John Clay’s Sidelines

(AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader on tonight’s battle of the blurs:

Kentucky point guard John Wall, certainly no cartoon figure although his exploits this season tested the bounds of credulity, might give Aminu a new perspective on speed when the teams play in the NCAA Tournament second round Saturday night.

DeMarcus Cousins certainly thought so. He frowned and shook his head, as if in pity, at the suggestion that someone believed Smith was faster than Wall.

Mark Story of the Herald-Leader on how Wake plans to agitate Big Cuz:

Will Rogers - who famously said he never met a man he didn’t like - never encountered Chas (pronounced Chase) McFarland on a basketball court.

In its Feb. 22 edition, ESPN The Magazine featured the Wake big man with a headline that asked “why does everyone, no, really, everyone, want to take a swing at Chas McFarland?”

Jennifer Smith of the H-L previews UK women’s NCAA opener:

Matthew Mitchell isn’t from Kentucky, but he often sounds as though he might be.

When the coach talks about UK basketball and what it means to the commonwealth, he sounds as though he spent his childhood shooting hoops in his driveway re-enacting the 1978 national championship.

“Kentucky is such a unique place and the passion for basketball is so strong here,” he told the media gathered before No. 19 UK’s start in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Freedom Hall.

Luke DeCock of the Raliegh News and Observer writes that Wake has reason to smile:

When Wake Forest’s players entered the interview room at the New Orleans Arena on Wednesday, there was little interest and a lot of gloom. As the last of eight teams to proceed to the podium, pushing East Coast deadlines at 7 p.m. Central Time, Wake was questioned only by three North Carolina reporters and one local reporter — and given the Demon Deacons’ run of five losses in six games, it was a grim line of inquiry.

Forty-eight hours later, the Deacons were back, and they couldn’t stop smiling. Thursday’s overtime win over Texas took an unimaginable amount of pressure off Wake Forest, from last season’s upset by Cleveland State to this season’s slide to the finish. As the Deacons prepared to play Kentucky tomorrow, there’s suddenly reason for optimism.

Dan Collins of the Winston-Salem Journal reports that Wake knows what it faces:

The challenge will now be to take the floor with the same passion and intensity for tonight’s game against No. 1 seed Kentucky, scheduled for around 8:30 at New Orleans Arena. The Wildcats, who steamrolled East Tennessee State 100-71 Thursday, will be as heavily favored as one would expect a 32-2 team playing an opponent that is 20-10.

There’s no guarantee that the Deacons’ best effort will be enough. But anything less could obviously make for a long day against the brawny and fast Wildcats.

Lenox Rawlings of the Journal thinks Wake has a shot:

That’s not saying the Deacons will upset the No. 2 choice for the NCAA championship, behind Kansas. That’s not saying the Deacons will come closer than the nine-point spread. That’s not saying John Wall should haul his sweet dribble to the NBA before sundown Sunday, driven out of town by that one-man Texas posse Ish Smith.

But stranger things have happened. N.C. State beat Houston in 1983. Villanova beat Georgetown in 1985. In this year’s first round, deep seeds Ohio U., Murray State and Cornell flipped the tables on Sweet 16 pretenders Georgetown, Vanderbilt and Temple.

Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal on speedy backcourts and big frontcourts:

Kentucky forward DeMarcus Cousins has heard the theory that Wake Forest, the Wildcats’ opponent in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament second-round game at the New Orleans Arena, is a mirror image of UK.

There’s the fleet-footed point guard (Kentucky’s John Wall, Wake’s Ishmael Smith).

There are the big bodies up front (UK boasts five players 6-foot-10 or taller; Wake Forest has four listed at least 6-foot-11).

Thayer Evans of the New York Times on Calipari’s fondness for the Big Easy:

The night before top-seeded Kentucky romped over No. 16 seed East Tennessee State in the opening round of the N.C.A.A. tournament, Wildcats Coach John Calipari allowed his team to visit Bourbon Street and the French Quarter.

