odd to see Lon Kruger again on the opposing sideline. Of course, no more odd than seeing UK play a men's game at Memorial Coliseum. I can appreciate the novelty of such things, but would happily trade it all for a spot in the NCAAs in a heartbeat. My current thinking on the situation is that basically this season handed Kentucky and its fans a bunch of lemons, and you know what you're supposed to do with them. That's right... slice them up, squeeze them in your eyes and complain about the coach. Just kidding.
I honestly have no idea how the Cats will respond tomorrow night. I really don't. My HOPE is that they realize that even though they are playing in the Little Dance, it is still an opportunity to finish out the season with some more wins and help to remove some of that horrible bitter taste from their own mouths, along with those of Big Blue Nation. While this is still no true referendum on Coach G, I for one will be watching closely (yet again) to see if the team is playing hard and "allowing itself to be coached." I am sure Mitch Barnhart will be doing the same.

UK Blacks Out Vs. Tigers; NIT Awaits

2009-03-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

Kentucky bowed out of the SEC Tournament with its 67-58 loss to LSU today. Jodie Meeks was held to 8 points on 3-for-9 shooting in a game in which the black-clad Wildcats trailed almost throughout.

LSU proved to be the better team, as expected of the SEC regular season champs, and asserted itself with tight defense not only on Meeks, but also in limiting Patrick Patterson to a laborious 15 points. Ramon Harris was the only other Wildcat in double figures, tallying 11. The Tigers were lead by Marcus Thornton with 21.

The loss, Kentucky's 13th on the season, almost assuredly sends Coach Billy Gillispie's team to the NIT, which would be the the first time for the Big Blue since 1979.

And with that, it seems strangely appropriate to offer up a video today-- a Smashing Pumpkins tune named for that same year, now a full three decades ago. This is from the Punkins' 3rd studio album, (appropriately?) entitled Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I hope it somehow helps to ease the pain of realization that UK will not be playing in Tampa this weekend. We will have plenty to discuss later....thanks as always for reading.

Good News in Twos: Cats Win, Patrick to Return

2009-03-12T21:19:00.000-05:00

Patrick Patterson says he will be back in blue for the '09-10 Kentucky basketball season. His announcement was greeted by singing choirs of angels, confetti showers, and blaring trumpets. Shots were poured. Conga lines were formed. At least at my house they were. Probably yours too, since you're reading this blog. The idea having Big Pat on the roster for another year was enough to make my day just like Dirty Harry said.

Can you imagine Patrick after another off-season of conditioning and gym time? Starting his junior year without an injured ankle and finger? (and I don't care what anybody says, that d*mn finger is still bothering him). With a front line that would include incoming (stud) freshman Daniel Orton? Can you imagine? Patrick, bigger and stronger? Can you say giddy? Can I stop typing questions?

Yes, I know. Back to reality with LSU tomorrow. But let's celebrate this one for 30 seconds or so.

Again, normally Kentucky should not even have to play on Thursday of the conference tournament. But under the circumstances, and with Ole Miss putting together a pretty decent half, I was impressed with how the Cats were able to take care of first-round business. (True confession: I had to depart my regular game-watching venue with about 10 minutes left, so as to remain among the ranks of the employed. I make no apologies. I did listen on XM Radio on the way back to the office.)

I will say that it was very encouraging to see Kentucky attack a zone like it was something other than impregnable. Darius Miller was particularly effective in finding the soft spot around the free-throw line and then making pretty good decisions with the ball, taking shots as available and dropping a couple of dimes.

We also had a Perry Stevenson sighting in this game. He absolutely stuffed the stat line in 36 minutes, going 4 out of 6 from the floor, 5 of 6 from the line, 8 boards, 2 steals and an assist. (Also 2 shmurnovers with those 13 points.) I even enjoyed how Larry Conley and Tom Hammond were chiding him on one of those misses-- where Perry tried some kind of funky turnaround under the hoop, and the crew commented that most shots are easier to make when you're facing the basket. I will miss Conley and Hammond a little bit next year when the four-letter network takes over.

Of course Jodie got his 25, as Jodie tends to do. He also got UK's only 3-pointer of the game (in 10 attempts), a development that did not go unnoticed within our fan group. People get nervous about "the streak" being snapped when the second half is underway and the Cats haven't dialed in from long distance yet. Currently at 707 games and counting, the streak remains alive after Meeks was able to connect with 12:30 remaining.

