UK Legends vs. Dominicans

I went to both Pros exhibitions on Monday in Lexington and Tuesday in Louisville. Had an incredible time seeing my beloved UK guys again in person, a few for the first time. I'm still quite the young'n, after all. Starting with our championship year in 1996, every single year of Kentucky basketball, except '03-'04, was represented by one or more legends in these games. Too bad Chuck Hayes couldn't have made it and bridged the gap completely. The eleven returning legends served a collective total of 26 years wearing the blue and white all for our fans' pleasure and allowing us to have argumentative dominance over pretty much every university out there. They've moved on to be drafted by and/or play for 17 of the 30 NBA franchises between them. And there are still and handful of unaccounted for UK players in the last decade that could've bumped that total up significantly. Regardless, here's a quick recap reference of our heroes this week.

#13 Nazr Mohammed
Played 1995-1998 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #29 overall by Utah. Played for Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York, San Antonio, Detroit, Charlotte, and Oklahoma City
16 minutes in Rupp: 11/6
20 minutes in YUM: 13/10 with 1 block

#32 Tayshaun Prince
Played 1998-2002 (4 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #23 overall by Detroit
24 minutes in Rupp: 8/4/1 with 2 threes, 1 steal

#10 Keith Bogans
Played 1999-2003 (4 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #43 overall by Milwaukee. Played for Orlando, Charlotte, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago
23 minutes in Rupp: 3/1/2 with 1 three

#9 Rajon Rondo
Played 2004-2006 (2 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #21 overall by Phoenix. Played for Boston
33 minutes in Rupp: 3/7/7 with 2 steals
35 minutes in YUM: 14/5/4 with 6 steals

#23 Jodie Meeks
Played 2006-2009 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #41 overall by Milwaukee. Played for Philadelphia
29 minutes in Rupp: 14/1 with 3 threes, 2 steals

#55 Josh Harrellson
Played 2008-2011 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #45 by New York
20 minutes in YUM: 4/3 with 1 three

#34 DeAndre Liggins
Played 2008-2011 (3 years) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #53 overall by Orlando
14 minutes in YUM: 0/2

#11 John Wall
Played 2009-2010 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #1 overall by Washington
28 minutes in Rupp: 15/3/2 with 1 three, 1 block
35 minutes in YUM: 26/8/2

#15 Demarcus Cousins
Played 2009-2010 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #5 overall by Sacramento
29 minutes in Rupp: 28/14/1 with 3 steals
35 minutes in YUM: 20/15 with 2 blocks, 5 steals

#5 Eric Bledsoe
Played 2009-2010 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #18 overall by LA Clippers
18 minutes in Rupp: 3/2/1 with 1 block, 1 steal
14 minutes in YUM: 4/4

#7 Brandon Knight
Played 2010-2011 (1 year) for University of Kentucky
Drafted #8 overall by Detroit
28 minutes in YUM: 5/2 with 1 steal

... and Anthony Davis just blocked you.

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2011 NBA Predictions: Review

I'm almost equally stupid and smart. Maybe.

I'm actually gonna hold myself accountable for my preseason predictions. I predicted not a single team perfectly, which is really weird, but I nailed seven squads within a single game of their season record. I'll take it. I super-underrated the Philadelphia JodieMeekses, the Golden State JumpShots, and the San Antonio Geriatric while super-overrating the Rockets (stupidly assuming Yao would be healthy) and Bucks. Oh well.

... and Free Enes.

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Opening 5 Games for UK NBA Guys

Maybe I'll make this a recurring thing too, but here's a post on all 10 of our current Wildcats in the NBA at the start of the season.

