Just when Kentucky fans thought it was safe to abandon hope for next season, Coach John Calipari has gone out and assembled another completely ridiculous signing class, capped off with the news that consensus top 10 recruit Terrence Jones will sign with the Wildcats.

Jones, a smooth 6-9 power forward from Portland, Ore., was originally committed to Washington, but late Wednesday night news outlets were reporting that he would indeed sign with Kentucky.

Adding Jones to a backcourt of Enes Kanter and Eloy Vargas gives UK instant size, strength and athleticism on the interior. Judging by his highlight reel, Jones is a guy who can do a little bit of everything–handle the rock, rebound, block shots and intimidate opponents in the low post.

With Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb complementing DeAndre Liggins, Darius Miller and (hopefully) Darnell Dodson on the wing and in the backcourt, this Kentucky roster is completely loaded once again.

Yes, the Cats will be young and go through growing pains this season. But in today’s game, where talent is being lost to the pros at an incredible rate, UK can match up man for man with just about anyone. Should be interesting to see how the roster comes together (and whether everyone qualifies) over the summer.

John Calipari is up to his old tricks again.

It has been confirmed by several sources that consensus top five recruit Doron Lamb will officially commit to Kentucky tomorrow, choosing the Cats over the likes of Arizona, UConn, Kansas and West Virginia.

Things have brightened up considerably for fans in Lexington. After Kentucky lost five underclassmen to the NBA draft this week, Cal went out and hauled in the nation’s top high school player in Brandon Knight. Now he gets a bona fide scholastic all-star in Lamb, a 6-4 shooting guard from Brooklyn, N.Y., with ridiculous athleticism and quickness.

The chips haven’t finished falling yet, either. Kentucky is still high on the list of prep super studs Josh Selby, C.J. Leslie and Terrence Jones. At this point UK may be looking at another glut of talent so thick that playing time will be hard to find next season.

Our hope is that somehow Daniel Orton comes back to school and readies himself for another season, where his skill set could easily make him an overall No. 1 pick by the 2011 NBA draft. With Orton lining up next to the multi-skilled Enes Kanter in the post, and ideally Jones and/or Leslie right behind them on the depth chart, the Wildcats will see very little production drop-off next year.

As for the backcourt, we can see Knight-Lamb as the fill-ins for John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, while Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins could be huge contributors at the wing position.

The future is once again intensely bright, while Calipari peddles his wares on the recruiting circuit. We just have to hope and pray that the stink of corruption and deception are not following in tow. Let’s enjoy the run while we can, folks.

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/

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.

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.

Kentucky went into a hostile arena Tuesday night and, with the eyes of a national TV audience upon them, showed serious moxie in beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 81-75 in overtime.

The game was officiated very closely, as both teams were called for a number of ticky-tack contact fouls from the start. MSU center Jarvis Varnado missed 16 minutes of the second half after picking up his second, third and fourth fouls right around the 18:00 minute mark.

With Varnado sitting most of the game, DeMarcus Cousins was a man child around the goal, finishing on a number of put back offensive rebounds. Unfortunately, he also was unable to play for long stretches due to foul trouble. Without him playing consistent minutes, UK once again struggled to score in the halfcourt set.

Thankfully for the Wildcats, Patrick Patterson decided to show up Tuesday, scoring 19 points and pulling in 10 boards. His highlights included a number of solid, low-post offensive moves as well as a game-tying jumper from the baseline that sent the game into overtime.

UK also received good play from Darius Miller in typical unsuspecting fashion. He made some huge shots in the second half, including a stretch of seven straight points at a time when the Cats had fallen behind by four.

MSU’s Dee Bost played a sensational game, seemingly driving by UK’s big men and scoring layups all night long. The Bulldogs also got clutch shooting from Barry Stewart and some key offensive rebound stick backs from Romero Osby.

As we’ve stated in the past, it’s obvious to the BBL that UK’s inexperienced guards will struggle significantly against veteran backcourts. They are easily pushed around when screened and routinely give up back door cuts due to a lack of concentration and focus. This is a recipe for disaster in a closely guarded and officiated NCAA tournament game.

