On sale now, the latest SLAM magazine with a celebration of John Calipari’s latest crop of future NBA studs.

See more here:
http://www.slamonline.com/online/the-magazine/toc/2010/03/slam-137-on-sale-now/

The Wildcats were not extremely impressive in their final home game of the 2009-10 season, but they did what they needed to do to close out a Florida team desperate for a tourney-clinching win.

The Cats were led, on Senior Day, by Darius Miller and Eric Bledsoe, who tallied 14 points each in an emotional game that could be the final game in Rupp Arena for as many as five Wildcats–three seniors plus John Wall, Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins.

Overall, Kentucky did not rebound as well as they normally do, and the Cats were outscored in the paint 36-22 for the game. UK’s young perimeter struggled with inconsistency once again, and team defense as a whole was not up to par.

Much to our displeasure, some of the worst signs from earlier in the season continued to show, including streaky outside shooting and turnovers.

But, lest we paint a completely negative picture, the BBL would like to congratulate this year’s Kentucky Wildcats on a stellar 29-2 season overall, 14-2 SEC record and regular season conference championship…the school’s 44th.

Now the real fun begins with the SEC tournament heating up this week in Nashville. The Cats will face the winner of Georgia and Auburn at 1:00 p.m. Friday.

Before then the BBL will have breakdowns on the SEC tournament, a retrospective on UK’s season, and a look ahead to the Big Dance next week.

Get ready for the madness.

The BBL is not usually one to post rumors or break news, but we’ve talked to some pretty reputable contacts today, and they have confirmed to us that the nation’s consensus top high school player, Brandon Knight, is a “done deal” to sign with Kentucky.

Rumors have been rampant that Knight was looking to confirm this news next week. But our sources say that it’s now a sure thing. The same sources also say C.J. Leslie is also pretty close to a certainty, as well.

We can’t give away our sources right now, but they include a member of the coaching staff at one of the school’s chasing Knight.

The biggest outstanding question now is what will Eric Bledsoe do when the season is over? It is our opinion that EB would be making a mistake to leave school early and that he should be the man at PG next year for UK. But the Knight signing certainly makes things interesting.

We’ll be back with more news as it comes available.

Two post-game quotes, courtesy of ESPN’s Chris Low, jumped out at us after the UK-UGA game Wednesday night. The first, from John Calipari, seems to indicate that Kentucky is putting itself in position to sign a few impact players in the late recruiting period (as if we ever doubted this). The second, from John Wall, is just a reminder that Wall is a money player and he knows it…perhaps more than anyone.

From Cal:

“Each situation is different, but I’ll sit down and be honest with every one of them [Wall, Cousins, Patterson, Bledsoe]. In most cases, you know what I’m going to say, because I’ve done it my whole career and then we’ll go back and better sign four or five more guys. Hopefully, they’re as good as the group we just brought in. And then after that, we’ll try to bring in four or five more. It’s a different day and age. You don’t have guys for three and four years.”

From Wall, on criticism of his shooting ability:

“I’ve been hearing that, but I can make shots when it’s time to make shots. I might not make them the whole game, and I might not be the best shooter there is in the country. But I can make shots when it’s time to make shots.”

Another big road test for the Cats faced and overcome.

The nation is well aware of the talent and potential of Kentucky. Most are also well aware of how deadly this team could be on any given night. But it seems there is a general disregard for the accomplishments thus far of this UK team, and a lack of overall respect for the quality of the SEC, as well.

The BBL thinks America should take Kentucky’s record for granted at its own risk. Winning in Athens is no small task. Yeah, Georgia has a losing record and no, they aren’t a postseason threat of any sort. But this is a team with a 13-3 home record that claims more quality wins than most teams in America (wins over Georgia Tech, Illinois, Vandy, Tennessee and Florida).

True, Georgia showed its immaturity and started to completely fold in the second half under heavy UK defensive pressure, but this was not an easy place to go into and win in convincing fashion. This was a solid road performance for Kentucky, regardless of what you might hear elsewhere in the national media.

Here our some of our thoughts in this first of two game summaries on UK’s solid 80-68 victory over Georgia.

John Wall found his stroke a bit Wednesday, hitting three of his first four threes and showing that he can make you pay for leaving him open on the perimeter. His first half left-handed dunk was absolutely stupefying. Overall, Wall showed great leadership and demonstrated that he has learned when to slow it down and when to push it. We are starting to change our minds about his progress…he is getting better.

