Back To The Big Easy

And speaking of easy...wow, the Cats just kinda rolled through that regional like my dad used to roll through the buffet at Ryan's Steakhouse. Talk about acting like you own the place. Make yourself at home, kids!

Western Kentucky: nothing to be ashamed of. Told my brother that had to be the most successful 16-win season anybody's ever had in Division I. Glad y'all made it.

Iowa State: probably had the single-best player that UK faced in this tournament run, and if you don't remember who I'm talking about, it rhymes with Boyce Kite. But no supporting cast, no problem for the Cats.

Indiana: keep the candy stripes in Bloomington. Thanks for trying to push the pace, Coach Crean. Backfire much?

Baylor: talented for sure, but offering little resistance for an Elite Eight squad. Kentucky absolutely out-toughed them.

So it's back-to-back Final Fours for Coach Cal, and he's done it with another young team, and let's face it... they're probably all going to be pretty young teams for Cal unless someone changes the one-and-done paradigm. Seems to be working out pretty good for Kentucky in year number three.

Big Blue looks like an absolute machine right now. One of those big rock-crushing machines, I guess. Or like a state of the art wood chipper that just shreds big logs and branches and stuff. I don't know, something powerful and masculine, but still precise. You know, not anything wimpy like a sewing machine....oh no, nothing like that.

Kentucky can run up and down, and they can win a slugfest too. And since we can now officially look forward to the Louisville showdown, if you don't think that's going to be a slugfest, you're crazy. I believe Rick Pitino would like to play this one with both teams wearing boxing gloves, except on a muddy track at Churchill Downs. Lots of fouls, I bet. Very physical.

But bring it on, I say. Kentucky is plenty tough, as I'm sure the Waco Bears will attest. And they're taking the show back to New Orleans.

Don't leave without the hardware, guys.

Going Out In Style

That's how you finish conference play.

Kentucky's 74-59 win over Florida capped off a simply wonderful regular season for the Cats, and a simply perfect conference season. The Gators of Gainesville did offer at least a modicum of resistance today, but the Big Blue juggernaut rolled on nonetheless. 16 swept without a loss. Makes up for football season every time.

Early on, it looked as if Terrence Jones might be able to defeat Florida all by his lonesome. Jones was muscling up shots to open the game with an extra-fierce determination, signifying this UK team's intent to close out SEC play without a blemish.

Steve Kerr (?) was gushing about TJ early on, and with good reason. (Anybody know why we had an NBA announcing crew working this game?) But the fact is, "good" Terrence clearly made the trip down from Lexington, and that was very bad news for Billy Donovan.

Jones is tough to handle for a lot of reasons, but he's such a strong dude going to the basket with a full head of steam, that most defenders are simply S.O.L. when he gets that clear path. He can also take considerable contact and still finish effectively, and his right hand has gotten so much better during his two years on campus.

And speaking of getting better, is it possible that Anthony Davis can show us yet another gear during post-season play? And what gear would that even be? Sixth? Seventh? That little hook shot would be just SO sick if he could break it out successfully and consistently. Unstoppable, even. Has Wiltjer been working with him on that move? (The three-pointers on the other hand: let's keep those in check please.)

But I should really spit out a few words about Darius Miller, who scored only six points today. The thing is, when UK really needed a bucket in the second half, Darius was the man to get it. And with him being the Cats' lone senior contributor (no offense, Eloy) it's got to be especially gratifying for the former Mr. Basketball to run the conference table.

Darius did have himself a great senior night against Georgia, with five three-pointers finding the twine last Thursday-- and all of the plaudits that he's gotten as his UK career winds down have been fairly earned. It's always nice when young men play their best basketball down the stretch, and you can tell that Mr. Miller has had more fun than ever this season, even though he's not playing 40 minutes a game. His contributions have not been at all meager, even amidst this stellar group of future NBA talents. Fact is that Miller has hit several clutch shots coming off the bench, and I expect several more as March plays out.

And quickly back to Eloy Vargas, in closing. Seems like a nice guy. Never really showed a whole lot, but you'd have to say that he does give plenty of effort. Any UK letterman gets my respect. I wish both him and Miller the absolute best of luck in the future. But when it comes down to it, perhaps Lucy Van Pelt would put it best: of all the Eloys in all the world, he's definitely the Eloyest.

GO CATS!

Michael Sophomore-Gilchrist

In regards to MKG's pronouncement that he intends to graduate from the University of Kentucky: I'm not exactly holding my breath.

Fact is, I believe "The Kidd" will be long gone by the time the draft rolls around this summer.

He's going to be projected top half of the first round-- and in that situation, I would advise anybody to take the money. That goes for Anthony Davis, Doron Lamb, The Kidd, or for that matter....one of my own kids.

