(H-L photo/Charles Bertram)
Update: UK will have media opp with players and Calipari starting at 12:45 today. Check the blog this afternoon for video, etc.
Big Blue Links for Friday:
Basketball Prospectus nominates John Wall for President: “He certainly looked heroic, calm, and in total and absolute control at the Garden against perhaps the single most stylistically consistent elite team in the nation. The program that Jim Calhoun has built always blocks shots. It never shoots threes. It has been this way forever. And what Calhoun’s team really wants is for some hotshot point guard to drive into the paint on them. Connecticut eats those little guys for lunch, always has.” (Hat tip to Bluegrass State Basketball.)
Jerry Tipton of the H-L writes that Cats are fine with John Wall’s star power: “As Calipari spoke about the great Wall of Kentucky (surely its wonderment can be seen from space like that other wall in China), the UK players shot glances at each other and smiled. Wall buried his face in his hands and giggled.
Brett Dawson of the C-J writes that freshmen are uneven but unbeaten: “The Cats have won three games by three points or fewer and another that was tied at the end of regulation. After the Connecticut game, Calipari told anyone within earshot that he’s coaching a 4-5 team. One way or another, though, his Cats keep winning. Often it’s by putting the ball in the hands of John Wall.”
Alex Bozich of Inside the Hall looks at Kentucky: “After the Billy Gillispie experiment failed miserably, UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart needed a hire that would instantly put the program back at the forefront nationally. Recruits were no longer viewing Kentucky as a top tier destination. Fans were restless with the lack of NCAA Tournament success since the program’s last championship in 1998 under Tubby Smith. So Barnhart, with his job likely on the line if he didn’t the hire right, went to Memphis and hired John Calipari.”
Larry Vaught of Danville Advocate-Messenger on Rich Brooks’ retirement plans: “If he knows, he’s not saying — or telling those closest to him. That includes Joker Phillips, UK’s head coach in waiting.”
Pete DiPrimio of the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel on Indiana: “The numbers don’t lie. Indiana’s Tom Pritchard is a foul waiting to happen. He is the LeBron James of fouls. No one spends more unwanted time sitting next to assistant coach Bennie Seltzer. Now comes No. 4 Kentucky with its foul-forcing dribble-drive motion attack. Oh, no.”
Tom Leach on Wall’s wow factor: “When a player gets as much hype as John Wall coming into college, it’s hard for him to live up to that billing. But Wall is making quite a run at it.”
Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel writes on UK’s Lydia Watkins: “As a junior at Christian County High School in Hopkinsville, Watkins averaged a double-double and committed to stay close to home to play for the Cats despite offers from other schools. To an outsider, Watkins’ basketball career seemed to be on an upward trajectory.”
James Pennington of the Kernel on Wall: “More recently, LeBron James has simultaneously turned into Madison Square Garden’s most formidable foe and its most anticipated favorite son-to-be. If James does indeed sign with the Knicks this upcoming summer – many expect he will – who’ll take his spot as The Garden’s Great Villian? I nominate John Wall.”
Wildcat Blue Blog looks at UK’s recruiting for 2011: “It may seem that he walks on water now, but John Calipari is in the midst of attempting to pull off one perhaps one of the greatest coaching feats of all times, a recruiting trifecta of epic proportions. We are talking of course about pulling in a 2011 recruiting class consisting of the numbers 1,2, and 3 players in the country: Mike Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, and Quincy Miller.”
A Sea of Blue looks at UConn in the rear-view mirror: “Looking back on last night, I think it will be most remembered as the night John Wall stormed the country and became the new Kevin Durant. I honestly wish that had not happened, but it was all too predictable. Now, we will have to listen to endless stories about Wall, when what I want to hear about is the team — you know, that name that starts with a “K” and ends with a “Y” that is writ large across the front of every jersey on the team, including John Wall. I notice Wall’s name is no bigger, his jersey no finer, and his shorts do not seem to be put on by servant girls. Let’s keep that in mind.”
Kentucky Sports Network gives its thumbs-up, thumbs-down: “Before Wall got to Lexington, everyone knew he could drive and pass and had extreme athleticism. What has been surprising is his ability to shoot the ball. He just looks like an NBA athlete when he pulls up for the mid-range jumper. Wall scored 12 of the last 15 points of the game for Kentucky, and finished with 25. His three-point play with 31 seconds to go basically sealed the game. He also had six steals that led to several easy buckets for himself and his teammates.”
Wildcat-Den on Patrick Patterson: “The cast that surrounds Patterson has been another reason the junior center is having fun. Sensational freshman John Wall continues to show why he’s ahead of the curve on the court.”
KSR’s Matt Jones doesn’t agree with Lachlan McClain: “My friend Lachlan Mclean was on the radio tonight apparently talking about the Wall and UK hype and saying that while he likes the team, he thinks it is a bit overblown. I like Lach, but he is part right and part dead-wrong. It is true that the hype for the team is a bit much. While Calipari continues to say this team is really 4-5, we all know that is an absurd and ridiculous statement.”
Straitpinkie wonders if we should be worried that UK is unbeaten: “I think Cal is legitimately worried that if UK keeps winning games against quality opponents like this, that they will never gain the perspective necessary to realize their full potential. The idea was for UK to jell as team before conference play and take a couple blows the mouth, peaking in February and March. Miami, Stanford, UNC, and UConn dished out a couple would be knockout blows, but to this point, UK has been able to absorb each and every one.”
Inner Circle thinks UK is full of poise: “It wasn’t but a year ago that Kentucky found itself in a position of dreaded despair. The fanbase had a first-person account of a great basketball program buckling at the knees. Turmoil and drama filled the once proud team, and many fans were beginning to hit the exits. UK basketball was on the brink of oblivion. Had it not have been for Patrick Patterson’s decision to come to Kentucky, we may have very well had losing seasons the past two years. That is scary, and in many ways almost unbelievable.”