Eric Bledsoe - Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, and Randy Foye took up all but 39 seconds of the guard rotation in the Clippers debut. But Bledsoe showed up in a nice suit, so what's it really matter? He missed his only attempted 3 in those 39 seconds, but that's it. He increased it to 16 legitimate minutes by the third game and is trying to figure out what to do with his small windows of floor time. His big early season break came in the form of Baron Davis and Randy Foye both coming up lame with injuries for the fourth game of the season. Being the only other lead guard on the roster, Bledsoe got the starting spot and a monstrous 40 minutes of playing time. He was aggressive early and often, dazzling the Clipper crowd with his fearlessness and sense of purpose on the floor. The second half caught up to him a little bit, though. Moving into the next game against the Thunder, he outplayed his own 9/5/3/4/2 line against the Spurs to go for 17/4/8 plus 2 more blocks while notching 2 threes with great shooting from the floor. Eric's made a complete turnaround from the preseason already and this production bodes perfectly for his career that some (including me) were projecting shakily around draft time. We'll see if Vinny Del Negro has that same kind of trust in him when the full rotation's healthy moving on.

L vs. Blazers: 1 minute, 0 points (0-1 FGs, 0-1 3PT)
L @ Warriors: 5 minutes, 1 points (0-1 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 1 assist
L vs. Mavericks: 16 minutes, 6 points (3-5 FGs, 0-1 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 assist, 1 steal, 4 TOs, 3 fouls
L vs. Spurs: 40 minutes, 9 points (4-11 FGs, 1-1 3PT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 3 TOs, 5 fouls
W vs. Thunder: 38 minutes, 17 points (7-10 FGs, 2-3 3PT, 1-2 FTs), 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks, 3 TOs, 3 fouls

Keith Bogans - Until Ronnie Brewer or Kyle Korver prove to Coach Thibodeau that they can play defense, Bogans has the starting shooting guard spot for the Chicago Bulls. He played a monster 36 minutes in the season debut against the Thunder contributing in every way across the boards besides buckets. With Rose putting up 31 shots, Keith didn't have much of an opportunity to do so, but defense is his calling card so he did nothing to hurt his starting status. He's had a rollback in floor time ever since and consistently puts up bland numbers. Hopefully he can notch a few more three pointers going forward so he actually is looking like he contributes on that side of the ball. I haven't read anything saying that Bogans is in danger of losing his starting role, but it sure is a head-scratcher to say the least when you see him pretty much non-existent numbers.

L @ Thunder: 36 minutes, 3 points (1-4 FGs, 1-2 3PT), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 1 TO, 2 fouls
W vs. Pistons: 23 minutes, 2 points (1-5 FGs, 0-4 3PT), 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 fouls
W vs. Blazers: 16 minutes, 3 points (1-2 FGs, 1-2 3PT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 fouls
L vs. Knicks: 25 minutes, 4 points (2-4 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 0-1 FTs), 1 rebound, 1 assists, 1 block, 1 TO, 1 foul
L @ Celtics: 22 minutes, 4 points (1-3 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FTs), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 TOs, 2 fouls

Demarcus Cousins - Who'da thunk it? Demarcus got in foul trouble immediately but still produced a monster debut effort against the hapless Wolves. Then his preceded to foul out the next game in 21 minutes against the Nets. But still, Cousins has shown off the whole offensive package, including some nifty wing jumpers. Hopefully he can adjust to the foul calling (not likely) and stay on the floor. His stat lines so far look eerily UK-like, but we'll see if he can keep up with some higher quality front lines that don't involve Darko. He notched his first double-double in only his third game, so now the floodgates are open for him to produce like that on a nightly basis. He followed that up with a much rougher game of (*ahem*) foul trouble against the Raptors where he only managed 17 minutes and 4 boards, though he made up for it by putting up 10 quick points in the fourth quarter to fuel a Kings comeback win. No such luck the next night as Pau abused him (as he abuses everyone) and held him to 3 of 13 shooting with night-long foul trouble. I think we all know what Cousins has to work on ... but hey, at least he swished a spot-up 3-pointer!

