John Clay’s Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes on UK’s 102-92 win over Sam Houston State, leading with, “Kentucky continued to show a record-breaking defense. Alas, for all the wrong reasons.”

• Mark Story of the H-L writes, “The performance on the substance side, however, left something to be desired. For the second straight game, the UK perimeter defense was defenseless.”

• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes that Saturday will be a homecoming for many UK players, “The 2009 Kentucky roster is nearly as much Peach as it is Bluegrass. UK has 22 native Kentuckians on scholarship, but Georgia ranks close behind with 15 scholarship Wildcats.”

• Matt May of the Cats Pause writes, “Corey Allmond must have been watching Miami’s Nick Winbush do his best Crispin brother impersonation Monday night the way he lit up UK’s perimeter defense.”

• Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal writes, “Three games into his career as the men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, and coach John Calipari is already shaking his head. And his team didn’t even lose.”

• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate Messenger writes, “Mississippi State assistant coach Phil Cunningham says Rider, the team Kentucky hosts Saturday, is the kind of team in NCAA Tournament play that ‘can give you fits’ if you are highly-seeded team.”

• The Herald-Leader slide show from last night’s basketball game.

• Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel writes, “Calipari warned anyone who would listen at the beginning of the season that his team might not be where he wants them to be until January. However, when he said that he was talking about offensively, not defensively. He said he got so mad in Thursday night’s game that his head almost popped off.”

• James Pennington of the Kernel writes, “If fixing 3-point defense somehow wasn’t at the top of John Calipari’s to-do list before Thursday, it better move up. And on that to-do list, he better write it in all caps. Underline it, too. And slap some exclamation marks on the end.”

• Jeff Schultz of the AJC picks Georgia to cover the spread against Kentucky on Saturday, writing, “People say the Wildcats aren’t very good. But if they’re 6-4, same as Georgia, and they beat Auburn by a touchdown, same as Georgia, does that make them same as Georgia? Close. But not quite. Dogs cover 8 1/2.”

• Tim Tucker of the AJC previews Saturday’s Kentucky-Georgia game, writing, “Kentucky has called (Cobb’s) availability “questionable,” although the Dogs expect him to play. He had a dazzling game against Georgia at quarterback last year and, if healthy, figures to be used primarily at wide receiver but also at quarterback, punt returner and kickoff returner this time.”

• Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald writes that tough runners await the Georgia defense, quoting Bulldog Kade Weston as saying, “”That’s fine with us. We like the challenge of (opponents) running the ball. That’s hard-nosed, play-in-the-box, who’s man is better, who’s bigger and stronger. We take that challenge.”

• Georgia historian Dan Magill writes that UK-Georgia started the nighttime tradition in 1940, “Georgia played its first night game in Sanford Stadium against Kentucky on Oct. 25, 1940. It was a 7-7 tie. The Wildcats led 7-0 until the final minute, when sophomore tailback Frank Sinkwich, a Heisman Trophy winner two years later, scored on a 1-yard plunge and Athenian Leo Costa kicked the PAT.”

• Michael Grant of the C-J writes that the UK offensive line will face a tough test in Athens, writing, “Brooks is particularly worried about pass protection for freshman Morgan Newton, who will start his sixth straight game. Brooks said communication between the quarterback and the line will be at a premium against the Bulldogs, whose 25 sacks rank fourth in the SEC. Linemen Justin Houston (six sacks), Demarcus Dobbs (3½ sacks) and Geno Atkins (8½ tackles for loss) are a lot to handle.”

• A Sea of Blue writes, “I have been watching college basketball a very long time, more years than some members of this blog have been drawing breath. But I am sure that I have never seen two opposing teams back to back hit so many three point shots.”

• Wildcat Blue Blog writes, “Bowl eligible for the fourth straight season, Rich Brooks can use a win here to finally shut up the nay sayers and improve his bowl status. It is intimidating to go down into the hedges and have to face the famed Bulldogs, but on paper, this is a game UK has a chance at.”

• Bluegrass State Basketball brought its camera to UK-Sam Houston State.

• Danny Jett of Inner Circle writes, “Coach Calipari was also disappointed in his star John Wall, saying “John Wall has all this reputation…..well, the kid tonight got 11 3’s on him.” Ouch. Just chalk that up to some freshman errors. Well, until Kentucky develops better defense on the perimeter, this season could get interesting really quickly. The big teams start knocking on Kentucky’s door within the next couple of weeks. When we face a team that is not only an outside threat, but an inside one as well, we could be facing a long night.”

• Straitpinkie writes,“Is UK being haunted by the ghost of Jodie Meeks? 2 games into the season, the Kentucky Wildcats have to feeling a lot like many of the ‘Cats opponents felt playing against Jodie Meeks last year.”

• Wildcat Wrap writes, “It doesn’t get any easier on Saturday against Rider, another mid-major team expected to win their conference and go to the NCAA Tournament. According to Calipari, they are a better shooting team than both Miami and Sam Houston State.”

• Kentucky Sports Network has a video notebook of the UK win over Sam Houston State.

• Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches wrote, “But there were also plenty of things to squirm about. UK failed to get a single point from its bench, made just 19-of-29 from the charity stripe and turned it over 23 times (six each from freshman guards Eric Bledsoe and John Wall). Take your pick at the most glaring issue. I’ll take the 3-point defense.”