Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt Preview

Coming off their first loss of the season, the Wildcats look to rebound as they return home to face the pesky Vanderbily Commodores. Vandy is known for giving UK tough games and beating them on a semi-consistent basis.

Vanderbilt is off to their best start in school history and is looking to start 17-3 on the season with a win at Rupp.

Sophomore guard Jeffery Taylor leads Vandy in scoring at just over 14 ppg as well as averaging 5 rpg. One bright spot for the Cats concerning Taylor is that he is not a threat from behind the arc, a trait that scoring guards have dominated Kentucky with.

Big man AJ Ogilvy is the workhorse down low in the post for the Commodores, averaging 13 ppg and 6 rpg. Ogilvy has done pretty well in his career against the Cats, averaging 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in three games against the Cats, two of which have been wins.

For the Cats, Patrick Patterson has to be more effective and involved in the offensive sets that UK runs. Both Patterson and coach John Calipari are to blame for Patterson being non-existent for long stretches this season. Calipari has shown tendencies to defer to freshmen over the Wildcats’ proven scorer and leader.

Along with Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins needs to bang down low early and needs to STAY OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE, something that has plagued him more than any player that I can remember. If Patterson and Cousins can get AJ Ogilvy in some foul trouble early then UK should be able to feel comfortable.

Around the perimeter, along with Taylor, Vanderbily has a trio of solid guards that have become a staple for Kevin Stallings and his teams. Jermaine Beal, John Jenkins, and Taylor are all very involved in the scoring offense for Vandy. Brad Tinsley comes in for Vandy and gives them solid minutes, one of six players that plays 20+ minutes per game.

Two inconsistent players for the Cats—Darius Miller and Eric Bledsoe—are going to need to step up if Kentucky wants to play an efficient game. Miller and Bledsoe combined to shoot 2-9 from the floor with only 4 points, 6 assists, and 7 turnovers. When two of your starters do not produce it is hard for your team to be successful.

Kentucky at South Carolina Preview

The Wildcats will travel east to face the always-dangerous South Carolina Gamecocks tonight on the road (9 P.M. ET, ESPN).

The ‘Cocks are led by senior guard Devan Downey, who comes into the game averaging 21.9 points, inculding 31.6 ppg in conference play.

USCjr’s second-leading scorer, Dominique Archey, is out with an injury he suffered in the first month of the season and Carolina only has one other double-digit scorer, Brandis Raley-Ross.

Projected Starters

G — John Wall vs. Devan Downey

This is sure to be Wall’s toughest individual matchup so far this season. He has not played against a guard with the speed, quickness, or scorers mentality that Downey has. Wall does have a large height advantage over the Cincinnati transfer—5-foot9 vs. 6-foot-4—which would allow him to see over the head of Downey and would limit his great ability to steal the ball—nearly 3.0 spg.

Advantage: Wall, UK

G — Eric Bledsoe vs. Brandis Raley-Ross

This is a matchup between Robins to Wall and Downey’s Batman. Both Bledsoe and Raley-Ross get severely overshadowed by their all-league backcourt mates, and for valid reasons.

Neither Bledsoe nor Raley-Ross have the scoring ability that their partner-in-crime has but they are both very important to the success of their team. I give Bledsoe the advantage simply because he is better in just about every single statistical category and seems to be on the same page as Wall at this point in the season.

Advantage: Bledsoe, UK

F — Darius Miller vs. Lakeem Jackson

This matchup is a no-brainer any way you look at it. Miller is superior shooting the ball, defensively, athletically, and is a much better passer than people realize. Not to mention that his confidence should be sky-high after a career day against Arkansas. Easy.

Advantage: Miller, UK

F – Patrick Patterson vs. Evaldas Baniulis

‘Mr. Consistency’, as I call him, should handle Baniulus pretty easily down in the post. In three career games against South Carolina Patterson has posted 22-9, 28-7, and 28-12 but only has a 1-2 record in those games.

Patterson has dominated other big men for the GameCOCKS and is going against a dreadful defender in Baniulis.