W @ Timberwolves: 27 minutes, 14 points (5-10 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 4-6 FTs), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 TOs, 5 fouls
L @ Nets: 21 minutes, 12 points (3-8 FGs, 6-6 FTs), 4 rebounds, 6 fouls
W @ Cavaliers: 28 minutes, 14 points (5-10 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 4-6 FTs), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 5 TOs, 3 fouls
W vs. Raptors: 17 minutes, 16 points (6-10 FGs, 4-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 5 fouls
L vs. Lakers : 20 minutes, 11 points (3-13 FGs, 1-4 3PT, 4-6 FTs), 6 rebounds, 1 block, 1 TO, 5 fouls

Chuck Hayes - Chuck got limited run against the Lakers since you definitely don't want him out on the perimeter against Lamar Odom. But against the Warriors' Lee-Biedrins front court tandem, Hayes did work. He started center in Yao's second half of the back-to-back sit-out. Even though the Rockets had to suffer through a legendary Monta Ellis night, you can't fault Hayes for it. His teammates have always raved that he has a hidden offensive game that he hasn't shown the world, so maybe Yao's off-nights will finally bring that out of him. With Yao back in the line-up against the Nuggets, Hayes once again disappeared in limited run. But he's one of the few role players in the league who knows exactly what's expected of him when he does get in there, and Rick Adelman knows his contributions to the squad have nothing to do with his numbers, even though it was pretty sweet he pulled 13 boards against the Spurs. The Rockets just gotta start winning games. That's all that really matters.

L @ Lakers: 15 minutes, 0 points (0-0 FGs), 1 assists, 1 block, 3 fouls
L @ Warriors: 39 minutes, 16 points (8-12 FGs, 0-2 FTs), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 TOs, 5 fouls
L vs. Nuggets: 16 minutes, 2 points (0-1 FGs, 2-4 FTs), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 TOs, 2 fouls
L vs. Hornets: 12 minutes, 4 points (2-3 FGs), 2 rebounds, 1 foul
L @ Spurs: 27 minutes, 8 points (3-7 FGs, 2-2 FTs), 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 TO, 3 fouls

Jamaal Magloire - The former All-Star, who somehow fell all the way down to being Joel Anthony's back-up, only gets spot minutes for the LeBron/Wade show and he's only responsible for doling out a few bruises in those minutes. It's pretty much been that way ever since he left New Orleans. I just don't understand what happened. He'll show his worth though in potential playoff match-ups against Dwight Howard, the O'Neals, or Pau/Bynum. Those are probably the only teams Magloire will get extended run against.

L @ Celtics: DNP
W @ 76ers: DNP
W vs. Magic: 5 minutes, 1 point (1-2 FTs), 1 rebound, 1 foul
W @ Nets: 3 minutes, 0 points (0-2 FTs), 1 rebound
W vs. Wolves: DNP

Nazr Mohammed - The starting center on UK's last championship winning team has had a rough early go. He's simply not getting minutes in favor of a Boris Diaw/Tyrus Thomas front court. He's started all the games but is consistently getting pulled early. Nazr's always been hit-or-miss for his entire professional career, but hopefully he can get his game on track to be a more reliable contributor for the ill-fated Bobcats this season. They look really ugly so far. His highest point production was netting 6 of 8 shots in only 14 minutes in a win against the Nets. If that doesn't tell ya how things are going, I don't know what will.

L @ Mavericks: 18 minutes, 10 points (3-8 FGs, 4-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 TOs, 1 foul
L vs. Pacers: 13 minutes, 5 points (2-4 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1 TO, 4 fouls
L @ Bucks: 22 minutes, 3 points (1-4 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 TOs, 3 fouls
W @ Nets: 14 minutes, 12 points (6-8 FGs), 1 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 TO, 1 foul
L @ Pistons: 9 minutes, 6 points (3-5 FGs), 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal, 2 TOs

Tayshaun Prince - Who even knows why he's still on the Pistons? Tayshaun's game becomes unimportant with surrounding players such as Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Tracy McGrady. This team has no identity so Prince just has to be content with going out there and trying to fill in wherever he can. He'll always be a great one-on-one defender, but his true value was made through the team's defensive system. It doesn't have one anymore, so he'll just continue to do what he does until some other team appreciates him enough to trade for him. His play has been pretty inconsistent besides his point production in the teens. This Pistons squad sucks and is in total disarray. #FreeTayshaun