Ultimately, Kentucky fought valiantly to win this game. The Cats outscored MSU 7-0 over the final three minutes of regulation, triggered by a huge three from DeAndre Liggins with about 2:00 to play. In overtime, UK’s size and depth overpowered MSU, which by that time was without Varnado, who had already fouled out.

We would be remiss not to mention that, as if on cue, John Wall became superman in the last two minutes of OT. Wall broke a 72-72 tie with a hanging, acrobatic layup, where he got fouled and hit the free throw to put UK up three. On MSU’s ensuing possession, he pinned a Bost layup attempt against the backboard to deny the Bulldogs a chance to get within one. Wall barely missed a triple-double on the night, ending up with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.

Mississippi State also played their hearts out and kept the pressure on Kentucky by hitting some incredibly deep three pointers late in the game. The Bulldogs, desperately in need of a win to bolster their NCAA tournament resume, were playing without leading scorer Ravern Johnson who was suspended for breaking team rules.

UK was lucky to get out of Starkville with a win, proving how difficult it is to win on the road in a BCS conference. In fact, the BBL predicted a loss here earlier in the season. Now, at 25-1, Kentucky’s season is beginning to look historic. But Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt should be another huge challenge.

It’s now looking more and more likely that UK will receive a No. 1 seed in the tournament. This would be an absolutely tremendous achievement in Coach Calipari’s first season at UK.

In the past 12 months Kentucky basketball has run the gamut of emotions in a way few programs (possibly in history) ever have. Reflecting on where the Big Blue Nation has been since this time last year requires a seat belt and a willing suspension of disbelief.

Approximately one year ago this week, Cat fans were riding high. Kentucky had re-entered the AP Top 25 on Jan. 26th for the first time all year on the back of a five-game winning streak to start SEC play and 11 victories in their past 12 tries, with the only loss coming on a last second shot at eventual Big East champion Louisville.

Rebirth or False Omen?
Just the week before, Kentucky had fired off a national salvo in an 18-point victory at highly regarded Tennessee. In that historic triumph, a primetime ESPN audience witnessed Jodie Meeks break Dan Issel’s single game school scoring record by dropping 54 points on 10 threes, an array of dazzling drives and a perfect 14-14 night from the free throw line.

At that moment, UK had seemingly exorcised the ugly legacy of the controversial Tubby Smith ouster, a string of embarrassing Rupp Arena losses to the likes of VMI and Gardner-Webb, and a general slide toward mediocrity over the last half decade.

Some pundits, who we will graciously neglect to mention here, even began touting Kentucky as an SEC title contender and a darkhorse Final Four threat. And at least for a week or two, the subtle, creeping rot of the now forgettable Billy G era still lay dormant and unseen.

A Black Hole
As tends to happen to programs rife with poor leadership and off-court drama, those happy times were short lived and in the ensuing eight weeks, the other shoe dropped…and dropped, and dropped again.

Without rehashing the dark days in great detail, suffice it to say that the 2008-‘09 Cats tanked, losing 8 of 11 games after debuting in the AP poll, fizzling out of the SEC tournament early and missing the NCAAs for the first time since the late ‘80s probation era. After an uninspiring double digit loss to Notre Dame in the NIT, Coach Billy Clyde was fired and Kentucky was left in a complete state of uncertainty.

How bad did it get? A promising incoming recruiting class began to reconsider their commitments. UK’s top candidate Billy Donovan publicly rejected any interest in the coaching vacancy, and leading scorers Patrick Patterson and Meeks openly weighed their NBA options. In addition, a costly and debilitating lawsuit by Gillispie loomed. Overall, on March 28, 2009, the Kentucky men’s basketball program was a shambles.

Only four days later, ironically on April Fool’s Day, UK formally announced the hiring of John Calipari, and in just the span of one short press conference the chaos and dread of the preceding weeks began to dissipate.

Emotional 180
Within days, Coach Cal convinced Memphis commits Darnell Dodson and DeMarcus Cousins to come to Lexington, then signed top 20 PG Eric Bledsoe, while maintaining Gillispie commitments from Kentucky Mr. Basketball Jon Hood and bluechip center Daniel Orton. The big news came about six weeks after Cal’s hiring—consensus top HS player John Wall would play college hoops for the Wildcats.