Advantage: Patterson, UK

F — DeMarcus Cousins vs. Sam Muldrow

Ok, this is BY FAR the easiest pick of the five matchups. Cousins has a full two inches on Muldrow and outweighs him by FIFTY-FIVE POUNDS! YIKES! Cousins has been dominating players that are AT LEAST his height and now he should have another double-double and could have his first career 20-20 game IF he stays out of foul trouble (a BIG if).

Advantage: Cousins, UK

Prediction

The Cats SHOULD come out with a lot of energy as they play their first game ranked as #1 since the 2002-2003 season. I think DeMarcus Cousins will come out and simply dominate from the get-go. Cousins should be able to stay out of foul trouble because South Carolina is predominately a perimeter scoring team and does not attack 6’11” guys too frequently.

81-69 Cats

Kentucky flies by Arkansas in 101-70 victory

Sophomore forward Darius Miller poured in a career-high 18 points to lead Kentucky (19-0) in a 101-70 victory over Arkansas (8-11) in Rupp Arena.

Miller made a career-high four three-pointers against the Razorbacks and was helped in the game by a trio of freshman as John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and DeMarcus Cousins combined for 42 points, 24 rebounds, and 14 assists to join Miller in the scoring parade.

Using a 10-0 run to start the game, the Wildcats led by less than double digits for only 1:44 of the game.

Lost amongst the acrobatic moves by John Wall and the long bombs of Darius Miller was the play by the UK bench. Often harrassed by coach John Calipari in press conferences, the Wildcat bench scored 32 points for the Cats and showed the Rupp Arena crowd their great hustle on the defensive end of the court when the starters needed a short rest.

Notes

– The 31-point win for the Cats is the largest SEC victory since January 16, 2007 (38-point win over South Carolina)
– Kentucky moves to 23-7 all-time against Arkansas with the win saturday
– The Wildcats’ 31-point win is the largest victory over Arkansas since 1948
– With 16 points and 14 rebounds against the Razorbacks, DeMarcus Cousins tallied his 10th double-double of the season
– Patrick Patterson had scored in double-figures in 13 consecutive games before finishing with 9 points against Arkansas

Kentucky vs. Auburn Post Game

Kentucky had a less-than-stellar outing tonight vs. Auburn in their second SEC road game of the season, pulling out a 72-67 victory over the 9-9 Tigers at Beard-Eaves-Memoiral Coliseum.

Leading the Cats was DeMarcus Cousins who recorded his ninth double-double of the season—16 points and 11 rebounds.

I was very surprised with the activity inside the paint tonight by the Wildcats. Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins combined to only shoot 12 shots while John Wall and Eric Bledsoe shot 16. UK had a serious advantage in the paint and did NOT take advantage of it as I would have hoped. The rebounding margin was only +5 for the Cats and should’ve been at least +15.

Notes

– Kentucky attempted 35 free throws against Auburn, tying the season-high set earlier this year against Cleveland State in Cancun.
– The Cats shot over 50% from the field for the 11th time this season
–  UK had four players—Wall, Bledsoe, Patterson, and Cousins—play 30+ minutes for the first time since November 25th against Stanford
– In their last 26 games against the Tigers, Kentucky is now 25-1
– The 9 offensive rebounds that Kentucky had tonight were the fewest of the season, marking the first time UK has posted single-diget offensive boards all season

Kentucky vs. Florida Preview

Tuesday night there is no question that Kentucky will face its toughest road test so far this season. For about three games per year the O’Connell Center in Gainesville can get rowdy and there is no question that the annual game against UK is one of those games.

Florida is coming off a loss in their SEC opener at Vanderbilt and has lost 4 of their last 7 games including losses to Richmond (“neutral site” in Florida) and South Alabama at home in back-to-back contests.

Projected Starters

Erving Walker vs. John Wall
The Verne Troyer of college hoops is averaging just over 11 ppg this season and is coming off his top scoring effort of the season against Vandy (22). Although just a sophomore, Mini-Me is leading the team in minutes per game and has started all 15 games this season. In the two games against the Cats last season, Walker averaged 8.5 points and 1.0 assists per game, not to shabby for someone that will stand a full 8 inches shorter than the opposing starting point guard.