L @ Nets: 31 minutes, 14 points (5-10 FGs, 4-7 FTs), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 fouls
L vs. Thunder: 38 minutes, 12 points (6-11 FGs), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 TOs, 4 fouls
L @ Bulls: 42 minutes, 15 points (7-17 FGs, 1-2 FTs), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO, 3 fouls
L vs. Celtics: 32 minutes, 10 points (4-8 FGs, 2-2 FTs), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 TOs
L @ Hawks: 37 minutes, 17 points (8-14 FGs, 1-1 3PT), 5 rebounds, 1 TO, 1 foul

Rajon Rondo - Rondo may very well be the first week MVP based on a single stat. If it weren't for his ungodly assist numbers, everyone would instead be talking about how terrible Rajon is shooting from everywhere on the floor. And that's even with him putting up a far more efficient game in game 2, albeit in a losing effort. Rondo has dropped 17, 9, 24, 17, and 15 assists so far, the third one being part of a Jason Kidd-like triple double of 10/10/24. It's completely nuts and I refuse to believe that somebody didn't mix up an NBA 2k11 video game box score with the real one. Rondo's only cementing his reputation as a top-3 point guard from here on out. He's blowing league records out of the water and it looks like there's no stopping him from keeping it going. He's a legit MVP candidate from here on out and I think he's actually unquestionably the frontrunner for the award in these first 2 weeks. He playing that crazy.

W vs. Heat: 41 minutes, 4 points (2-9 FGs), 5 rebounds, 17 assists, 2 steals, 3 TOs, 1 foul
L @ 76ers: 38 minutes, 18 points (8-12 FGs, 1-1 3PT, 1-2 FTs), 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, 4 TOs, 1 foul
W vs. Knicks: 45 minutes, 10 points (4-12 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 2-6 FTs), 10 rebounds, 24 assists, 1 steal, 7 TOs, 1 foul
W @ Pistons: 36 minutes, 9 points (3-7 FGs, 1-1 3PT, 2-2 FTs), 3 rebounds, 17 assists, 4 steals, 1 foul
W vs. Bucks: 47 minutes, 17 points (7-10 FGs, 3-4 FTs), 8 rebounds, 15 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 6 TOs, 3 fouls

John Wall - So let's just mark it down now ... second halves in the NBA now belong to John Wall. He single-handedly almost brought his team back against the Hawks in every way he could. He swished in two 3s, got fouled at will, hit multiple mid-range pull-ups off screens, consistently finished directly at the rim, and through perfect lead passes on the go. What's simple consensus is that Wall is prolly the fastest thing with a basketball, period. That's all the commentators could talk about. Even though he took a beating to the Magic and got his fair share of rejections by premier swatters Dwight Howard and Josh Smith, John's picked the NBA pace up easily. What's sick is that his beastly effort against the Hawks was surpassed in nearly every single way the very next game. Wall led his squad to their first win in an overtime session with a Wiz-record 9 steals to tack onto his 28/13 points-assists double-double. He hit all of his big shots, he made all the right passes, and he swished every late free throw. It was great to see how perfectly that aspect of his game has already transitioned to the pros. John's simply a forceful creator, as shown by his assist numbers and shot attempts early on. When he's out of the game, nothing happens for the Wizards. It'll be really interesting to see what effect Gilbert Arenas will have on Wall's production when he gets back on the floor. Everyone's let out a collective sigh since his turnover numbers skyrocketed after two pretty alright games in that category to start the season. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the Wiz were winning their games ... but they're not. So John has to stop saying he's gonna cut down on them and actually cut down on them.

L @ Magic: 35 minutes, 14 points (6-19 FGs, 2-3 FTs), 1 rebound, 9 assists, 3 steals, 3 TOs, 3 fouls
L @ Hawks: 42 minutes, 28 points (9-17 FGs, 2-3 3PT, 8-10 FTs), 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 TOs, 1 foul
W vs. Sixers: 45 minutes, 29 points (9-16 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 11-14 FTs), 2 rebounds, 13 assists, 9 steals, 8 TOs, 5 fouls
L @ Knicks: 35 minutes, 13 points (4-11 FGs, 0-2 3PT, 5-6 FTs), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 9 TOs, 2 fouls
L vs. Cavaliers: 43 minutes, 13 points (5-14 FGs, 0-1 3PT, 3-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6 TOs, 4 fouls

Yet to play:
Kelenna Azubuike - recovering from knee surgery
Daniel Orton - rehabbing left knee
Jodie Meeks - out of the rotation
Patrick Patterson - out of the rotation

... and Free Enes.