You just about have to.

College is important. No question about that. Educating oneself is always a smart choice. It's one that I'm glad my parents encouraged, nay forced, me to undertake.

Book learnin': I'm a big believer.

But for a young man like MKG, a Wildcat that I am quite fond of, there's no mistaking that he has NBA-ready talent, and that his game should not have much trouble translating to the next level. He is not a finished product, and I would agree with the critics that point out the minor holes in his game. But they aren't gaping holes. Nothing that he can't work on while making some serious coin.

I figure that scouts and GMs would like to see Michael improve his outside shooting. And he could probably be a better ball-handler overall, although he's very tough in traffic... and hella strong getting to the rim. He's made his share of freshman turnovers and probably doesn't "bring it" as consistently on the offensive end as the NBA would like. (All things that I'm sure Coach Cal has him working on daily.)

But that doesn't change the fact that he's a sure-fire first rounder on just about everyone's board. It's an old cliche, but Michael's future career is professional basketball, not accounting or forestry. (I'm real big in the forestry set. What up y'all?)

Listen, I would love to see him back in the blue for a run at the 2013 championship. That goes for Teague, Wiltjer, every single one of those guys. Gillie's awesome and he can play on my team any old time he wants. But I'm not going to hold him to those post-game comments indicating that he would be a three or four-year player. I simply chalk that up to youthful exuberance.

I would absolutely love to be wrong about this. And as the man from Ashland pointed out...who really thought Terrence Jones would be back for another season? Stranger things have happened. But my gut tells me that MKG will be a "one and done"... so let's just hope that the "one" ends with something special... something that both he, and all of Big Blue Nation, will always cherish.

photo: Kentucky.com

Oh Lord

Kentucky 78
Florida 58

That's 49 home wins in a row.

Let's just enjoy some old Muppets footage, and a Mac Davis classic. (I'm a big Beaker fan myself.)

Try to stay humble...

A Piece of Pie?

Yes.

A piece of pie.

I chose pumpkin pie, shown at left, because it's my favorite. (Can you tell that I LOVE this picture? Makes me hungry).

You may have chosen apple pie, or pecan pie, or maybe Derby pie.

There's lots of good pies out there.

We're talking about pie this morning to make just a few points in advance of UK taking on Florida in Rupp Arena this evening.

The first pie related point is this: it's not cake. And Kentucky blowing through the remainder of its conference schedule, and the SEC tournament, and zipping right through the NCAAs to banner number eight.....all of that will most certainly not be a piece of cake.

The Cats dropped a nuclear bomb on South Carolina over the weekend. Made it look easy. Far too easy. So let's remind everyone that the Gamecocks are pretty bad right now. Pitiful bad. So assuming UK will continue to thrash everyone through the rest of February, and romp to a bunch of 30 point wins, is a foolish assumption.

I expect them to beat Florida tonight. Especially at home. And they ought to take care of business against Vandy on Saturday, which would be far more difficult in hostile Nashville. That should be a really good time, with College GameDay and all the buildup and hoopla. But I honestly do give Kentucky a decent shot at running the table with the way this team is executing right now.

It just won't be EASY. It's not a given. That's all I'm sayin'.

The second point re: pie would be that I think it's very important for UK to stay hungry at this stage of the season. When you've got that number one ranking, there's sometimes a tendency to coast. You can often beat people by just showing up. The friendly confines can do some of the work for you....a nice vocal crowd, you get a few favorable calls, no sweat.

But for Kentucky to get where they really want to go this year-- that second trip to New Orleans--they will have to stay hungry. Look for challenges in games where they already have a big lead. For instance, a coach like John Caliparli will often throw out the idea of, "Okay guys, I need to to win these last 5 minutes of the game by 8 points or more." Or "Listen, Michael, I want you to take this second half and make sure the guy that you're guarding doesn't get a single basket." Things like that. Motivators to stay hungry, to keep trying to improve.

And finally, the pie also represents the need to stay humble. You know, everybody's least favorite flavor: humble pie. Kentucky has been crowned #1, and deservedly so. The roster is stacked, and the Cats have continued to make strides as the freshmen develop and the chemistry strengthens. But they aren't the Miami Heat. Division I provides plenty of challengers this year. You can bet that Syracuse and Ohio State and a few others will be working their hardest to take that crown, and this young team may need a reminder to keep its collective feet on the ground. Big Blue hasn't really won anything yet this season.

Ask the Hoosiers if they think Kentucky can be beaten. They most certainly can. But as this season has played out, and as the Cats have gotten better defensively, better at shot selection, and gained more experience, that old maxim is starting to ring more true...the only team that can really beat Kentucky, is Kentucky. So stay humble. Nobody is going to just hand it to you.

Now who wants some coffee to go with that?