Maybe the loss to Tennessee really was what this team needed to wake up out of the poor shooting funk they’ve been in. A 52% first half really set the tone and showed a short memory.

The return of Darnell Dodson was a beautiful thing to witness. We said here that DD’s body was wearing down and we were worried about his ability to contribute in March. Dodson showed his trademark lack of conscience and kept shooting even after a rough start. This is the kind of fearlessness UK needs to make a run, as his scoring provides another deadly weapon for defenses to respect.

Patrick Patterson continued his late season surge with another double-double, pulling in 10 rebounds to go with his 17 points. PP is the glue right now, and we think as he goes, so goes UK.

There is a lot that can be said right now about Eric Bledsoe. The guy has all the talent in the world, but just simply hasn’t been able to put it together for long stretches. His decision making is abysmal and the turnovers are bound to cost Kentucky at a critical moment. We still look forward eagerly to what he can do next year, but right now, sometimes Bledsoe is a liability to this team.

Coach Calipari threatened to play the bench more and followed through, giving valuable minutes to Ramon Harris, Perry Stevenson and Josh Harrellson, who all acquitted themselves nicely. Having upperclassmen contribute like these three is a total bonus. Harris and Stevenson looked really active and found their way into some rebounds and a putback or two. It’s clear that their legs are fresh due to the limited minutes they’ve seen this year. In all, the Kentucky bench dropped a season high 24 points.

Travis Leslie is seriously one of the top five college dunkers of all time. Hands down. No other way to put it. However, he struggled against UK’s length and athleticism, and had trouble with Darius Miller in particular.

DeMarcus Cousins had a mostly quiet night, relatively speaking. But his steal, open court handle and drive to the hoop with a left handed finish was a sign of the once in a generation potential this guy possesses. In a season of amazing highlights for Big Cuz, that was about as amazing as anything.

The Cats put together an absolute block party tonight, swatting 14 shots and showing that you simply can’t bring it into the lane on this team.

Oh, and also, once again, basketball royalty was in attendance Wednesday night, as the bread truck himself, Mr. Charles Barkley watched the Cats and Dogs get down.

We won’t jump to any conclusions after watching Kentucky fall to Tennessee 74-65 Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.

Sure, there are plenty of eyebrow raisers about the way Kentucky played. But all in all, this was not an extremely damaging loss. The Cats may drop a spot in the polls, but nothing more. Their No. 1 seed resume wasn’t tarnished, and they still have two more chances to clinch an SEC regular season championship.

Nonetheless, the BBL offers our thoughts on Saturday’s loss.

Why They Lost
The primary reason for Kentucky’s defeat is a very simple one. The Cats shot the ball woefully from start to finish.

You won’t win many games when you shoot 2 for 22 from beyond the three-point arc and 35% from the field overall. You also won’t win many games on the road against ranked opponents when you get behind by as many as 19 points in the second half.

The fact that Kentucky tied the game and was in a position to possibly win it is, if anything, a testament to the fight in this group. And don’t believe any of the pundits who will try to say that UK crawled back into this game on talent alone.

Kentucky played excellent halfcourt defense in the game’s final 15 minutes, rebounded well and showed a combination of determination and heart that is frankly rare for a team led by underclassmen. Couple this with the fact that UK was playing an early Saturday game on the road after a late game Thursday night, and it really is remarkable how it all went down.

But let’s also give some credit to Tennessee and coach Bruce Pearl. The Vols defended well and executed another well devised gameplan of slowing the tempo and looking for scoring options late on each shot clock. They got good contributions from 10 different players, and really played unselfishly, getting some great interior passes for buckets late in the game.

Cause for Concern
No secret here. Kentucky has to find a way to knock down perimeter jumpers.

They will be zoned relentlessly by every opponent from here on out. Good decision making from John Wall and UK’s ability to attack the offensive glass will help, but at some point, someone has to step up and make defenses respect UK from outside.

At times, we thought Eric Bledsoe, Darius Miller or Darnell Dodson could be the guy to do it. But this has just not panned out. Dodson has faded badly. His body seems worn out and he doesn’t have the same quickness on his release. He’ll need to get stronger next year if he is to become a big time scoring option. Miller, while hitting only one of five from three, stepped up and scored some big baskets during the Cats big second half push. Bledsoe chipped in nine points and five boards, but was hot and cold for most of the day.

