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.

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.

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.

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.

As hoped and somewhat expected, Kentucky put itself back on the basketball map Saturday with a thoroughly entertaining victory over North Carolina. The win made a statement for the program, but also offered some interesting clues about what we might expect for the rest of the season.

John Wall has an extra gear that few humans on planet earth have ever possessed. He can ignite an explosive scoring spurt and send a crowd into hysterics in the blink of an eye. As Clark Kellogg aptly pointed out (paraphrasing) even when he’s not healthy there are benefits to having Wall on the floor. We don’t want to gush too much, but it is clear that this kid is a special, once in a generation player. His total package is almost alien. His handle, leaping ability, quickness, vision, raw speed, charisma, leadership, etc. It’s pretty amazing, and as we found out Saturday, when he comes out of the game, the rest of the team seems lost and bewildered.

Eric Bledsoe was clearly bothered by an ankle sprain sustained last week. He showed very little lift on his jumper and not as much burst going to the goal. His coexistence with Wall has been extremely admirable thus far. It is not EB’s normal role to give up the rock at all times, but that is how he’s sacrificed for the team. He also put in some clutch play vs. UNC late with a key reverse layup and three free throws in the waning moments. He is still a bit out of control, but the silver lining is that Bledsoe looks like a guy who should be in the program for three or four years. That is good news for Cat fans. After all, if it wasn’t for Wall, we would likely be gushing about his backcourt mate instead.

Miller and Dodson are both shooting the ball with a lot of confidence. Kellogg said he loves how DD squares his body and has perfect follow through on his jumper. If they continue to progress, this team could become even more lethal on offense. Miller is an underrated defensive player as well. Made some huge plays and killed UNC’s momentum on more than one occasion. Dodson also played good defense with active hands.

P-Patterson is simply a beast. He made some clutch shots against UNC and really gave UK a psychological edge in the paint against a UNC roster full of giants. The comparisons to Moses Malone are well deserved. He is a workhorse and an intimidator. While folks like to talk about the Cats’ inexperience this season, we feel Patterson has that combination of veteran savvy and raw strength and ferocity to ensure that every team respects Kentucky. We’d like to see UK use more isolation and the two-man game with PP and Wall or Bledsoe.

Harrellson was lost and doesn’t know how to play position defense. We shouldn’t give up on him yet because his shooting will likely help UK down the road. But UNC was just a long, athletic team. We won’t see another team like them until….well…Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden, when the Cats take on UConn with the BBL in attendance.

Harris and Stephenson put in some good defensive and rebounding minutes. Stephenson is active and his long arms definitely disrupt some shots. Harris is a scrappy player that will battle on the glass and is athletic enough to get out in transition. Both will continue to offer leadership as the elder statesmen. With that said, they are both potential liabilities on offense in the half court set. Harris seems to get his feet caught up a lot and loses balance. Perry is just so skinny and awkward running the floor. Truly a shame his body won’t allow him to gain muscle weight.

Our desired rotation would be:

Wall -36 minutes per game
Bledsoe -30 minutes per game
Dodson – 20
Miller – 22
Harris – 12-14
Patterson – 28-30
Orton – 18-20
Cousins – 15-20
Stephenson/Harrellson – 8-10

Liggins is clearly a wild card once he gets back in the good graces of Coach Cal.

After an amazing freshman season in which Patrick Patterson averaged a double double, the powerfully built 4-man suffered a stress fracture that required surgery and prevented him from playing in the NCAA tournament.

Slow to recover over the following summer and early into his sophomore season, it appeared he never got back on track in 2008-09 relative to expectations. Many of the UK faithful were concerned his injury had not healed after he was beaten up and humiliated in a devastating loss to South Carolina in February.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwjCSvE1ngk

After the debacle that was the ‘08-’09 season, many expected him to enter the NBA draft. But Patterson pulled his name from the draft ranks when it was announced that Calipari would be UK’s new coach. With the horror of last season behind him and the players Calipari has brought to town, many college hoops pundits expect big things from Patterson in the coming season.

Spending the summer working out in California along with incoming recruit Daniel Orton, Patterson is healthy and ready to make a huge impact. Calipari has already openly commented about Patterson’s ability to face up and hit the elbow extended jumpshot that is a staple of the dribble drive offense.

With the assortment of athleticism and skill UK will possess this season, it would not surprise the BBLD if Patterson’s numbers fail to improve. Due to his unselfish nature and great passing ability, we don’t think PP will put up a POY type of season. But that being said, with the win total expected to rise dramatically, a first-team All-American season is certainly within his reach.