The defense was excellent, particularly the second half, where Kentucky allowed only 20 points to a desperate Ole Miss team. The Wildcats only gave up 9 second chance points on the afternoon and only 2 fast break points. They outrebounded the Rebs 35-28, and let's pause here and give them some kudos for just basically bringing their lunch pails and doing some dirty work to get this win.

Friday will bring conference champ LSU though, and Tasmin Mitchell, Marcus Thornton et al should provide a much more difficult challenge. The good news is that the Tigers lost a couple of games themselves at the end of the regular season; so despite getting to rest today, perhaps Trent Johnson's group will have a bit of doubt creeping into their collective brains. On paper, they are better than Kentucky. Hopefully, Big Blue Nation can make it a de facto home game and turn the arena in Tampa into "Rupp South". I know I have a few friends over there that will be doing their part.

In closing, we give the Blue Grass Chemical Player of the Game Award to Perry Stevenson today. Perry gets a pair of steel-toed rubber work boots and some copper scrap that fell off of a pallet.

Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons by Fairocker

Can We Just Worry About Ole Miss For A Second?

2009-03-11T21:13:00.000-05:00

Nearly lost amidst all the chatter this week about Coach Gillispie, UK's decline over the second half of the season, and the general sky-is-falling atmosphere surrounding the Kentucky program, is the fact that the Cats have a little game to play tomorrow. Or should I say a big game?

It may not exactly be a grand stage on Thursday as UK kicks off the SEC Tournament with an early matchup vs. Mississippi, but I do see some real significance in how well (or how poorly) the team performs in this opener. For starters, it will be a character test in its purest form: how does this unit respond to (ever-increasing) adversity? Will this Kentucky squad roll over as it has in several late season contests, or will it come to play like the team that showed such promise when sitting at 16-4?

Because people, Ole Miss is...well....how do I put this?....beatable. They are not a conference juggernaut a la LSU. There's a very good reason that they "earned" the 5 seed in the West. Not to take anything away from Andy Kennedy, but the talent level in Oxford is not exactly frightening. I mean this respectfully-- and in humble recognition that the Rebels did hand UK a 5-point loss in January-- but on a neutral court, Kentucky should absolutely take care of business and advance to play again on Friday.

Really, that is all I am looking for at this point. A win. Of any sort. Just a plain old, vanilla win. Survive and advance, as they say in March. With all the aforementioned hoopla, and the uptick in criticism that Kentucky's players and coaches have been taking lately (present company guilty), a victory would demonstrate that yes, there is still some Big Blue pride amongst these competitors.

Heck, I'll even admit that I'd like to see a Kentucky win at this point so that they can at least finish with 20. Seriously. Some of those 20 wins might be cheap, sure (I'm looking at you again, Delaware State) but there's always something nice about being able to meet that nice "round number" threshold of 20 wins. So just worry about Ole Miss, play a decent game, and UK can get there.

It will also be quite revealing to see whether the Cats can come up with a spirited assault tomorrow considering that there is some question as to whether Coach G has truly "lost" this particular team. Are instructions being tuned out? Are players following the scouting report and executing what is being asked of them? Personally, I'll be looking for effort stats, particularly defensive rebounding, as well as that word that rhymes with shmurnovers (I hate to even type it at this point).

Again, I don't mean it as a slam against opposing players like Malcom or Terrico White at all; but if anything, UK should have a bit of a "revenge" kind of edge in this one, simply to prove to those guys that what happened earlier this year was a fluke. You can't tell me that warriors wearing Blue like Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson don't have what it takes to claim a first-round victory in Tampa.

So for now, let's hope Kentucky can just focus on beating Ole Miss. Worry about everything else later.

Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons by Neville_S

Gillispie Speculation Rampant

2009-03-09T08:32:00.000-05:00

In the Blue Grass State, second-guessing the UK head basketball coach and ruminating over the possibilities of his departure are fully understandable.