Unfortunately, John Calipari decided not to give DeAndre Liggins a lot of good minutes. Liggins made a nice move to the hoop and hit a runner early in the game, but was essentially not heard from the rest of the game. We’d like to see him get a few more of Bledsoe’s minutes, given Eric’s poor shooting and penchant for turnovers.

Signs of Promise
All in all, the Cats performance wasn’t too far off what has become the median—another double double from DeMarcus Cousins, a solid yeoman performance from Patrick Patteson and spectacular plays and heady leadership from Wall. It was mostly the supporting cast that left a lot to be desired.

Perhaps one of the most encouraging takeaways from the Tennessee loss came in a one line quote from Wall after the game. “Just imagine two weeks from now, if we lost this game, our season’s over with,” he told reporters.

It’s hard to make a big deal about such a small comment. But the BBL thinks this speaks volumes about where this young team’s mindset is. These Cats are not motivated by a desire to do anything less than win the national championship. And their gutty comeback—spurred by Wall’s intensity—reflected this sentiment.

Tennessee is a deep and talented team. They’ve beaten top ranked Kansas already this season, and showed they can play with anyone. UK shouldn’t hang their heads on this one. The Cats close out the regular season with a road date at Georgia and a home tilt with Florida. They’ll need a few days rest and a short memory. All goals remain intact and all possibilities are still open. The road only gets tougher from here.

And so, the Cats got their revenge. The 82-61 win over South Carolina Thursday night in front of packed Rupp Arena was mighty satisfying for a Kentucky team that continues to improve, gel personnel wise and find all sorts of lethal weapons with which to punish the opposition.

As usual, we offer you our thoughts on what’s developing with this special group of Wildcats.

First off, let us just say that Rupp Arena is becoming the place to be seen in college hoops. After hosting such illustrious spectators as LeBron James and Ashley Judd earlier this season, Ben Roethlisberger and Magic Johnson showed up to watch the Cats hoop Thursday night. Says a lot about the state of basketball in Lexington.

DeMarcus Cousins is ridiculous. The big man hasn’t even grown into his body yet, has very little vertical leap at this point, and yet he is already nearly unstoppable, showing amazing touch, a variety of moves and a fierce desire to score and dominate games. Enjoy him for another month, Cat fans, this guy will be taking his road show to NBA millions soon and, barring something unexpected, a long and fruitful pro career. Maybe HOF?

Darius Miller is back…again. When Darius gets a good start, he plays with confidence and is capable of knocking down any shot. UK will need this production big time in March.

We thought Patrick Patterson had completely disappeared just two weeks ago. We were wrong. PP is back in the NBA lottery pick hunt, and his soft hands and scoring ability are coming up big. He finally showed up with a nice all-around game against a South Carolina squad that had become his nemesis over the past couple seasons. That up and under move in the early second half when he scored with the left hand was the real deal.

One quick thought. Patterson and Cousins would be the starting power forward-center tandem for 20 NBA teams right now.

South Carolina made the game interesting at multiple points and remained within striking distance for far too long. But as has become customary with this team, you never really got the feeling that Kentucky was letting it slip away. It was just a matter of when the next big run would be. It’s that kind of confidence and swagger that separates this UK group from any other since the Pitino era.

DeAndre Liggins is flat out all over the court. Guy has become a totally different person. His length and lateral quickness make him a nasty defender and excellent garbage rebounder. He just gets better with every game. As much as the complexion of this team will change next season, the BBL can’t wait to see what happens when Liggins becomes a featured option. We’re calling it now. He’ll be an Evan Turner-esque stat stuffer and all-SEC standout next year.

John Wall is still the catalyst and it’s hard to find too much bad to say about him. But he and Eric Bledsoe are still too out of control. They push the ball when it doesn’t need to be. It makes us wonder if both of these superb talents being on the floor at the same time contributes to them pressing too hard. Next year, sans Wall, it will be interesting to see if Bledsoe can improve his grasp of game tempo. Right now, EB is sort of lost. His jumper is broken and his sense of awareness on the court is at a season low.

South Carolina is in good hands under coach Darrin Horn. They have some active, athletic big men who block shots and get a lot of buckets around the goal. If Horn can keep recruiting like he has, and word is his next class is top 25 caliber, then this team will be a force in the SEC East for the next few years.

If you doubted that the diminutive Devan Downey could play in the NBA, that pull up 35-foot jumper before halftime should probably make you think differently.

