"W" Over Georgia Not E-Z

I guess somebody forgot to tell Georgia that they weren't supposed to be that good. Certainly I came away very impressed with the Dogs after they hung, hang, hanged with UK throughout 40 brutal minutes at Rupp Arena yesterday.

You're just not supposed to posterize Big Cuz like that. Not at home. And you aren't supposed to hold the Cats to 2 of 14 from three-pointsville (again). And you're definitely not supposed to be just a hair's breadth away from victory in Lexington. Not in UK's conference opener, and especially not with the divine Ms. AJ in the house.

Of course, ACC rival Georgia Tech learned a thing or two in the Bulldogs' previous game about just how tough a squad they really are. And certainly John Calipari had done his best to warn his #3-ranked Cats about how difficult a task it would be to keep that goose egg in the loss column with UGA coming to town.

Georgia played a stifling zone and showed tons of athleticism to go with metric tons of toughness. Fortunately, this Kentucky team has a bit of grit itself and managed to make enough plays (and free throws) down the stretch to keep streaking in the victory column.

I am again mucho encouraged by the '09-'10 Wildcats' ability to rise to the occasion and defend the home turf. Once again, its too bad that Billy Gillispie's not here to enjoy Billy Gillispie not being here.

And certainly I agree with much of the blogosphere that this game is an indication of just how strong these SEC teams are going to come after Cal's Cats. Good grief! Things will be hoppin' in Gainesville on Tuesday night. UK will have to absolutely earn every conference win that it can get....and it wants oh, about 15 more.

But Tennessee over Kansas?! Seriously?! Just how good is Bruce Pearl's team? Think Mississippi State will be tough? I do. And Vandy too. Everybody will play Kentucky tough. Everybody. It's not all chinstraps in the south, after all.

But as they say, you gotta take 'em one at a time. And UK took one from Georgia yesterday. But it weren't easy.