Busting the East Bracket

Letting the dust settle a bit, I guess I don't have too many gripes about the path that has been laid out for the Wildcats. Getting to a Final Four is never going to be easy, and you have to like the fact that UK did get a number one seed, which was well-deserved. The oft-cited statistical probability is significant, when earning a #1 seed as opposed to a #2-- it greatly increases a team's likelihood of making it to the last weekend of the season.

Now personally, I wanted to see the Cats come through Houston so that I could check out a regional here in my own back yard. Instead, it will be the Puke Blue Devils coming through the Lone Star State (barring an upset). Whether that particular seeding was fair or not, I will leave for others to argue. Certainly the #2 seed there in the South (Villanova) would seem to have easier path for the first couple rounds-- vs. UK likely having to play a more "name brand" opponent in the Wake Forest/Texas winner.

Now, I do think Bob Huggins will use the classic "we were snubbed" motivational tool to get his West Virginia team fired up. They are obviously a very talented (strong, even rugged?) group and I have seen them several times this year. Their bigs are a lot to handle. But I'd be wary of looking too far ahead, as perhaps Temple or Wisconsin would provide a very good test in the Sweet 16. (See?! I'm already guilty of looking ahead myself!)

The point is, I don't get too much out of complaining over the bracket that Kentucky is up against this year. UK has always had more than its share of haters-- in the conference, in the media, and yeah, probably on the selection committee. But I do feel like this is a special team and it has Final Four talent, no matter how inexperienced. So let's just talk about East Tennessee State for now, and then after that, we can see who's next.

Cats Look to Use SEC Title as Springboard

Heckuva weekend, Brownie.....must have been truly insane to be a UK fan in Nashville these past few days.....Lord knows there were plenty of them there to testify to it.

So I really don't know where to start, but I suppose the Cousins putback would be the most logical place. That particular play goes right up there on the burned-into-your-memory list of last second heroics in the Kentucky pantheon. (A la the Brassow tip, the Nazr runner, the Padgett three, etc). What a testament to the nimble feet and the basketball savvy of Big Cuz, to weasel in there and flip that thing up off the backboard.

The fact that he did it to Mississippi State, well, I'm gonna have to consider that poetic. You think DeMarcus is still getting texts and phone calls from Starkville? I reckon the Bulldogs must have done some serious offending of the basketball deities to lose a game like that. Oh, man! The old miss the second free throw on purpose trick!? How many times does that even work? One out of ten? Ouch.

Cuz certainly had to earn his keep all afternoon long versus Jarvis "Please tell me he is graduating" Varnado. (If not graduating, then at least tell me he's used all his eligibility). But you also have to credit Bledsoe for "making" the perfect miss-- and J. Wall for getting up a prayer/heave just to give UK a chance. That was one of those plays that makes you wonder once again if this team is working with just a little extra pixie dust this season. Or if you want to go with "Cat" terminology, let's say that I hope they are saving another life or two for the Big Dance.

And quickly looking back at Saturday, UK certainly beat the life out of the hated Vols. Kentucky pretty much initiated a full security threat orange lockdown on Bruce Pearl's squad and outright suffocated them defensively in the second half. Tennessee looked absolutely discombobulated by UK's intensity and I honestly think the defeat was bad enough for UT that it really hurt their NCAA tournament seeding. Not that I care.

So the semifinal was a lot easier than it should have been for Kentucky, if you think about it. And the final was as close as it gets, with State being a mere tenth of a second away from taking down the top-seeded Cats. Shoot, looking back to the Friday opener vs. Alabama-- a pretty tough win-- this little Nashville trip was quite the challenge for UK, and it should be a more than adequate preparatory course for the Dance.

The team made it clear that they were not interested in cutting down nets at the conference level, but I would have been tempted to get the scissors out after running that gauntlet. Of course, all that Coach Cal has been preaching lately is that it is "the next level" that he and the Wildcats are really interested in-- that the SEC was not exactly at the top of their "to do" list. But those three wins, and especially the final this afternoon, ought to make for a nice little momentum builder as the Cats get ready to invade New Orleans.

Kentucky Regular Season Awards

Ahead of tomorrow's SEC Tournament tipoff for the Cats, I figured I would hand out a few awards in honor of UK's tremendous 29-2 regular season.

The REAL Coach of the Year: Cal! (Duh.) All due respect to Kevin Stallings, and he had a great interview on Jim Rome's show today, but I really don't see how John Calipari got overlooked by his SEC coaching brethren on this one. Lil' bro and I had a brief discussion about this-- again, admittedly, Stallings is great and they do a nice job there at Vandy-- but come on now, in less than a year on the job, John Calipari just assembled a HUGE amount of incoming talent, installed a brand new system and coaching staff, won the conference, all but locked up a #1 seed, completely re-energized an entire fan base, dare I say an entire state, and oh by the way (wait for it.....wait for it....) beat Vandy twice in the process. Yes, you could say I'm bitter about it.

Enigma of the Year: Darius Miller. I don't want to say he underperformed, so we'll stick with the enigmatic label-- and I'll grant that he has shown some consistency down the stretch. However, a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball with his size and skills should be expected to completely lock up a starting spot, and we all shouldn't have to wonder what type of outing we're going to see from him on a night-to-night basis.

Overexposed Dance of the Year: Okay, so I'm a little tired of people flexing their arms and moving their fists back and forth. It was cute for a while, though, and I'm guessing the rest of the country is going to get caught up with it during the NCAA tournament.