As we stated last week, sometimes Brad Nessler seems to be the superior analyst to Dick Vitale. Thursday night, a few possessions into the game, Vitale claimed that South Carolina had no answer for Cousins on the interior. To this, Nessler responded, “I don’t think anyone has an answer for that, Dick.”

Good win for the Cats. Now do the John Wall.

Yes, this is what you think it is. The John Wall dance now has an official rap song to go with it. It’s not too bad either.

Check out the video here:

Points for creative rhyming of Patterson and Cousins, among others.

As we said earlier in the year, stuff like this just serves as a reminder that Kentucky is back. And not a moment too soon.

After impressive back-to-back road wins this past week, the Kentucky Wildcats improved their record to 26-1 overall and 11-1 in the SEC and, more importantly, virtually assured themselves of a No. 1 seed when the NCAA tournament brackets are announced March 14.

In their win over Vandy Saturday night, the Cats once again showed the nation that they are capable of beating good teams even when not playing their best basketball. While Kentucky’s youngsters were far from a portrait of maturity for most of the evening, they simply found a way to win the game at crunch time.

So, where to next for Kentucky?

Finishing Strong
The Cats could very well lose another game or two before the Big Dance. But an SEC regular season championship would be wrapped up with two more victories. The Cats will start the quest to close out strong with a revenge game this Thursday vs. South Carolina at Rupp. Needless to say, the Gamecocks, a horrible road team as it is, will not have the element of surprise in this one and, barring a superhuman effort from Devan Downey, we like Kentucky to roll in this one.

Then it’s back on the road for the Cats—at Tennessee on Feb. 27 and at Georgia on March 3. The Vols have shown they can beat anyone at home, as evidenced by their January victory over top ranked Kansas.

Georgia, despite a 4-8 SEC record, has been surprisingly tough at home, boasting a 12-3 record in home games, with impressive victories over the likes of Vandy, Tennessee and Georgia Tech. If there is a trap game left on the Cats schedule, this is it. UGA gave Kentucky a run for its money last month at Rupp and cannot be underestimated. The Cats finish at home March 7th on senior day against Florida.

The BBL feels that UK can actually lose two of these four and still earn a No. 1 seed, provided they don’t fall in the first round of the SEC tournament. At this point, however, we think UK is a lock to notch the school’s 12th 30-win season.

Tourney Prospects
Right now, the leading contenders for the top four seeds in the tourney include Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Purdue, probably in that order. The next four seeds look likely to come from Villanova, Duke, Kansas State, Michigan State, West Virginia, Ohio State and Georgetown.

The four tournament regionals are in Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Houston and Syracuse. Kansas, as the potential overall top seed, looks like a lock to get sent down the road to St. Louis. After that, things get a little more interesting.

Syracuse, assuming they hold onto a top seed, cannot play a regional at home per NCAA rules, so the Orange will have to be sent either to Houston or Salt Lake City. Because Kentucky will almost certainly be one of the top two overall seeds, the selection committee will want to keep them as close to home as possible, which more than likely rules out SLC.

So Cat fans, for any of you planning to travel, we recommend limiting your search to two cities—Syracuse (667 miles from Lexington) or Houston (1,070 miles away). The BBL’s best guess is that UK will be sent to the more natural confines of the South Regional in Houston, while Syracuse will be sent west and the fourth No. 1 (Purdue, Villanova or Duke) will go to the Carrier Dome.

As for the first round, the Cats will almost certainly play in Milwaukee, which is the closest venue to home for Kentucky. UK has never played a tournament game in Milwaukee, but if there is any bright side to this venue, it’s that Kentucky is assured to not play Marquette in the first or second round. Marquette, of course, has knocked the Cats out of the tourney the last three times the programs have met. So there’s that.

BBL’s Take
It’s difficult to start speculating about actual opponents at this juncture. But we can talk a little about what kind of environments the Cats are likely to see, and what kinds fans should hope they do not.

Probably the scariest type of team Kentucky can be matched up with is one that plays physical halfcourt defense and can shoot well from the perimeter. UK has done a good job neutralizing good perimeter shooting teams of late (Vanderbilt and Mississippi State last week, in particular). But it should be noted that Kentucky could have easily lost both of those games had either team done just a tad bit better than a combined 12 for 55 from three-point land. Teams that fit this bill include Syracuse, Kansas and West Virginia, but none of them would be likely to play UK before a regional final.

