John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Kentucky basketball player notes:

Twany Beckham: Has played just five minutes in two SEC games. Still has not taken a shot this season.

Anthony Davis: His 11 points against Alabama is his lowest total since he scored 10 against Lamar on December 28. Davis has blocked 26 shots in five SEC games, including four against the Crimson Tide. He did have a career-high four steals on Saturday. His two field goals on Saturday is his lowest total since he went one-of-two against Penn State on November 19.

Missed his first seven shots against Alabama before a follow dunk off a Marquis Teague miss with 4:43 left gave UK a 29-24 lead. He end up one-of-nine from the floor in the first half. His dunk off a fast break with 14:50 left in the second half, making it 49-43 Kentucky, was his only credited shot of the second half. He blocked an Alabama shot with seven seconds left and made two important free throws with 4.5 seconds remaining. With 6:30 left in the first half, he had missed his only field goal attempt, was one-of-four from the foul line and had one rebound.

Continue reading ‘Updated Kentucky basketball player news and notes’

(H-L photo)

I’ve updated the Kentucky basketball player pages:

Also: Click here to see the game-by-game individual stats for this season.

Continue reading ‘Updated Kentucky basketball player pages’

(H-L photo/Pablo Alcala)

Kentucky player notes from tonight’s 81-59 win over St. John’s:

Terrence Jones – His 26 points were the most since he scored 35 against Auburn back on January 11 of last year. The sophomore was 11-of-16 at the foul line. His previous high for free throw attempts was 15 at Tennessee on March 5 of last year. He made 9-of-15 in that game. Jones also matched his career-high with four blocked shots, and had four steals. His best play, however, was a monster dunk off a teammate’s missed free throw.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist – Not the best game for MKG. The freshman was 1-of-7 from the floor and had just two rebounds in 22 minutes. He also turned the ball over three times. It would not be a total shock if Darius Miller replaces him in the starting lineup against North Carolina.

Continue reading ‘Some player notes from UK’s slaying of St. John’s’

UK center Eloy Vargas says practicing with the Dominican Republic National Team “will help me a lot.”

Vargas is going up against NBA players Al Horford and Charlie Villanueva in practice, and will play against the Kentucky Pros in Monday night’s exhibition game at Rupp Arena.

Vargas recently injured an ankle, but says it is now about 90 percent.

Videos from today’s player interviews with the Dominican Republic National Team that is practicing at the Joe Craft Center. Video interviews with Al Horford, Eloy Vargas, Edgar Sosa, Charlie Villanueva and Fransisco Garcia after the jump.

Al Hoford

Eloy Vargas

Edgar Sosa

Charlie Villanueva

Francisco Garcia

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Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Kentucky target Devonta Pollard is fighting through adversity, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Chris Walker likes the Cats and other NCAA camp notes, reports Tipton.
• Rodney Purvis’ narrowed list doesn’t include UK, reports the H-L.
• NBA camp notes, day two, from Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal.
• Cats Illustrated has a photo gallery from the NBA camp in Virginia.
• Contract signed for upgrades at Commonwealth Stadium, reports Matt May of the Cats Pause.
• Doron Lamb still thinks about the UConn loss every day, says Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Enes Kanter’s workout with the Wizards went well, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Devonta Pollard video; more NBA camp notes’

Kentucky’s Eloy Vargas talks to the media about playing recently in China and his preparations for next season.

Click here to see this video on YouTube.

Eloy Vargas

Anthony Wireman of All Ky Hoops reports that Eloy Vargas scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds to help the Reach USA team to an 87-82 win over a Lithuanian team this morning in China. Vargas had five rebounds. The senior center had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in Reach USA’s loss yesterday. This is the same trip that Josh Harrellson and Jon Hood went on last year, which paved the way for Harrellson’s surprise senior season. The Cats are no doubt hoping the trip helps Vargas improve, as well.

Continue reading ‘Eloy Vargas scores 12 points as Reach USA wins’

(H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Kentucky tennis moved into the NCAA quarterfinals by beating Florida out in Stanford, while the UK baseball team was losing to Florida in Gainesville.

Chicago was getting the most eyeballs, however. That’s where NBA draft prospects Brandon Knight, DeAndre Liggins and Enes Kanter are participating in the league’s pre-draft combine.

Kanter apparently wowed the scouts with his workout. For some reason, Draft Express sent out a tweet earlier in the week quoting an unnamed GM as comparing Kanter to Joe Klein. Think Enes issued a rebuttal yesterday.

Click on the continue line to get today’s links.

Continue reading ‘BBL: UK tennis advances; Kanter does well in Chicago’

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Braeden Anderson talks KU and UK to All Ky Hoops.
• Calipari wants Cats to have fun, reports Jerry Tipton of the H-L.
• Jones named SEC Freshman of the Year, reports Tipton.
• Texas Tech might be right fit for Gillispie, says my column.
• What if Kentucky and Louisville play again? asks Eric Crawford of the C-J.
• Kentucky wants to plant high seed, reports Brett Dawson of the C-J.
• Larry Vaught of A-M says he would have voted for Knight over Jones.
• UK’s road woes won’t follow Cats, writes Matt Murray of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Murray also has a Twitter-esque breakdown of the SEC.
• Cats are playing for a high NCAA seed, says Chandler Howard of the Kernel.
• DeAndre Liggins is making it personal, writes Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.
• Wildcats growing as tourney approaches, writes Will Graves of the AP.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Braeden Anderson talks Kansas and Kentucky’