Rupp Arena Visitor of the Year: Vitale? Um, no. And keep your LeBrons and Magics and Roethlisbergers, too. I'm sticking with my second favorite Ashland Tomcat, Miss Ashley. You'd like a picture, you say? Sure. Twist my arm.




Game of the Year*: Hmmm...well, it's always nice to thrash UNC, but that turned out to be pretty underwhelming given the Tar Heels' fall from grace. And beating Indiana anymore just seems like punking a first grader for his Pokemon cards. There were some good conference victories to consider, but I guess I would have to say the Louisville win is just about always the sweetest. All right, it was ugly this January. It was hard-fought. It looked like football at times. But when you beat an in-state rival like that, it just puts a little pep in your step. *Hopefully Kentucky's true game of the year comes in the postseason of course.

Headwear of the Year: (Tie) DeMarcus Cousins' headband, DeMarcus Cousins' bomber hat. One for work, the other for play. "Peter Parker Swag". Ha! That guy kills me.

Dunk of the Year: Could easily have just renamed this category the "John Wall Dunk of the Year." Tough call, actually. Really liked that breakaway at Georgia last week. But I suppose I'll take the left-handed tomahawk at IU's Assembly Hall in December. Oh man, I'm gonna miss that kid. I don't even want to think about it.

Villain of the Year: Bruce Pearl would be the obvious choice, and I thought about Downey too, but instead I'm giving this to the Mississippi State fans as a group. Y'all know what you did.

Comeback Player of the Year: DeAndre Liggins. Unanimously. Went from the deep, deep end of the bench-- for reasons still not entirely explained-- to becoming a valued contributor throughout conference play and an excellent energy guy. He makes the occasional three, plays well above average defense, and gets tons of loose balls. And for the longest time, I really thought he would be transferring elsewhere over the Christmas break. Nice job, Mr. Liggins.

Lovefest of the Year: ESPN's College Gameday visit to Rupp Arena prior to the Tennessee game. That was awesome. Really wish I could have been there. Jeez, even the reviled Digger Phelps got into the spirit of things. Just a cool event and a tour de force for the entire program. I was very, very proud of my alma mater that day. Sadly, it had nothing to do with academic achievement.

Cal-ism of the Year: "They think they poop ice cream" (referring to his freshman stars in particular).

Venue of the Year: The Moon Palace Resort in Cancun. Bizarre. Cracker box of a place, essentially a ballroom with chandeliers possibly in play. An open bar in the concession area. But hey, that turned out to be a good trip for Kentucky. Got a couple of wins, some good team bonding, fun trip for the boosters, and nobody got swine flu.

But speaking of venues, it's apparent that the one destination UK has on its mind this season is Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (And maybe they can take some hardware out of the Sommet Center in Nashville first.) Enjoy the tournament.

Wildcats Take Care of Business In Athens

Georgia's Dogs found themselves on the short end of an 80-68 final on their own senior night, largely due to UK turning up the defensive heat in the second half. Kentucky looked awfully good over a 10-minute or so stretch, especially when the turnovers were being converted into some nice fast breaks..... and this game featured several highlight reel dunks (from both teams).

Boogie Cousins definitely got down to business, handling the ball like a point guard on a couple of fast breaks himself, using a delicious little right-to-left move for a layup and also dropping a tasty dime for P-Pat.

Overall, a very "professional" type win for UK on the road, and a nice way for the Cats to begin what we all hope will be an undefeated month. What say we celebrate with a tune...

Georgia Is Surely on Calipari's Mind

I don't figure Coach Cal is going to be too distracted by the Maker's Mark commemorative bottle hoopla to have his UK team ready and rarin' to take on the Georgia Bulldogs Wednesday night. The worst-kept secret in the SEC might be this: 13-14 UGA is pretty darned good.

In addition to wins over Illinois, Tennessee and Florida, Mark Fox's squad also played a pretty competitive game in Rupp Arena back in January. Georgia was up by six late in the first half in Lexington, and was within two points with only 1:05 remaining in the game. So we shouldn't necessarily expect UK's trip to Athens to be a simple walk in the park.

The last thing UK needs at this time of the season is to drop another game, especially to a much less-heralded (albeit underrated) team the likes of Georgia. Consecutive losses would seriously jeopardize the Cats' chances at a 1-seed, not to mention raise an hysterical outcry from Big Blue Nation and the sports media in general. (Honestly, if I have to read another article about Kentucky's weak 3-point shooting, I'm going to have to choke somebody. Preferably a Kansas fan.)

But I would imagine that Cal, as usual, has it under control. He's already spun the loss in Knoxville effectively enough that I was nearly convinced that the Fiddlin' Five (v. 2.0) had actually pulled that one out. *Sigh*

Now.....I do like Calipari's idea of just a bit more playing time for Ramon Harris, if for no other reason than the fact he is a seasoned player and he also gives consistent effort, especially on the defensive end. If Ramon fails to make regularly make the outlandishly athletic play, you can at least usually count on him to make the smart play. UK just isn't going to win many games from that small forward (by committee) spot, but it can't afford to lose any either.

On paper, this should be UK's 28th "W" of the year, but obviously Calipari knows his team can ill-afford to count it as a hatched chicken. He's got to have his guys fired up from the start for this road game. Personally, I could do without another soaring Travis Leslie jam (which I am sure Big Cuz remembers quite well), and I think Trey Thompkins is also absolutely legit. The calendar now says March, and that means the old cliche rings more true than ever-- you have to take them one at a time.