But when I grabbed a cup of java and checked my own local sports rag here "deep in the heart of Texas", it was quite surprising to see Billy Gillispie's name mentioned by a local columnist and blogger, in connection with the University of Houston. Link below:

http://blogs.chron.com/jeromesolomon/2009/03/post_90.html

I can only imagine how Tom Penders might feel about this, but let me go on record as saying that I personally think Gillispie will be back coaching Kentucky during the '09-10 season, at least as things stand this morning.

I will reserve full judgment on the job he has done with this team until a later date, but regular readers will be able to surmise that, much like many other Big Blue fanatics, I am less than pleased with the team's regular season record and its precipitous decline over the last dozen or so games.

I expect to hear much more name-dropping, speculation, and rumors of this kind over the next few weeks as the coaching carousel starts firing up, along with the information overload that accompanies the buildup to the Final Four.

Thanks for reading.

Senior Night-mare

2009-03-05T09:37:00.000-06:00

With its season seemingly on the line, Kentucky decided to mail it in vs. Georgia on Senior Night in Rupp Arena. I ask again: where is the pride? Where is the fight? Against a team that had absolutely nothing to play for in terms of NCAA tournament aspirations, a team that UK had soundly beaten in their house back in January -- giving up only 45 points total, mind you -- the Cats managed to bungle their way to a 90-85 defeat.

Once again, the Cats demonstrated a lack of basketball IQ and defensive intensity, which point to a team without chemistry and heart. After this loss, much as I hate to admit, there's a very good chance Kentucky might not win another game in 2009. It was just that demoralizing, especially given UK's gaudy all-time Senior Night record (83-5?) and the fact that the Bulldogs came into the game winless in road conference games and averaging only 60 points.

Goodness gracious, if you had told me Michael Porter would hit 5 treys on the evening and only turn it over twice, I would have bet the farm on a UK win. I suppose you have to credit Georgia for hitting 11 out of 16 of their own threes, but once again, far too many of those were absolutely wide-open looks. Kentucky was outrebounded 38-27 and missed a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch that really could have changed the game. Probably the most disheartening thing about those two developments is the fact that rebounding and the charity stripe were actually strengths of this squad earlier in the season.

Which leads to the inevitable conclusion that the Wildcats have honestly and truly gotten worse throughout the year. A fact.

Coach G's seat must be feeling awfully hot this morning, and rightfully so. At this time, I do not care to speculate on AD Mitch Barnhart making any change in the near future, the merits of which are up for debate. (And you can bet those merits are being debated hotly throughout Big Blue Nation as you read this.) His benching of 4 starters early in the second half backfired utterly and completely, and since it's easy to Monday-morning quarterback such things-- it was a seemingly desperate and ill-advised ploy by the Coach. Remember, UK had closed a pretty big gap to end the first half and had the locker-room momentum.

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but I've always said if you have a 10- or 12- player rotation (especially in March), that means you really have NO rotation. It is just impossible to spread that many minutes around and believe that you can get a coherent and cohesive effort from your team.

Therefore, UK currently looks both incoherent and incohesive.

Another real shame of this loss is that it spoiled what is normally a revered Wildcat tradition of sending out its seniors with a victory, while serving as a nice tune-up and confidence builder for the looming SEC tournament. Poor, oft-injured Jared Carter actually did his part, scoring a bucket and pulling down a board in 4 minutes of play after being honored pre-game and getting a spot in the starting five.

I'm no math or statistics whiz, but I figure this loss will absolutely crush UK's RPI rating, further denting whatever Big Dance hopes that had remained for the team, in terms of obtaining an at-large bid. A strong SEC tourney showing seems unlikely as well, after such a poor performance against a Georgia team which now sits 3-12 in conference.

Anybody got any quick-fix ideas? At this rate, I won't even need the Selection Sunday Maalox because UK's fate will already be decided.

photo credit: Courier-Journal/Jonathan Palmer

March Is Here; Where Are The Wildcats?

2009-03-02T08:38:00.000-06:00

Usually by the time February turns into March, Kentucky basketball fans are amped up and ready for the impending post-season action. However, March 2009 looks a little bit cloudy at the outset.

UK dropped a heartbreaker to LSU over the weekend, and despite some help from other conference teams (Vandy over SC?) it's hard to pin down whether or not Kentucky will make the big dance. The good news is they have a Senior Night game on Wednesday vs. Georgia that most would consider winnable. Wisdom says to take nothing for granted, but that would leave the Florida game on March 7th as a possible play-in.