But because of the short trip, there was not time to take his team on a Hurricane Katrina tour as he did when he coached at Memphis. He said on Friday that he planned to discuss the devastating storm that ravaged this city with his players.

Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News says Wake wants an up-and-down game:

When Wake Forest PG Ish Smith nailed a running shot to beat the buzzer and eliminate Texas from the NCAA Tournament, it wasn’t the first time he’d nailed a game-winner. “He makes big shots,” coach Dino Gaudio said. Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy spoke with Smith, who gets a game against this year’s big-shot freshman, John Wall of Kentucky, in the NCAA second round Saturday night.

James Pennington of the Kentucky Kernel says shock and awe won’t faze Wake:

All year, two things have undeniably played into UK’s favor: speed and size. Scout all you can and watch film until your eyes turn red, but nobody can understand how to corral John Wall’s speed until it is seen in person. Well, nobody but Wake Forest’s own blur of a guard, Ishmael Smith.

Texas coach Rick Barnes called Smith a one-man fast break. Perhaps the only other player in college that could be called the same will be pitted against him Saturday with a Sweet 16 berth at hand.

Metz Camfield of the Kernel writes that big men have Cats’ attention:

Wake Forest is up next for the Cats, but when circling around the UK locker room Friday afternoon, much of the talk circled back to South Carolina.

The Gamecocks, led by senior guard Devan Downey and 44 team rebounds, handed UK their first loss of the season on Jan. 26. UK is hoping when they face Wake Forest on Saturday, it won’t be their last game of the season.

Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger reports on Daniel Orton and NBA:

He’s not really thinking about what might happen once the season ends, but Kentucky freshman Daniel Orton won’t deny that the NBA could be a possible destination for him as early as next season.

Tom Leach has videos previewing UK-Wake Forest.

WKYT has video story on teen getting a UK birthday surprise.

Chris Low of espn.com thinks Wake could give UK a run for its money:

Getting into an up-and-down, shoot-’em-up game with Kentucky is like chumming off the coast of South Africa … and doing it while sitting in one of those blowup floats.

In other words, you just don’t do it.

Try telling that to Wake Forest, which not only wants to run with Kentucky, but wants to run the No. 1-seeded Wildcats ragged Saturday in their East Regional second-round game.

Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun on UK’s chemistry:

In order to avoid getting shoved around in the post, Cousins will have to stay on the floor longer than he did in the team’s tournament opener. Because of foul trouble, Cousins scored just five points in 24 minutes. While on the court, Cousins did collect four blocks against the Bucs.

Brian Allee-Walsh of NewOrleans.com on Daniel Orton:

Orton is brimming with potential and is viewed by NBA scouts as a possible first-round draft pick this June. But he’s not good enough to crack the starting lineup on a Wildcat team that is 33-2 and has its sights set on reaching the Final Four in Indianapolis on April 3-5.

Orton will come off the bench in Saturday night’s second-round game against Wake Forest in the NCAA East Regional at New Orleans Arena. Tipoff is approximately 7:30 p.m., or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the day’s first game between Baylor and Old Dominion at 4:50 p.m..

(Hat tip to Walter’s Wildcat World.)

Blogs:

• Danny Jett’s Inner Circle writes that Wake Forest looms large.
• Cat Scratches blog has funny video of Cousins trying to avoid the media.
• Kentucky Sports Radio wasn’t much on the Friday games.
• Nation of Blue on Patrick Patterson and the fans.
• Wildcat Blue Blog goes inside the numbers with UK and Wake.
• Straitpinkie previews the Cats and Demon Deacons.
• Bluegrass State Basketball says there is one person in Memphis who still likes Calipari.
• Nathan Brooks of Kentucky Sports Network gives his thumbs-up/thumbs-down.
• Kentucky Ink takes a look at Wake Forest.