John Clay's Sidelines

Larry Brown will be a guest at UK-Georgia today. (AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Georgia at Kentucky (4 p.m., ESPN)
  • Kentucky has to get more physical with Georgia this time, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
  • Cats seek a dogged effort against Georgia, writes Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
  • Kentucky looking for payback against the Bulldogs, writes Will Graves of the AP.
  • Cats will try to get more physical with Bulldogs, writes Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.
  • Georgia has already proven it can beat Kentucky, writes Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun.
  • Kentucky and Georgia heading in opposite directions, writes Andy Katz of espn.com.
  • Seth Davis of cnnsi.com likes Kentucky by seven over the Dogs.
• From the Georgia point-of-view
  • Could tough times be ahead now that Georgia is back on the road? asks Tim Tucker of the AJC.
  • Mark Fox not shaken by tough defeats, writes Roger Clarkson of the Athens Banner-Herald.
  • Bulldogs not ready to panic, writes Fletcher Page of the Macon Telegraph.
• Football recruiting news
  • Lamar Dawson is in Tennessee today for his official visit, reports the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
  • Bleed Blue Kentucky on who should get the credit in recruiting.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cats-Dogs; Larry Brown; Dawson at Tennessee’

Lamar Dawson (H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Lamar Dawson visiting Southern Cal this weekend, reports Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger. The state’s Mr. Football will also visit Central Florida and Tennessee before making his decision Feb. 2.
• Calipari watched Marquis Teague play on Wednesday night, reports Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star.
• Randall Cobb taking his talents to the play-for-pay, reports Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• Mark Story of the Herald-Leader writes that Randall Cobb’s many talents will be difficult to replace.
• Emotional Cobb compares himself to Wes Welker, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• Cobb has put on the Kentucky uniform for the last time, writes Matt May of the Cats Pause.
• Kentucky has the opportunity to replace a legend, writes Chandler Howard of the Kentucky Kernel.
• A 23-3 spree sends Kentucky’s women past South Carolina, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Lamar Dawson to visit Southern Cal this weekend’

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Lamar Dawson making official visit to UK this weekend, reports Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Tim Patterson plans on joining UK football team soon, reports Vaught.
• UK coaches checking out Shabazz Muhammad, reports Ray Brewer of the Las Vegas Sun.
• Nation of Blue writes that its sources say DeAndre Daniels will end up at Kentucky.
• Randall Cobb named first-team All-American, reports the Herald-Leader.
• On Cat Scratches, Tom Leach catches up with ex-UK player and assistant Scott Padgett.
• A look at UK’s recruiting on defense, by Bleed Blue Kentucky.
• Kobe Bryant tells an injured John Wall to buy Nikes, tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post. (Hat tip Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog)
• Sean Woods is still unforgettable, writes Wildcat Blue Nation.
• Gainesville Sun has a preview of the Kentucky-Pittsburgh bowl game.

(AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “Wall was like a cyclone on the floor, whirling all over and doing everything in his power to will the Wizards to their first win of the season. He finished with a team-high 29 points, 13 assists and 9 steals, but the Wizards wouldn’t have been able to pull out a 116-115 victory on Tuesday without reserve Cartier Martin nailing a desperation three-pointer to force the extra frame, or Andray Blatche overcoming some missed shots and fumbled plays to step to the foul line and hit the decisive free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining.”

Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post: “By the time the Wizards become a threat to make or advance in the playoffs, most of the players who were Wall’s teammates Tuesday night, in his home regular season debut for the team that made him the overall No. 1 pick in the draft, will be long gone. That’s the necessary reality of the NBA. Check the difference in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ team photo from LeBron’s rookie season to his sixth, or the Bulls’ team photo from Michael Jordan’s first year to when the Bulls became a contender.”

Mike Lynch of espn.com: “Wall is the first player in NBA history to have at least 29 points, 13 assists and nine steals in a single game. He’s the fourth player in NBA history to have at least 20 points and 10 assists in his home debut. Only one NBA rookie has ever had more than Wall’s nine steals in a game (steals have been an official stat since 1973-74). That was Ron Harper back in 1986-87.”

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader: “The play called for Hartline to throw a post route to Matthews in the end zone, but Matthews misinterpreted the call and broke his route off, allowing Johnthan Banks an easy interception at the MSU 1-yard line that iced the game. Afterward, both Hartline and Coach Joker Phillips acknowledged that Matthews blew the call. That was just part of what was a disastrous night for the 6-foot-6 senior receiver. He spent the first quarter on the sideline for an unspecified violation of team rules. Matthews didn’t elaborate on what got him suspended.”

(Hat tip DC Sports Bog.)

Continue reading ‘BBL: John Wall is a Wizard in front of the home folks’

Randall Cobb scores last year at Auburn. (AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• A Sea of Blue has a couple of interesting posts on the Enes Kanter matter.
  • One deals with the actual NCAA rules that may apply to the case.
  • The other deals with the particular interests in the case.
• Kentucky’s Tee Martin goes from hero to coach for Randall Cobb, writes Mike Herndon of the Mobile Press-Register.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Views on the Kanter matter; Cats and Tigers’

Lamar Dawson (H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Wildcat Wally Clark missing this year’s Madness camp out, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• John Calipari downplays and welcomes high expectations, writes Tipton.
• Cats will need discipline to stop dangerous Masoli, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• UK football target Lamar Dawson getting plenty of attention, writes Mark Story of the H-L.
• Brandon Knight is UK’s workhorse, writes Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• Kentucky football practices getting ugly, reports Dawson of the C-J.
• Enes Kanter impresses Calipari and his teammates, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Banged-up Ole Miss seeking an improved defense, writes Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Houston Nutt suspends a backup linebacker, reports Veazey.
• Senior Day plays a big part of Mark Krebs’ new book, writes Aaron Smith of the Kentucky Kernel.

Continue reading ‘BBL: No Wildcat Wally this year for Madness’

(H-L photo)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Chris Low of espn.com ranks Kentucky No. 8 among SEC quarterbacks in league position ratings.

• DeQuin Evans is happy to represent his family, writes Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.

• Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb make pre-season All-SEC first team, while Evans is a second-team choice, says H-L staff report.

• Writing for Kentucky Sports Network, Ira Combs asks if Mike Hartline is the leader at UK quarterback?

• Darrell Bird of the Cats Pause previews SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama.

• Joker Phillips shares some insights on this year’s football team with Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.

• Alan Cutler of WLEX-TV says that as head coach, Joker is the boss.

• Kentucky has plenty of competition for Boyle County linebacker Lamar Dawson, reports Dan Rieffer of WTVQ,

• Ken Howlett of A Sea of Blue believes that UK football has a favorable 2010 schedule.

• Aaron’s UK Football Blog looks at the status of the Kentucky redshirts from 2009.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Locke, Cobb, Evans, Hartline, Joker, Dawson’