Personally, I would feel much more comfortable as a UK alum/fan with those two wins PLUS a couple of conference tourney games. (Don't ask for much, do I?) Put it this way: I just don't need another Selection Sunday that turns into a Maalox moment. Heck, I could do without a couple of these GAMES turning into Maalox moments....although I normally enjoy a tight, competitive contest.

Problem is, it's awfully difficult to determine this team's attitude and mindset. They played absolutely terrific basketball for a good stretch of the second half against the Bayou Bengals. The fivesome that Coach G started that frame with is receiving raves from Big Blue Nation (no Porter being the main reason, IMO.) You could argue that if Jodie plays his normal game-- or basically just shoots a little better-- then UK takes it handily.

The defensive switch/non-switch that resulted in LSU's game-winning trey is a collective mistake, despite what Coach G or anyone else says....the players also have to recognize and communicate which picks require a "switch" in that situation. Just because a guy wanders out to the top of the key doesn't necessarily mean that you have to switch off of your man. (The way the blame game was played through the media in that situation was disappointing to say the least.)

It truly does take some better basketball judgment than what the Wildcats have displayed this season to win a nail-biter against a quality opponent. I believe this is the most significant reason why the collective UK fandom's exasperation level is so high right now, not the squad's overall talent level. Same old stuff: players confused about their roles, lacking confidence, not making the easy/smart play at times.

But you know what? Kentucky judges its teams by how they perform in March. If I'm Billy Gillispie, I tell this team, "Look, it's a new month and a whole new season. We've got two games that we know we can win this week, and then...it really gets fun." Get these young men to loosen up a little bit, if possible.

It's overstated in sports, but the Cats need to focus on controlling what they can-- forget about the RPI's and strength of schedules and all the rest of it, and truly forge their destiny. March is finally here. Pass the Maalox.

Time To Man Up

2009-02-27T08:43:00.000-06:00

Perhaps I will inspire only myself with this post...and that would be fine, 'cause I find myself needing a little inspiration for the remainder of this season. All I really have to say right now is that it's time for this Kentucky team to man up.

SEC-West leading LSU is coming to Lexington tomorrow, and they aren't going to feel a bit sorry for the Cats. However, what I really hope is that the players, coaches, the UK nucleus "inside the locker room" doesn't feel sorry for themselves. There's just no time for it.

Get this: I'm not a rah-rah guy. Never have been. I think most people that know me would describe me as more cerebral than emotional. Dungy-like, if you will. But with 3 regular season games remaining, I find myself wishing that I could grab this Kentucky team by its collective scruff of the neck, slap them around a little bit, and give them the full Lombardi treatment.

Because if they have even an ounce of pride, even the slightest hint of self-regard as individuals, they will absolutely lay it on the line in Rupp Arena. I'm talking 100% effort, the full 40 minutes, give absolutely no quarter. As a team, their season still hangs in the balance, and they must meet the challenge. Bloggers, alumni, fans cannot do it for them. Again, LSU will bring a very good team to Rupp, and if Kentucky does not respond any better than they did the other night, the result will be embarrassing.

I can't be the only one wishing that the current "nucleus" could magically channel the rich, acclaimed, legendary Kentucky basketball tradition for the stretch run. Suffice it to say that many illustrious Big Blue luminaries have gone down many a difficult path over the years, and their triumphs should serve as a summons to the 2009 Wildcats....

Get up.

Fight, young men. Fight.

These players owe it to themselves, and to their teammates to answer the challenge that they face. Three games and the conference tourney remain for Kentucky to prove its worthiness for the Big Dance.

I understand these words cannot reach those whom I truly wish to inspire. They must find their own motivation, after all. But I certainly needed some stirring myself.

Every Wildcat star will shine...

Taken To The Woodshed

2009-02-26T08:25:00.000-06:00

I really wish I could break down this Kentucky loss better, in terms of pure X's & O's.

Perhaps it's a bit of a football mentality on my part, but after a beatdown of this magnitude, it just feels more comforting to be able to go over the game film and see where the schemes had little cracks in them, or where a specific player didn't execute a specific task. A poor tackle, a missed block.

You review it enough times, make enough observations, and things start to become a little more clear. Eventually, you can wrap your head around the loss.