Wall comes in as the front-runner for National POY and has a sickening advantage athletically and size-wise against Walker. Nothing more need be said.
Edge: John Wall, UK

Kenny Boynton vs. Eric Bledsoe
Even through this tough patch in the season Florida does have some players playing at a very high level. One of the best and most underrated freshmen in the nation, Kenny Boynton, has been tearing it up for the Gators averaging over 16 ppg over his last five, including a 28 point output against the Commodores. Odds are Eric Bledsoe will begin the game guarding Boynton to keep John Wall out of potential foul trouble and it is key he keeps his eyes on Boynton all over the floor.

Bledsoe is the laziest Wildcat in the starting lineup and could be pulled quickly if he does not come out with defensive intensity. He frequently goes under screens and almost assumes other players will pick up his man on screens and when his defender moves. Bledsoe has the length and quickness to contain Boynton but it is easier said than done.
Edge: Kenny Boynton, FLA

Dan Werner vs. Darius Miller
Werner has been the most disappointing Gator player so far this season. Granted, he was never very good, perhaps even bad, but he has gone down in almost every single offensive category even though his minutes have increased this season. Darius Miller has the pleasure of matching up against the Gators’ worst starter and will hopefully come out and dominate this matchup.

This matchup is pretty even in terms of size and importance to the outcome of the game. Miller is clearly the better player but has played perhaps his worst two games as a Wildcat in the last week, scoring 0 and 5 in his last two outings.
Edge: Push

Vernon Macklin vs. Patrick Patterson
Vernon Macklin has been one of the best transfers in the nation this season—his first since transferring from Georgetown. He is averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game but also is second on the team in fouls. Macklin has started every game but one only shoots 67% from the free throw line, leading one to believe he won’t be on the court during crunch time.

Patterson is one of the best players in the country and is able to draw fouls at a terrific rate. He completely dominates players that are physically smaller than him and averaged a double-double in his two meetings with Florida last season. Being the emotional leader on the team, it is important that PPat stays out of foul trouble, something that he has greatly improved on this season over his previous two, and stays on the floor in the second half.
Edge: Patrick Patterson, UK

Alex Tyus vs. DeMarcus Cousins/Daniel Orton
Odds are DeMarcus Cousins will pick up two fouls before tip time so when he sits on the bench it will be up to the bigs on the bench—Daniel Orton and Perry Stevenson—to  come ready to play, something that they haven’t been doing lately. Alex Tyus makes his impact based off pure athleticsm and energy but against mountaints like Cousins and Orton it will be very tough to have the sort of results he is accustomed to. Cousins is easily the best rebounder in the nation, averaging over nine rebounds per game in only 2o minutes an outing.
Edge: DeMarcus Cousins

One of the most intruiging matchups this evening will be between the head honchos on the sidelines. Donovan will try to prove that he made the right decision by staying at UF when it was safely assumed he had first dibs at the UK job last year. Calipari has really nothing to prove accept that his young Cats can win on the road in a hostile environment.

In other (and more important) news it is being reported that Erin Andrews will be on hand to work the sidelines at her alma mater. Widely considered the cream-of-the-crop amongst ESPN sideline analysts, Andrews should more than triple the viewership of the game in the state of Florida to at least 24 people because of her “appeal”. If you are not familiar with Erin Andrews and her god-given talent it is time to get familiar.

Henry to UK picking up steam

On a Kansas City radio station today Carl Henry, the father of Xavier and CJ, stated he and his family felt betrayed by a newspaper article that made the Henry’s look like “prima donna’s” and that they were questioning their commitment to Kansas even further.

Carl stated that Daniel Orton and John Wall, two players who chose Kentucky over Kansas among others, have been talking to Xavier about how great it is in Lexington and how they want him to join them in the pursuit of an NCAA Championship.

Many Kansas message boards have been calling the Henry family “slime” amongst other things for the way they have handled their displeasure with the Kansas program.