In a tournament-style setting, Kentucky will obviously be faced with officials used to doing games in other conferences. This is a bit of a crap shoot, but officials from the Big Ten or Big East may be used to calling low-scoring games with a lot of whistles blown. In general, there tend to be more fouls called during the NCAA tournament than the regular season. This would force the Cats to shoot more free throws and potentially subject the vaunted front court to foul trouble.

With the win or go home format, Kentucky’s considerable youth will be faced with the pressure of more intense moments. Moreover, playing games on short rest and with little time to prepare for different styles could have an impact on a team that has at times lacked mental focus.

The first season on John Calipari’s watch has been nothing short of magnificent. But for a program with a tradition as proud as Kentucky’s, what happens in March is what ultimately defines the season.

Wow, what a war.

Kentucky pulled off a huge win Saturday night over Vanderbilt in a game characterized by rugged physical defense, poor shooting and high drama in the closing minutes.

As John Calipari said in the post-game interview, “that was an Elite Eight style game.” He was right. The atmosphere was about as intense as any in college hoops this year.

While Kentucky did not play a great game, this was the kind of gritty performance that championship teams are capable of displaying. Here are some of the BBL’s thoughts:

John Wall showed once again why he is everyone’s leading contender for player of the year. He did not have an excellent game, but par usual, he stepped up big time in the clutch hitting a go ahead basket and a free throw and blocking a would-be game-winning shot inside the final minute.

Unfortunately, Wall and Eric Bledsoe were just plain sloppy tonight, missing multiple opportunities to get the ball to DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson on the low block, while combining for five turnovers and a slew of poor shots. The maddening thing is that neither of these kids have shown a lot of progress in terms of learning to be more patient with the ball. This is probably the BBL’s single biggest criticism of Kentucky and Calipari at the moment.

The Cats dodged another bullet with regard to the referees’ leniency during the Eric Bledsoe blowup. A legitimate argument could be made for a flagrant foul or even an ejection, depending on the officials’ interpretation. As it was, Bledsoe was given a technical, as was Vandy’s Jeffrey Taylor, and no free throws were taken by either team. Bledsoe returned to the game three minutes later. He was largely ineffective, however, and showed a lot of immaturity in the game.

Kentucky is a different team when Patterson is involved in the offense and rebounding. His three point shot to put UK up three was enormous. It is just such a shame that somewhere along the line in the last couple years, PP lost some explosion. He still has a lot of raw power and can jump in traffic. But his two missed dunks vs. Vanderbilt were both critical. And these were not the first dunks he’s missed this year.

DeMarcus Cousins’ footwork is amazing. Drop steps, baseline spins, catlike quickness. Guy is the total package. Completely unstoppable on the block against a single defender. He absolutely must be double teamed.

Daniel Orton is an excellent outlet passer. He has great floor vision for a big man. His shot blocking, of course, continues to impress. If and when he polishes his offensive game and learns the difference between a good and a bad foul, he has All-American center written all over him. He is an abomination at the FT line right now, however.

A.J. Ogilvy couldn’t get a shot off against UK’s front line. In the mid first half, Orton swatted a running layup into the 10th row. A couple plays later, Cousins just completely denied him on a easy chip shot.

The BBL actually thinks it’s gotten to the point where Brad Nessler, as the play by play guy, is offering better in-game analysis than Dick Vitale. Nothing against Vitale. He knows the game and has been college basketball’s biggest ambassador, but at times he seems desperate to talk about matters unrelated or insignificant to the actual game. And of course, his thoughts and commentary seem to inevitably ramble their way to Duke.

John Wall still struggles a bit as a one on one defender, despite the great block. However, he’s one of the best help side defenders in the country, and he’s been taking some big charges in key moments lately.

Jeffrey Taylor is a potential future NBA star. Dude has a sick crossover, can shoot and has good overall athleticism. This comes in a 6-7 body.

Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings is one of the best in the business. He coached a near perfect game tonight. Excellent personnel rotation allowed him to keep Ogilvy on the floor after he’d picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half. Stallings also went to zone when Cousins came out of the game and threw some puzzling defensive looks at UK. His use of timeouts was also superb, as he iced UK foul shooters with great success late in the game. And of course, setting up the play that almost sent the game to OT was a work of brilliance and, for Kentucky fans, the stuff of nightmares with its resemblance to Christian Laettner’s turnaround jumper in ‘92.

Kentucky is now a near shoe-in for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, barring a complete collapse. Huge road win, and to anyone who watched, it served notice that this team just finds a way to keep winning.