The Big Blue Lowdown

As I write this today, the Cats are the No. 1 team in the nation. At this point in the season, is it too early for this team to have the bullseye on their back? No one knows for sure, but here is what we do know so far.

Strengths

    •    Defense. This team is the best shot blocking team in the nation. Davis (4.3 bpg) rightfully gets the pub, but Jones (2.2 bpg) and Kidd-Gilchrist (1.3 bpg) are intimidators as well. Overall, the Cats block 10 shots a night.

    •    Rebounding. The...

As expected, Kentucky assumed the top spot in both the AP and the Coaches polls today following this weekend's loss by then #1 North Carolina.  Kentucky is followed in both polls by Ohio State while the Tarheels, who will visit Rupp Arena on Saturday, fell to #5 in both surveys.

After spending the last few days traveling for Thanksgiving, it's nice to be back and, oh what a day to blog about the UK Wildcats!  While I know this is a basketball blog, let me send out some props to the UK football team (and yes, even Joker Phillips) for FINALLY ending The Streak against the Tennessee Volunteers.  While the 10-7 win wasn't pretty, does it really matter?  Any win against Tennessee is wonderful, and yesterday's was one of the all-time moments for this UK fan as I nearly...

This one was never close. The Wildcats took care of Radford in short order, scoring the game's first 14 points and building a 31-point lead by halftime on their way to a 48-point thrashing of Rupp Arena's latest sacrificial lamb.

Despite the inferiority of the opponent, the Wildcats showed a number of extremely positive signs. For one, freshman PG Marquis Teague put together a solid overall performance, turning the ball over only twice while notching five assists to go along with 13 points...

Although they received a much tougher test than anyone expected, the UK Wildcats withstood a stout challenge from Old Dominion this afternoon in a 62-52 win that ran the Cats' record to 4-0 on the year and claimed the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament championship.  Give ODU credit-they played the Wildcats tough, but in reality most of Kentucky's struggles were of the self-inflicted variety.  UK struggled offensively against the ODU zone defense, which, given how the Cats looked against ODU, I...

Kentucky blasted Penn State 85-47 in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Connecticut. Doron Lamb led another balanced UK attacks with 26 points.

Probably the most surprising, and welcome, signed for UK, was the emergence of freshman Kyle Wiltjer who dropped 19 points and also demonstrated a complete game, showing his ability to see the floor and distribute the ball from in the paint.

Terrence Jones chipped in a stat sheet stuffer game with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists.  ...

Through two games, Kentucky has shown a trend to come out wild and lacking discipline in the first half, and then emerges after half time as an NBA team.

Vs. Kansas:

1st Half- 28 points, poor shots, 12 turnovers

2nd Half- 47 points, better passing and ball rotation, 7 turnovers (still a little high)
 
1st Half Teague- O assists, 5 turnovers and out of control

2nd Half Teague, 4 assists, 1 turnover, much better control
 
Kansas is down this year but no slouch. They have young...

It wasn't always a thing of beauty, but Kentucky beat a decent Kansas team 75-65 tonight in Madison Square Garden in New York.  While the Cats slugged though the first half, good defense and a few timely threes by Doron Lamb allowed the Wildcats to break open a tie game at the half and build as much as a 17 point lead on several occasions in the second half.  The game was not as close as the score would indicate.

On a side note, congratulations to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski who passed...

Tonight is the official tip-off of the 2011-2012 season, and what is not to be excited about?  This edition of the Wildcats should be strong contenders to not only win the SEC, but make a push toward the Final Four in New Orleans.  Kentucky is in a small group of truly elite teams this season that includes North Carolina (who will visit Rupp Arena on December 3), Ohio State, and UCONN.

First up, however, is the Marist Red Foxes, who will invade Rupp for tonight's opener.  I confess to not...

WHAS tv's Adam Lefkoe has put together a great video on the Kentucky-Louisville basketball rivalry.  The first installment goes throught the history of the rivalry and it's developments over the past two decades.  This is great stuff and a nice primer as we count down to the opening tip of the 2011-2012 season tomorrow night.  Go Cats!

It's hard to comprehend tonights' beat down of Morehouse College.  Of course it was expected to be lopsided, but who would have ever expected the Cats to take a 74-13 lead-at intermission!  I've seen some dominating performances by UK over the years (see UK vs Tennessee in the SEC tournament in 1993) but I don't think I have ever seen a team on the college level lead by 63-6 in the first half. 

Another amazing statistic is that the UK starters were a perfect 24-24 from the field during the...

Kentucky coach John Calipari released a statement today on his  #website that  sends a clear message to other, unnamed college coaches about dirty recruiting tactics.  While I certainly have no inside knowledge of what coaches or programs the message is intended for, I think its a great message to recruits, their families, and even the other coaches.

Basically, Calipari is saying that other coaches will tell a recruit anything he wants to hear in order to get his signature, while at...

According to an article in today's Herald Leader, Stacey Poole is considering a transfer-or, actually, Stacey Poole's dad is considering a transfer for Stacey Poole.  Jerry Tipton quotes the elder Poole as being the "driving force" behind the discussion about whether to transfer after watching Stacey play in the Blue-White game.  Apparently, Poole's father is concerned because "he's just all focused."  Yeah-that's right, Stacey Poole's dad is concerned because his son appeared "focused'...

The Blue-White scrimmage is in the books and one word comes to mind-WOW!  This team is good-really good, with the chance to be great.

It's early and certainly one doesn't want to read too much into a intra-squad scrimmage, but here's a few random thoughts on the action tonight.

1.  This team is deep, fast, and relentless.  While previous teams under coach Cal have been deep down to seven players, this team has a long bench.  That bodes well for tournament play and, given their desire to...

There’s been a lot of talk, and a lot of movement, among schools in the big conferences over the past few months. Currently everyone (except me) is waiting with baited breath to see if Missouri decides to bolt from the Big 12 to the greener pastures that are our beloved Southeastern Conference.

That the SEC needs to pick up another team seems pretty obvious since the addition of Texas A & M as the 13th team. Currently the Western Division sits with seven teams while the East has six which...