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2010 Blue-White Notes

What do we take from the UK-on-UK basketball tune-up for the 2010-2011 season? Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight are gonna be better than whoever you think is gonna be good from another team.

Everyone always gets in a tizzy whenever you attempt to extrapolate information from a practice/scrimmage/exhibition, but I'm just telling you what I see out of these guys' skill sets and level of performance in this Blue-White game. So ... don't tell me I'm looking too much into a game that doesn't count. Because I am looking too much into it.

It was basically the expected starters for the season versus the back-ups with a few minor trade tweaks throughout the game, which accounted for the Blue team winning 101 to 74. Even though Knight had an insanely efficient night of a sick 37 points (reinforcing his astronomical scoring potential that has now become an expectation since the Canada games), it was TJ who had me the most excited. He (don't kill me for saying it) reminded me of a 6'9" John Wall. If Jones got the ball on the run, no one had a chance to stop him from advancing the ball wherever he wanted. His speed and handle will leave no chance for anyone at his position to compete with him in open-court scenarios. He's ridiculously quick off his feet for on-ball blocks and aggressive on the boards. Once Jones got into the painted area, he consistently found a creative way to get the ball in the rim. He utilized pump fakes well (which you rarely see from young players) and showed a deft touch on close-range jumpers. He finished off three separate alley-oop lobs with the full-body flair and excitement that Wall exhibited on every dunk last year and tossed in a 3-pointer to boot. And to finish off the number-one-pick-in-the-2010-NBA-Draft comparison, Terrence pulled of a slick behind-his-back maneuver off a low-post catch that completely freed him for a vertical dunk. Terrence had the crowd at his beckoning with every amazing play and you could tell by his body language that he was feasting off of it. UPDATE: He had 29 points.

But now to the silent assassin who's prolly gonna match Jodie Meeks for UK's all-time single game scoring record at some point in the early season. If a box score becomes available then I'll update, but I'd venture to say that Brandon Knight made close to 70% of his shots tonight for those 37 points (UPDATE: 14 of 20 FGs). And he did it every way imaginable. He showed off the spot-up three point stroke off an interior pass as well as when coming off a pick and receiving the inbounds pass. He swished a rhythm step-in 18-footer with a hand right in his face. He showed his amazing ability to absorb contact in the paint despite his wirey frame and finished on both sides of the bucket with either hand. The game's almost too easy for him. And we saw both sides of Knight in this scrimmage: the facilitator of the first half who only scored 9 points while content to simply run the offensive sets and the unstoppable attacker of the second half who took every opportunity to create a great look for himself. With this year's team extensively lacking the depth of their '09-'10 predecessors, Knight will be needed to frequently channel his second-half mentality for us to have any hope as a top ten team nationally. It was only fitting that Brandon was also the alley to T-Jones' monster oops and that he finished off his own fastbreak jam in astounding fashion as well. Brandon won't have the SportsCenter coverage that our own John Wall had last season, but I'll be damned if he doesn't average over 24 points this year. Mark it. And I might still be underestimating the man.

Off course, all of these assessments and predictions come at the cost of Enes Kanter's assumed ineligibility. If he's cleared somehow, then this team's potential shoots up exponentially. But as of now, our only reliable big men are Jones and Darius Miller. Yes, you heard me right ... Darius the two-guard is our second best big man. Eloy and Harrellson are going to be contributors, but coming off a season where we had a trio of first round NBA bigs with a senior shot-blocker behind them, this year's going to be tough to watch in the paint. I expect Jones and Miller to fill in at the 5 spot quite a bit this season unless the opponent just has a big plodding Zydrunas Ilgauskas-type center that Harrellson could match up against perfectly. But Dexter Pittman's in the NBA now, so there aren't any guys like that left in college ...

