The Big Blue Lowdown

My thoughts on what I see as the UK rotation this year...

Starters

PG-Marquis Teague--growing pains, sub-average outside shot, but he will be electric in the John Wall mode. Great crossover and on-the-ball defender.

SG-Darius Miller--His shot will be better and you have to start the senior. Will he step up?

SF-Michael Kidd-Gilchrist--Gilchrist is a defensive player in the mold of DeAndre Liggins. Athletic, physical, fast and long. He may not call everyone a MF and threaten to eat...

Hello to everyone at the Big Blue Lowdown.  Let me start with saying that I am excited to be a member of this community and look forward to sharing my thoughts, concerns, joys, and (worthless?) opinion on UK basketball this season.

I got this gig by answering a classified ad posted by Joey, and hope to bring a unique perspective to the site.  I grew up in southern Indiana, right across from Louisville, and was the lone UK fan in my family surrounded by those filthy Card's fans.  My brother...

This season could be epic for the Kentucky Wildcats. And listening to Coach John Calipari talk about this year's team, you can sense that even he has to strain to temper his enthusiasm.

That’s right. Calipari, the same coach who in only two years at Kentucky has seen nine players drafted by NBA teams, seven of them in the first round. Calipari, whose two-year record at UK is 64-12 with two SEC tournament championships, one regular season SEC title, a 7-2 NCAA tournament record and a Final...

There are a million ways to look at this game and a number of possible options Kentucky can pursue to defeat Connecticut. We'll simplify it. Kentucky must keep up their confidence and chemistry, make shots and play good defense. That's it. They have as much as or more talent than anyone left in the Final Four, and they have the best odds according to the handicappers in Vegas. But above all else, we see three critical areas UK must focus on to come out victorious and get a chance to hang...

Just finished watching the entire McDonald's All-American game.

As most here know, All Star Games are pretty much a joke. No defense, little passing and guards tend to dominate due to "controlling the ball."

With that said, UK has some serious beasts coming into the program. I've been watching HS All Star games for a long time. I don't remember a single one where one program was getting so many "answers."

Anthony Davis

I don't know if I've ever seen a longer, taller, faster and more...

It’s difficult to find the words to describe this team, this season, these past few weeks and this current moment in Kentucky basketball history. But we’ll give it a try anyway, and there’s one word that seems best suited.

RARELY

Rarely will you ever see a team lose five first round NBA draft picks and improve the following season. And make no mistake, this is a better team than last year. It actually has more offensive weapons, shoots better and plays better halfcourt defense. And of...

I've been a UK Hoops fan for more than 33 years now and I've never been this excited about a UK team. WOW. These kids won't quit. What can you say?

I told Joey UK was done with 4:45 to play after they gave up six consecutive points and looked absolutely exhausted. With so many careless and unforced turnovers, I just didn't think they had anything left in the tank. I'm a fool. This team has a spirit that is impossible to crush. You can't keep them down.

Brandon Knight although still not a...

It's been quite an amazing ride this year. Since none of us including yours truly expected UK to be here at this point, we're essentially playing with the house's money.

It feels good. It feels better we have a Warlock and a Jorts.

Now onto the game.

I've looked at the players, I've looked at the coaches. I've analyzed common opponents. I've thought out who would guard whom. I've even considered writing out a long and detailed post breaking down each individual player matchup. But...

No reason not to say it at this point. This Kentucky team can win the national title.

It may not. For all we know, UK could go down Sunday to North Carolina and few would be surprised. But even if this edition of Kentucky basketball doesn't make the Final Four, it will go down in UK lore as a team to remember. And quite possibly, the cast of characters in this drama will go down as legends.

Brandon Knight's game-winning basket with five seconds to go lifted Kentucky over top seeded Ohio...

Some random thoughts on Kentucky’s upcoming Sweet 16 matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes:

I’m glad Ohio State has won its first two tourney games by a combined 61 points. I’m glad that they’ve done it while shooting 59% from the floor and a scorching 56% from behind the arc. I’m also glad the Buckeyes are a 5-point favorite in Vegas and that very few pundits are actually picking them to win this one. Long story short, this team is on fire. Kentucky has nothing to lose.

Ohio State’s epic...

So far, so good.

The Kentucky Wildcats went 2-0 this weekend in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament to reach the Sweet 16 for the 16th time in school history. But the wins didn't come without drama.

The Cats outlasted Princeton on Thursday, owing a two-point win to a buzzer beating finger roll by Brandon Knight. The 59-57 victory came on the back of a 17-point performance by Darius Miller and solid all-around play from UK's upperclassmen (DeAndre Liggins and Josh Harrellson).

On...

Bob Huggins owns John Calipari, as the pundits say. The Huggie Bear is 8-1 lifetime against Calipari. UK fans still cringe when they look back at the masterful coaching display the Huggie Bear put on when his team advanced past one of the most talented Cats teams ever assembled in the Regional Final last year.

                So, how do you beat WV this year?

1)      Speed the game up and dictate the tempo. WV is athletic and can fast break when the opportunity arises, but their bread and...

While half the Big Blue Nation is busy complaining about UK’s poor NCAA tourney seeding and the other half is licking its chops for a potential shot at revenge vs. West Virginia in the next round, a scrappy Ivy League team known for tournament upsets is hatching a plan to pull off a stunner Thursday.

No, we do not believe the Princeton Tigers have the juice to beat this Kentucky squad, but in March, just about anything can happen. So we approach with caution, and offer you this mini-game...

It borders on unbelievable.

Kentucky won the SEC Tournament Championship Sunday, capping off a 25-8 regular season campaign with a solid 70-54 thumping of what has been until now the SEC’s best team, the Florida Gators. The win was the culmination of a three-day run in which Kentucky unquestionably played its best basketball of the year, getting a total team effort on both sides of the ball in wins over three teams (Mississippi, Alabama, Florida) that beat the Wildcats in SEC regular season...

What an amazing show UK put on today in CATlanta. (Up until the last 2 minutes where disaster struck--More on that later)

Right now, every player UK puts on the floor is capable of driving, dishing, shooting from the perimeter or scoring. Even Harrellson is starting to find confidence in his back to the basket game with an assortment of head and pump fakes.

I am hopeful UK faces a physically worn team tomorrow in the winner of UF/Vandy.

I continue to be hard on Brandon Knight as I don't...