John Clay’s Sidelines

Here’s Patrick Patterson on his 17-point, 10-rebound night, the John Wall shot, Kentucky’s comeback, and the end of a dramatic night at Rupp.

Kentucky’s Patrick Patterson talks to the media after a 20-point, 12-rebound night.

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader reports on UK women’s exhibition basketball win.
• Mark Story of the H-L thinks UK should keep Morgan Newton as the starting quarterback.
• Jerry Tipton writes on UK’s new shooting guard, Patrick Patterson.
• Chip Cosby reports that Rich Brooks sure doesn’t think Vandy is a gimme game.
• Wildcat Blue Blog is tracking the race to 2,000 wins.
• Brett Dawson of the C-J writes that Kentucky isn’t taking Vanderbilt lightly.
• Matt May of the Cats Pause writes on the UK quarterback quandry.
• B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel writes on the Kentucky quarterbacks.
• Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches writes that UK is banged up, but not broken.

Continue reading ‘BBL: The race to 2,000 basketball wins’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Here’s the post-game index on Kentucky’s 117-52 win over Clarion:

• Post-game video interview with John Wall after his 27-point performance.

• Audio of John Calipari post-game press conference.

• Herald-Leader photo slide show from the game.

• Jerry Tipton’s game story from the victory.

• Video post-game interview with Patrick Patterson.

• Video post-game interview with Perry Stevenson.

• Video post-game interview with Ramon Harris.

Here’s UK junior Patrick Patterson meeting with the media after the Cats trounced poor Clarion 117-52 at Rupp. Patterson played better than Monday, especially in the second half. He ended up with 14 points, though he acknowledges that he’s still not comfortable playing out on the floor. The big fellow did hit a pair of threes, after John Calipari encouraged him to take more three-pointers.

Patrick Patterson on johnclay.bloginky.com from John Clay on Vimeo.

(H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes that UK’s first exhibition win was an eye-opener.
• Mark Story of the H-L writes that we can try and judge the Cats on an exhibition victory.
• Here’s Herald-Leader photo slide show from last night’s game.
• Video interviews with Darius Miller, Patrick Patterson and Daniel Orton.
• Here’s audio of John Calipari’s post-game press conference.
• Chip Cosby of the H-L reports that UK football hopes to salvage its season.
• Zagsblog says Doron Lamb will visit UConn on Nov. 15.
• Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline writes that UK is cleared to play off the Wall.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes that Kentucky showed sloppy offense in its exhibition opener.
• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger writes that Eric Bledsoe and John Wall are better together.
• Matt May of the Cats Pause writes that UK has a long road ahead.
• Chuck Jones of the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise says don’t rush to judgment on these Cats.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cats sloppy in win; Doron Lamb to visit UConn’

John Calipari said that Patrick Patterson (four points, five rebounds) played good, but not great in Kentucky’s 74-38 exhibition win over visiting Campbellsville tonight. And Patterson pretty much agreed. It’s all a work in progress, even for someone who was named an Associated Press pre-season All-American today. Patterson took just seven shots, making two. He was 0-of-2 from behind the three-point line.

A'dia Mathies (H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader writes that UK’s Amber Smith has shed her brace for a faster pace.
• Mark Story of the Herald-Leader writes that UK is a comfortable fit for the state’s Miss Basketball.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader reports on UK cornerback Randall Burden’s search for his swagger.
• Jerry Tipton’s clarification concerning Patrick Patterson’s new truck, something that got blown way out proportion on Thursday.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal reports that UK spent $185,000 more on Big Blue Madness than the year before.
• Chris Low of ESPN puts Micah Johnson as the fifth scariest player in the SEC.
• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger talks to Tywanna Patterson about the supposed truck-gate.
• Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches previews the UK women’s basketball team.
• Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel writes on the hope for a curling club.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Women’s hoops and UK-Mississippi St grid’

A ten-spot from the Blue-White scrimmage:

• 1. This team is athletic. I know that’s obvious. But when was the last time we could truly say that about a Kentucky basketball team. Not that the Cats lacked athletes in the past few years. It’s just that they haven’t had this many athletes on one team since, when, 1996?

• 2. John Wall is ridiculous. But then you already knew that. As for the eligibility issue, John Calipari tried to play coy in the post-scrimmage press conference, answering Alan Cutler’s first question about Wall’s status as if it was another question entirely. But Wall was made available to the media afterward, where he didn’t have much to say about what was going on, or how he felt about what was going on. But at least we got the opportunity to ask.

• 3. Darnell Dodson will fill a key role on this team. The sophomore juco transfer was slighted on the publicity, what with Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton, etc., being in the newcomer class. But Dodson’s outside shot is a needed asset on this team. He made four-of-11 threes on the night, and that after looking a bit nervous in the early going

• 4. Calipari claims that Wall and Bledsoe play better together than they do apart, and that may in fact be true. I’m not going to doubt the coach. So whatever happened to all those who said, before Bledsoe signed, that the two could not co-exist in the same backcourt. I’m with Cal. There’s no reason they can’t do better than that in the same backcourt.

• 5. The best move of the night was when Calipari pulled Joe B. Hall off the front row behind the bench and had him sit on the bench with him. That got a standing ovation from the Rupp crowd of 14,060, and deservedly so. I know, Joe has said all the right things about this Wildcat Coal Lodge controversy. And I have no doubt he understands the difficulties of raising funds for facility improvements, etc. But still, it’s the only thing on campus named in his honor, a former basketball coach who won a national championship and went to three Final Fours. And you’re going to tell me there’s anyone out there who loves the program more than Joe? Mitch Barnhart said the school will find another way to honor Joe. It better.

Continue reading ‘A 10-spot from the UK Blue-White scrimmage’

UK junior Patrick Patterson talks about his play, and the team’s play after tonight’s Blue-White Scrimmage. Patterson finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and made a pair of three-pointers.