So what will the UK program look like if Henry joins as the fifth five-star player this season?

Potential Starters

PG: John Wall – Top five player in the nation right off the bat

SG: Xavier Henry – Deadly shooter who has a complete offensive game

SF: Darius Miller – Will be one of the most improved players in the SEC and fits DDM offense perfectly

PF: Patrick Patterson – Decision to come back was the right one. May be the top big man in the country

C: DeMarcus Cousins – Rated as the #2 high school player in the nation behind Wall and is a bigger, more talented Patrick Patterson at the same stage

 

Potential Key Bench Players

Eric Bledsoe – Would be starting for most teams in the nation. A really strong and powerful guard.

Jon Hood – Very athletic wing with an old school game. Will not cry about getting limited minutes and should pick up the offense quickly.

Daniel Orton – Coming off an injury he should be ready to prove himself. Great body who should play very aggressively.

Darnell Dodson – Another deadly shooter who can get into the lane. Will cause teams not to double the great post players.

Who Will Be The Last Player To Leave?

As it stands now, UK has one too many players on athletic scholarship. There are a few players who could leave and there are three very reasonable candidates.

DeAndre Liggins
DeAndre Liggins, a rising sophomore, looks like he may be heading out. Liggins does not seem to have a place on a team that will be with two 5-star point guards and maybe Kevin Galloway.

John Wall will be starting and Eric Bledsoe will be logging major minutes coming off the bench—and will start the following year.

By the time Liggins will get any significant playing time he will be a senior, as UK looks to land a stud point guard for next season.

I believe Liggins will be the player you see make an exit from this team and transfer to a lesser known school in Division I.

Kevin Galloway
I guess Galloway could be the player to go but the fact that he will be a senior next season really makes me question that.

Galloway has the ability to play three different positions and he appears to be a great energy guy coming off the bench. He has pretty good open court skills so I think he will stay.

Matt Pilgrim
As odd as it may seem, Matt Piligrim could very well be the player left on the wrong side of this equation.

Although he has become an icon of sorts during his year off the roster, Pilgrim is going to be sitting behind two or three top tier players next season, including Patrick Patterson.

Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton all will log more minutes than Pilgrim and if need be Pilgrim could be the player to go.

We will keep you updated on any further developments of this story.

John Wall Commits, Makes Wildcats a Contender

With the announcement of prep superstar John Wall committing to the University of Kentucky, the Wildcats have reeled in their fourth five-star recruit and have two four-star recruits coming in as well.

Coach John Calipari has already displayed his second-to-none recruiting style and now has to finish the job by winning and winning big.

Across the Internet Tuesday morning, media members have been crowning this Kentucky recruiting class as the best of all-time and one of the best collection of talents in sports’ history.

Calipari has a tough job ahead of him. Not in the sense that he needs to find players to step up, because that won’t be a problem. Calipari is going to have trouble containing all these players to their designed roles because of the superstar tags each of them are coming in with.

Don’t get me wrong, as a member of the Big Blue Nation, I strongly hope Calipari can handle the pressure and make this work, that is why he became the highest paid coach in college basketball history, but the odds are lower than one might think.

The great Michigan “Fab Five” of the early 90s proved to be a bust. Five players ranked in the top 100 nationally, three of which were top 10 talents, that could not win a national title in two seasons seasons together.

But unlike the Michigan “Fab Five”, this team returns stellar players as well. Perhaps two of the top 10 returning players in the nation next season will be wearing Kentucky blue if Jodie Meeks joins Patrick Patterson in Lexington.

The Michigan team had relatively no leadership returning and started five freshmen, something this UK squad will not do once.

It is hard to deny Kentucky’s immediate place among the top five nationally after a signing of John Wall’s caliber. Many experts believe he is better at this stage of his career than both Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, two superstar point guards under Calipari at Memphis.

The Wall commitment makes Kentucky the favorite to win the national title and gives them their top recruit in school history. Wall will be the best point guard to ever step foot in Lexington, even better than current Boston Celtics star Rajon Rondo.

