The Big Blue Lowdown

It’s now safe to say that the BBL’s one-day scouting trip to New York to watch the Cats in action up close was a great success. The victory over UConn was a thrilling experience and, historically speaking, may someday be looked at fondly by UK fans as the day a legend was born on one of basketball’s greatest stages.

We’ll offer ongoing comments in the coming days but our trip afforded us the ability to see an incredible game in the legendary setting of Madison Square Garden, meet UK and UConn fans from around the nation, take photos with the Kentucky cheerleaders and even speak to ESPN announcer Dan Shulman for a few minutes after the game.

The takeaways:

1. With John Wall, UK can win a national title. Looking around the media landscape, John Wall fever has taken hold over America. We won’t go into the details that every major sports outlet is already  running. If you’re reading this, chances are you are well aware of this kid’s ability. All we can say is that, after seeing him live and in person, he is a difference maker of the highest order. And when he is in the game, the Cats have a chance against anyone, anywhere. If there is a criticism right now, it’s that he needs to learn to play under control a bit more. To quote Shulman, “Wall is fast, but sometimes he is too fast.”

2. Kentucky’s halfcourt defense will be ferocious by March. Most who have followed Calipari’s career over the years know that the great Final Four teams at Memphis and UMass were not about the star talents as much as they were about team defense. One of the beautiful corrollaries to the dribble drive is that all those long-armed athletes that fit the offensive scheme also make great assets on defense blocking shots, deflecting passes and causing havoc. This team is already very, very impressive in this fashion. The 13 steals and 8 blocks logged against Connecticut don’t even tell the entire story. At this point, taking the ball into the paint against Kentucky is borderline insane. This team will positively reject anything thrown up around the goal. It’s uncanny, really. They figure to only get better.

3. The Cats need to run more set plays for Dodson, Miller and Patterson. The biggest weakness right now seems to be a lack of offensive cohesion or understanding of the system. There is also a clear dearth of good shooting. Compounding matters is the fact that when John Wall is out of the game, this team looks utterly confused. While it’s unclear whether or not a marksman will emerge from this group, UK’s secondary options after Wall seem to be these three. But asking them to create their own shots may be asking too much right now. We’d like to see some set screen plays for Dodson and Miller to get open looks and when Kentucky needs a bucket, feeding PP in the post is probably the team’s best offensive option outside of Wall creating.

4. This group does not panic, does not wilt. Yes, we kind of already knew this based on several earlier tilts that headed down to the wire. But it’s now more than obvious that these kids possess a lot of heart and scrappiness. They’ve seen all kinds of daunting scenarios in the early season—big deficits, the loss of big leads, player injuries, foul trouble—but they’ve still managed to find a way to pull things out in the end. And after back to back wins over teams that were in last year’s Final Four, it’s now clear that they aren’t just doing this against subpar competition. Makes it scary to think what they might be capable of when they put all the proverbial pieces together.

5. Coach Cal does not have it all figured out yet. We couldn’t send out this letter without offering up some bad news. Frankly, it’s difficult to pick nits right now. Kentucky is 9-0 and ranked in the top 5. They’ve just defeated two consecutive powerhouses and Wall is the toast of the sporting world. What more could we want? Truth be told, we aren’t criticizing as much as stating fact, and that is that this team is often lost, undisciplined, foul proned and vulnerable on the perimeter. Coach Cal is still trying to figure out player roles and a steady substitution pattern. Despite the success, this is a serious work in progress. And we are pretty certain Cal would agree. We still think this team is going to lose some games that people don’t expect, and we also think a bit of “coming back to earth” might even be good for it. But one thing is certain, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.