I'm having no such epiphany right now.

That was a beating, pure and simple. Hats off to SC, yes. Great game by them. Big vocal crowd, fast start, high-energy throughout.

What's bothersome is how Kentucky responded to that challenge. Or should I say, did not respond. Another 20 turnover game offensively, along with getting 16 shots blocked. Poor defensive rotations all game long. Allowing too much penetration by South Carolina guards, and then not closing out on shooters.

Back to the 16 blocks, though. I'm not going to bother looking up exactly how long the Gamecocks have been playing hoops, but I'd venture that it has to be the better part of a century. Never in school history had they blocked 16 shots in a game....and UK now has the distinction of being on the wrong side of that record.

That's being taken to the woodshed.

The point guard comparison has grown tiresome at this stage, both internally and also comparing UK's PGs with those of other teams. Porter had 5 turnovers, Liggins had 3. Devan Downey used and abused both of them. It was like BJ McKie all over again, only Kentucky didn't have (insert legitimate late 90's point guard here....Epps? Turner? Anyone?)

Furthermore, I considered Coach Gillispie's benching of Jodie Meeks for much of the second half to be a white flag. It could be argued otherwise, I suppose, as an effort to light a fire under Jodie's supporting cast, or remind everyone just how important defensive intensity is to Coach G. I don't know.... to me, it seemed like a roll-over move. Jodie's the only guy on the squad with the abililty to score points in bunches and get UK back into shouting distance on the road. A late February must-win conference game seems like a strange time to take advantage of a teachable moment.

I really don't have much else to contribute this morning. In closing, I do want to send out thoughts and prayers to Kevin Galloway, who reportedly missed last night's game due to a death in the family.

Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons by anon nona

Hard To Be Happy For D. Horn

2009-02-25T08:34:00.000-06:00

Under normal circumstances, I would be elated by the success that Darrin Horn has been enjoying in his first year as head basketball coach at South Carolina. Basically, Horn would be "your local boy that's done good." He was a prep star at Tates Creek, playing for an 11th region champion that made it all the way to the state finals at Rupp.

Darrin then of course played his college ball at Western Kentucky, where he was a big part of some tremendous Hilltopper teams that did some major damage in the Sun Belt and NCAA play. He began his coaching career there in Bowling Green as a grad assistant, and received further tutelage under Tom Crean at Marquette (another coach that I respect).

He comes from a good family, and by all accounts is a good husband and father himself. He coaches an upbeat brand of basketball, and his teams play hard and clean. There really isn't a whole lot that's not to like about Horn.

Except....

These just aren't normal circumstances.

Not only did Darrin take a job in the SEC, he took one in the SEC East. And we all know what that does.

That pits him against my team. My alma mater, my Big Blue.

And that's unfortunate. Because now I want to beat Darrin Horn. And I'm not even really conflicted about it. I straight-up wish for him to fail against Kentucky. I hope he loses twice to UK each year and once in the conference tournament if we should happen to meet there. Heck, in the unlikely event the Cats and Gamecocks should meet for a fourth time in another postseason tourney matchup, well, you can figure it out.

I won't even get into the dynamics of program-building or the possibilities of recruiting wars. It could get awfully complicated if Coach Horn stays in the Palmetto state for a while and really thrives there.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I do not hate the guy on a personal level. As an individual, I wish him only the best. If he was coaching in the Big East or the Pac 10, I'd be rooting for him all the way (again, any postseason matchups with UK aside).

But Kentucky basketball is Kentucky Basketball for me.

Darrin Horn has a darn good team. There was much more pre-game hoopla surrounding the game at Rupp, simply due to Lexington being Horn's home town. I give SC credit for how well they played back in January, and for Devan Downey hitting a big-time, difficult shot for the game-winner.

The Wildcats really need to return the favor in Columbia. This represents a sweet opportunity to bolster tourney credentials and get a little end-of-season momentum going any revenge angle aside. I once again expect a very tough game.

It's just that I have absolutely no mixed emotions about who to pull for.

Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons by lutonian

Cats Hammer Vols Again

2009-02-22T08:20:00.000-06:00

So Bruce Pearl decided his Tennessee team would pick its poison carefully in Rupp Arena yesterday, and what he selected was basically this: anybody but Jodie Meeks.