Wall has the potential to score 20 points every game and dish out 10+ assists on any given night.

This UK team will be the deepest team in America, as well. Ramon Harris, a senior, was a starter on last season’s Wildcat team and may be the worst player on the upcoming team. That is not a slight to him at all, he’s a lock down defender and a great leader, but a testament to what may happen next season.

I do believe that UK will be a top five team throughout all of next season, but some fans are taking this too far.

Just remember that this will be a relatively young team, and with that should come reasonable expectations.

Saturday News and Notes

It’s been a slow past few days so we thought we would keep it simple and provide some news links from the past week or so.

• USA Today says Patterson is ready for his junior season at Kentucky
• Yahoo! Sports says UK is going to be really good next season
• Bleacher Report wants to know how Eric Bledsoe’s signing will affect John Wall
• Five-star big man Adreian Payne is making a visit to Kentucky

Cool Website Alert

Every once-in-awhile  I post a new website I have stumbled upon that I think is extremely cool. The other day I found the website Bleacherreport.com.

It is not a new site but the idea of it is to allow the average sports fan to write about their favorite teams or sports as if they were a real journalist. They are partners with CBS Sports so sometimes articles get posted onto the actual CBS Sports website. Check out the site.

Calipari: Looking Ahead Towards The Future Of Kentucky Basketball

 

Calipari looks towards next season

When John Calipari was first brought on as the University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach he said said numerous times that he is ‘day by day’. “If you want something to happen in a year, do not hire me.”

 

But for the first time since his hiring on April 1, Calipari talked about next year.

Calipari addressed the media on numerous topics looking forward to the upcoming season. A season that already has Cats fans anxious because of the sudden high expectations.

He would not say what his expectations for this team going next season are, other than it will be a learning process. “Then by March [we] are playing [our] best basketball”.

Calipari expects to be playing great basketball in March partially because of the announcement that Patrick Patterson will be returning to Kentucky for his junior season.

“I’m excited about [Patrick returning],” Calipari explained, “I wanted him to know that he is coming back for himself and to help the university”.

Coach Calipari also detailed how surprised he was with Patterson and some of the things he could do on the basketball floor that he was not aware of.

“One of the things was that I didn’t realize how fast [Patrick] was,” Calipari smiled, “He also shoots the ball better than I thought, and handles it and passes it better than I thought.”

Another crucial topic of discussion was the incoming recruits. Eric Bledsoe will play a very crucial role on a team in desperate need of a point guard and play making ability.

“When I recruit players, I want to make sure that they play big and are big. If a guy is 6-foot-4 and plays 6-foot-2, then he is not big. If a guy is 6-foot and plays 6-foot-5, then he is big… Eric is probably 6-foot-1 maybe, but he plays big. He is fast and very physically strong and tough. He has great vision on the court, and in this offense you have to be able to react.”

Another freshman who has to step up under Calipari is Daniel Orton. Orton, an Oklahoma native, appears ready to make the jump to the college game alongside Patterson and fellow freshman DeMarcus Cousins.

“Daniel Orton is going to be terrific, because he has great size, really long arms and he is skilled. You can play him inside, or outside and he is a terrific passer,” Calipari noted. “He also has the skills that if you want to play two big guys you can. There is DeMarcus [Cousins] that you can play with him and together.”

There is no question that Kentucky is going to be a very good team under Calipari, but Coach Cal has warned the media numerous times already that this is a step-by-step process that will take time.

“But when we get it right, you notice we’re No. 1 in the country, we’re No. 1 seeds, we’re playing in Final Fours when you get it right.”

Extra News and Notes

The schedule situation was brought up today and Calipari explained it to the media that there is still two games to schedule but the rest is pretty much done. He said they got a call from Texas for a Houston-site game. Also looking at Cincinnati or a Nashville-site game.

Also talked about wanting Midnight Madness in Commonwealth Stadium (Kentucky football stadium). Said it would be great to get 70,000 people to come and have Ashley Judd and Justin Timberlake there. He said the biggest issue would be predicting the weather in the middle of October.