He couldn't get a jumper to fall in the game, but trust in DeAndre Liggins' long range shot. In warm-ups, he was an absolute machine. He was dropping 22-footer after 22-footer after 22-footer with absolutely no effort. His form is still slightly jerky and erratic-looking, but he'll prove over the course of the season that his 66-threes-in-5-minutes drill wasn't a fluke. Beyond that part of his game that we can expect to skyrocket, Dre has shown that he'll be relentless in attacking the basket. He is making himself the prototypical Dribble-Drive athlete with his ability to force his way to the hoop and contort himself in a way to either finish or get fouled. But where his real bread and butter will continue to be is with his hyper-defensive instincts. I don't know if I've ever seen anyone else in college basketball who takes such visible passion in hounding his opponents. He's a scrapper who actually has other skills, which is innately rare. We're not talking Bruce Bowen, we're talking Ron Artest in his prime. (UPDATE: He had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.) That's why Liggins is going to be a proud UK alum in the National Basketball Association either this year or next.

Darius Miller inherited Patrick Patterson's "favorite child" status amongst UK fans this season. His cheers took it to another decibel level between Madness and this game. If Darius had shown this level of confidence last season, you would have seen him knocking down threes left and right against West Virginia and we would've been in the Final Four. But alas, now that he has the shadow of last year's freshman class off his back and two years of NCAA experience under his belt, this is his breakout season. Even though there will prolly be other guys surpassing in most all statistical categories, this is Darius' team. (UPDATE: He had 20 points and 6 rebounds.) When he gets rolling and controls the ball on certain possessions, you can just tell. He's a guard with the size of a forward who can score from anywhere and rebound against anyone. Between this, Madness, and the open practice last week, you can tell there's a great personal competition between Jones and Miller. They are almost always matched up against each other and are close to the same size. The both shared in moments of trying to force it against the other on the offensive end and getting blocked, but they also showed each other up on quick-trigger jumpers and blow-by drives. It's great to watch and will probably continue on over the season in a similar fashion to the way Daniel Orton and Demarcus Cousins continually made each other better. In a lot of cases, that practice match-up may be significantly tougher than the weekly game opposition.

To sum everyone else up ... Vargas showed off a nice interior passing touch but still can't absorb contact, Polson can't bring the ball up against NCAA defenses but he can surprisingly finish at the rim pretty well, Harrellson is confident with his hook shot from either hand but still can't seal in rebounds with consistency (UPDATE: hard for me to believe from watching it, but he apparently had 26 rebounds), Lamb will be an effortless scorer from day one but often attempts to be too creative and over-dribble (UPDATE: 16 points and 6 assists), Hood still has no stand-out skill and will likely see little playing time (UPDATE: shot 6-20), and Poole simply doesn't know where he can contribute to the team yet since he has a miserable long-range shooting stroke. There ya go.

... and Free Enes.

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Professional Wildcats

UCLA was the original school who sent players en masse to the pros, led by the incomparable Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor. Then you had North Carolina with Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith, and other elite talent throughout the '80s. Then Kentucky was an NBA floodgate institution, sending nine players from their 1996 championship roster alone to the next level. UNC reared its ugly head again, sending four players apiece from each of their '05 and '09 championship squads, led by Marvin Williams and Tyler Hansbrough, respectively. Well guess who's already pre-ordained to dominate year in and year out in the 20-teens? It's UK again. And if you didn't realize that after this year's draft ... I don't know what to tell ya.