UK responded perfectly, though. With Mr. Meeks being limited to 14 points, the Big Blue still managed to jump out to a quick 13-0 lead and cruised to a surprisingly easy 19-point win over its SEC East rival. Maybe Coach Pearl ought to re-think that bright orange jacket he likes to wear when his team is playing Kentucky (or Vandy). Aw, who are we kidding... he needs to re-think it, period.

I'm having a difficult time this morning figuring out which development I was more giddy about from yesterday's win: Big Pat being back on the court with hardly a lingering effect from his ankle injury, or Darius Miller playing lights-out and not even missing a single shot.

Both were huge yesterday considering Jodie's 40-point dropoff in scoring from the Knoxville game. Patrick looked fairly nimble to me (confession: I had to keep one eye on the "billiards" that I was playing with the little guy throughout much of this one). His monster dunk to cap off the victory was a great illustration that Pat's athletic explosiveness is quickly returning as the ankle mends.

Darius Miller, meanwhile, looked like a true former Kentucky Mr. Basketball should, dropping in a trio of 3-pointers, dishing out 6 assists, and even pulling down a few boards in a very efficient 26 minutes of play. You can literally see this freshman's confidence growing throughout conference play.

Mr. Miller looks to be embracing that number "1" beneath the "Kentucky" on his jersey. One can only hope Coach G doesn't decide to give him only 4 minutes in Columbia on Tuesday due to an early blown defensive assignment, or some other such travesty.

The dream start that staked Kentucky to a 13-point lead was mainly attributable to some stingy "D" early, and the Vols looking quite skittish, IMHO. Again, Rupp proves that its aura and energy can still rattle opponents when the Cats are facing a must-win conference game. It was not just happenstance that Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism combined to go 5 for 23 from the field.

A certain Kentucky "lead guard" hit half of his 3-point attempts against UT as well, but he shall go unnamed-- not as a snub, but rather for fear of jinxing him. You know who he is, so let's just pretend he's always been that proficient from long distance. I repeat: Fire Away.

All in all, quite a glimmer the Wildcats displayed yesterday, staying atop the crazy, nutty, wacky East division. Take this show on the road now, and return the favor to D. Horn's Gamecocks.

photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons by canfielddave

Like The Deserts Miss The Rain

2009-02-19T08:04:00.000-06:00

I don't normally like to characterize wins or losses as "good" or "bad" (and how come nobody ever seems to call a game's result "indifferent"?) But it's obvious that UK's early season loss at North Carolina, for instance, will be viewed in a much different light than Tuesday night's effort at Vanderbilt.

Kentucky's 77-64 "L" in Nashville will surely have the team feeling a little more bubbly come Selection Sunday than it would prefer. By now, you also know that it drops the Cats down into the SEC logjam and could very well hurt their seeding in Tampa for the conference tournament. (Nobody wants 4 games in 4 days.) A win in Nashville would have separated UK from the pack.

But the biggest impression that I take from this loss is just how bad Kentucky misses Patrick Patterson. Glaringly evident, yes-- the Wildcats have just got to have that guy healthy.

I do give Vandy much credit for their defense on Jodie Meeks. He had a very tough night and struggled for open looks. Those 26 points were a testament to his willingness to work and continue to grind for the whole 40 minutes.

It was nice to get some points out of A.J. Stewart, and Kevin Galloway again contributed a bit of offense after only playing 3 minutes at Arkansas. However, Coach Gillispie said it best when he recognized that he doesn't need "a 6'9" two guard" (referring back to Stewart). UK got blasted on the boards, 37-26, and surely the no-show game that Perry Stevenson turned in was a big factor there.

But even bigger is the huge hole in the middle created by that nasty ankle sprain Big Pat is (hopefully) recovering from. His physical presence just brings a greater level of toughness, something Coach G likes to rhapsodize about, and gives the team a better overall balance. Jodie without Patrick is like Starsky with no Hutch. (Apologies for the dated reference).

The statistics alone probably make the best case anyway: Patterson usually gives you about 18 and 9 per game. It's just very problematic to replace those kind of numbers at this point in the season.

We all understand the nature of these ankle injuries, and so we play the "day to day" waiting game, as we must. But I just can't tell you how much I miss that guy.