Though Meeks declared for NBA early entry, Patterson decided to stay and two months after reaching an epic nadir, Kentucky suddenly boasted an array of personnel to rival, on talent alone, any college hoops roster of the past 10 years.

Calipari didn’t stop there. Endearing himself to the program, the oft-stigmatized coach went on a state-wide campaign march, promising a return to glory to fans across the Commonwealth. It wasn’t all roses, however, as Cal’s name came up in multiple speculative articles about his alleged missteps at Memphis and UMass, where NCAA sanctions have tarnished his rep.

But UK found its way into the preseason top 10 in nearly every imaginable poll, and things were looking promising by the time football season started.

A Return to Prominence
The 2009-’10 Cats got the season going like a cannon shot—winning both blowouts and nail biters in spectacular fashion. John Wall needed one game to become household name material in the college b-ball zeitgeist, and the rest of the supporting cast showed flashes.

Then the Cats stepped up an early season of impressive potential by making believers out of the mainstream media. Wins over defending champs North Carolina and UConn in Madison Square Garden drew accolades, while victories vs. traditional powers Indiana and Louisville added polish. UK steamrolled through the holiday season and worked its way up the polls, all the while providing Sportscenter top plays material with regularity.

What next?
That brings us up to present day—an 18-0 team with a hot 3-0 start to the SEC schedule (almost sounds a little familiar). With a win this Saturday over former UK great John Pelphrey’s Arkansas Razorbacks—a game, by the way, in which UK will be heavily favored—Kentucky will become the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time in the regular season since 1996, and it will come exactly 52 weeks after UK’s ill-fated poll debut from last year.

Truthfully, though this season still has a ways to go, such a milestone would represent a full circle of fortunes. But if this retrospective tells us anything, let it be that greatness can come in a flash, and be taken away even quicker. Win or lose Saturday, Cat fans would be wise to remember that.

The 40-0 Dream continues to live on as UK beat a very game UL squad 71-62 in front of an electric Rupp Arena crowd.

UK played the best half court defense all season in the first half en route to an 8 point half time lead.

Courtesy of Kentucky.com

The first half was marred by some ugly flagrant fouling by each team as clearly emotions were high. DeMarcus Cousins should have been ejected from the game immediately for his flagrant and malicious elbow to the head of Jared Swopshire. Luckily for the Cats he was only assessed a technical foul and allowed to remain in the game.

Cousins went on to post huge stats of 18 points and 18 rebounds. If he would have been ejected, it’s possible UK would have lost the game.

The second half was an entirely different story for UK as Pitino’s multiple defensive looks thoroughly confused Kentucky’s backcourt, leading to 12 turnovers in the half. UK also shot poorly from behind the arc, converting only 2 out of 14 attempts. To compound the horrid shooting from behind the field, the Cats were brutal from the foul line, converting 21 out of 34 attempts. Even John Wall missed five free throws.

UL did catch and actually pass UK for a brief moment at 42-41. But UK proceeded to go on a 8-0 scoring run to essentially put the game away. UL got no closer than within 5 points the rest of the game.

John Wall came to UK’s rescue again when they were down by 1, scoring 6 consecutive points in the decisive 8-0 run. One of the shots came on an absolutely spectacular drive where he hung in the air, drew contact and converted off the glass. It was another Youtube moment for sure.

BBL’s take:

UK shoot poorly from the field and foul line and still won by almost double digits against a team that with some growth and cohesion could end up reaching the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. Their bench contributed at times in the first half but Calipari tightened the rotation in the second and Dodson, Liggins and Miller didn’t see much time. Some of that is due to bad decisions and ticky tack fouls, but we still believe those players are going to have to contribute more if UK is going to win the National Championship.

Kentucky has another week off before taking on UGA at Rupp next Saturday. They then go on the road for back to back games with Florida and Auburn. We see no real threat versus any of those teams. UF is really struggling now after opening 8-0. While they are usually tough at home, they possess little inside strength and should be no match versus the Cats.

All in all Kentucky escaped another ferocious battle today on the back of strong inside play from Big Cuz and Patrick Patterson, and perhaps more importantly, a sensational two-minute span when John Wall took over the game and sent the home crowd into absolute hysterics.

We look forward to the rest of the season especially now that media scrutiny is going to become intense.