Kentucky Colonels (our hypothetical 2010-2011 NBA roster)

Center: Nazr Mohammed/Jamaal Magloire/Daniel Orton
Power Forward: Demarcus Cousins/Chuck Hayes/Patrick Patterson
Small Forward: Tayshaun Prince/Kelenna Azubuike
Shooting Guard: Jodie Meeks/Keith Bogans/Joe Crawford
Point Guard: Rajon Rondo/John Wall/Eric Bledsoe

Head Coach: Pat Riley
Lead Assistant Coach: Dwayne Casey
Assistant Coach: Walter McCarty
General Manager: Rex Chapman

That's a pretty sick collection. And it only looks to get ridiculously sicker in the coming Calipari years. As Nazr and Jamaal (the only remaining players from the '90s championship squads) head to their career twilights, future potential pro Cats Enes Kanter, Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, Doron Lamb, Mike Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, and Anthony Davis will be making their grand entrances into the league. Five years from now, Rondo and Wall might be two of the best three point guards in the entire league. Cousins and Kanter might be vouching for 2nd place for the rebounding title behind Dwight Howard. Meeks might be the best three point marksman in the league. All these scenarios are legitimately possible.

It's gonna be an unprecedented run. Regardless of if every recruit is a one-and-done jumper, Kentucky will be the absolute go-to school for every uber-talented high school player out. It'll be to the point where the encyclopedia's gonna have to include that as a fact. The combination of Wall with Calipari made an instant transformation of our school where we went from being the historic program with the greatest tradition in college basketball to the cool program affiliated with Drake, LeBron James, and Ashley Judd. And that even affected everything to the point that, in edited retrospect, world champion Rajon Rondo is a beloved child and major representative of the University. Everything's almost too good right now. The Elite Eight loss was tough and having to lose our top five players to the draft hurt, but we reloaded without a skipped heartbeat and our 2011 class is already preset. As long as Calipari can resist a second bout of NBA temptation, UK is guaranteed to be the program of the next decade. And with LeBron now secured in Miami for the next seven years with Pat Riley looming over the organization, I say it's a safe bet that Coach Cal stays put. Within the next two year, we'll have finally unveiled banner number eight and it can only feasibly get even greater after that. I'll getcha back in five years if UK's reign hasn't already ended the world by bringing on the Apocalypse.

... and do the John Wall.

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Not in TN No More

I told you to call me crazy. I hope you did.

After three games, Allen Iverson has asked for a leave from the Grizzlies. Read this gorgeously and stupidly constructed column from a little earlier in the summer and see why I am unequivocally disallowed from here on to ever believe or put faith in an athlete I haven't met personally. That's why I trust John Wall. When you walk into your dorm the same time as him after his first collegiate ball game and get to break down what happened with him on the way down the stairs ... well, let's just say I believe in John Wall. Never again, though, in the artist formerly known as The Answer.

And while we're on Wildcat legends ... Jodie Meeks dropped 5 threes on the lowly Knickerbockers and was good for 19 points. Yeeeah. He got in at the end of the first quarter and proceeded to swish three perfect long shots to close out the period and drain another one to open the second. That's a way to force your coach to give you an extended run for the first time in your career. So there's my important basketball notes in the early season. And who cares that the Lakers are 5-1 (tied for the league's early lead) without Pau at all and now with Bynum temporarily down? I sure don't care. Well ... that's a lie. I was screaming bloody murder at my League Pass Broadband for the champs somehow allowing the junior high Thunder and the Chuck Hayes-lead D-League Rocket squad take them to OT on consecutive nights. Oh well.

... but do take my word for it.

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I Wasn't Really Spittin' Game, I Was Scrimmagin'

So while I'm cooped up in this hospital bed with my nose looking like the after-product of a Freddy vs. Jason victim, I been trying to keep sane in-between morphine refills by thinking about my University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball team.

I try so hard to be a reasonable fan, but I can't help but be caught up in the hype right now. The fall semester hasn't even started yet and I'm getting antsy about our 2010 recruits! Nothing like this has ever happened for me with a sports team before. I guess it's kinda like how Knicks fans are mercilessly waiting for the free agent signing period of 2010 as well, but the difference here is that UK is gonna be bomb this season, too.

These videos my first evidence of post-high school John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and DeMarcus Cousins. Now while I'm not gonna pretend the defense in these scrimmage games is even a fraction of NCAA intensity, I will say the skill sets shown are something that will allow this uber-inexperienced team to shoot out the gate for a special season. Wall is simply the real deal. He can do everything on the basketball court completely by himself if he wanted to, yet will play in a system that allows his teammates to capitalize off his individual exploits. He will rule against opposing backcourts day-in and day-out. That's a mere formality to me, now. And both in a dual guard with Wall or as his PG replacement, Eric Bledsoe gives an entire game-changing dynamic. As one of those rare pure point types, Bledsoe can bully his way through any defense with his head up and a knack for distributing the ball at just the right time. So we have a legitimate scoring point and a legitimate passing point as opposed to last year's roster which consisted of no real point guard.

Cousins, to me, is the wild card that could push the team over the edge. How he works off Patterson is pivotal to this team's success. While the Dribble Drive offense wouldn't normally feature two bigs, the talent between these two monsters will convert any offensive scheme into prominently featuring them. As seen specifically in these videos, DeMarcus gobbles up rebounds. He's an enormous presence in the post at 6' 11" and can't be physically pushed around. Yet there was a possession where he took the ball cross court on his own and pulled up for a three, which he drained with confidence. While I don't at all expect him to be our Jodie Meeks replacement from the 3-point line, that's quite a convenience to have a center with an entire floor game to compliment our guard duo and returning low post beast in P-Pat.

I'll get into the rest of our team and their dynamics towards making us a contender, too, but as of right now in this hospital bed, I'm a very hopeful UK student. All because of one John Calipari. I simply cannot wait.

... but do take my word for it.

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A Lil' Fulfillment

So I guess the Calipari thing worked out. Considering that I actually passed him while he was jogging around with Rod Strickland on campus. I almost had a panic attack. I'm calling "no-man-crush" but I swear Coach Cal had an aura about him. I wanted to throw out a "good luck" or "love ya coach", but I couldn't muster a darn thing.

So he already wrapped up one-and-done DeMarcus Cousins and I'll enjoy every minute of the season with him. Liggins is apparently perfectly suited for coach's offense and Miller is set to be a straight beast under his masterful tutelage. The only minor setbacks are Jodie's testing of the draft pool and super-recruit Orton possibly wavering, but I think both of them will be in Kentucky blue next season, regardless. I try to not get hyped on the we're-a-Final-Four-team-immediately after not being ranked for two years, but I really think that the sky is the limit right away. Like right away.

Now we as Big Blue Nation just have to wait for all the rest of the recruiting chips to fall in place and for the entire roster as a whole to get settled in so it's a for sure thing. And we also gotta deal with UK hatred from the rest of the world, as well as our own unruly brethren who create avenues for all the hate.

I expect huge things from coach. And even though seemed to deflect expectations in the introductory news conference, he expects huge things as well. I say we have a Final Four run along with an extra championship banner in the next 4 years. We just will. I feel it in my raggedy old bones.

... put 'em both together and you got yourself a super spork.

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Potential

This whole John Calipari-to-UK thing better turn out for real. I've already invested too much time into basking in how perfect next season would be with Jodie/Patt staying along with a charismatic coach and the greatest new recruits possible. Just perfection. You don't even know. I have unconditional UK pride and even found the beauty in our NIT season, but a literal flip from middle of the pack team with 2 studs to a contending return-to-glory wholesale program would be the sweetest thing ever. I love my Lakers forever and always, but my University is the sport team in my life.

We need the man to be the face of our program. A man with a smile instead of a dead face glare. A man with a substitution pattern instead of a coin-toss lineup. A man with a feel on the media instead of a public jerk. A man who will publicly be proud of how intensely we will be there to support our team instead of a guy fixated on uncaring nonchalance. A guy who won't let us lose to Gardner-Webb. That's all I'm asking for. I'll even give up all my Christmas presents this year for it.

... put 'em both together and you got yourself a super spork.

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The Team

My Busta Rhymes post got deleted. Screw Google. They're too ignorant to just cut the link, they gotta delete everything you write, too.

Whatever. My team better get it back together tonight. And I ain't even talking bout the Lakers. They got everything together. My Wildcats. We can't bomb 4 in a row. Please, Jodie, don't let us.

UPDATE: Jodie hit the game winning three pointer on a step-back, bobbled, cramp-legged attempt (new picture). I called it.

... this was whatcha all been waitin' for ain't it?

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