Anyone else watching this game?

The Wife just turned to me early in the Second Half and said..."This is like a Harlem Globetrotters game, except no one has thrown a bucket of confetti."

so would that mean that Kentucky is running circles around the Hogs?

That is an understatement of what happened. It was ugly and could've been 50. I felt bad for Pelphrey because his team at full-strength is not THAT bad.

is Kentucky THAT good though?

If Kentucky makes outside shots, I'm not sure anyone can beat them.

Nobody in the country can top the combo of Wall and Bledsoe, and nobody in the country can top the combo of Patterson and Cousins.

If guys like Miller, Dodson and Liggins (all sophomore small forwards who rotate minutes) make outside shots, the Cats will be tough to beat.

Daniel Orton, the 3rd big man has become a dominating defensive player. Not a bad replacement for Patterson and Cousins in spurts.

I think that's what it comes down to. Teams will zone them to death and make those guys make threes.

Azubuike24 wrote: That is an understatement of what happened. It was ugly and could've been 50. I felt bad for Pelphrey because his team at full-strength is not THAT bad.

QFT

I too told The Wife I felt bad for Pelphrey. (not so much for Arkansas as I remember them beating Ky for a few years back in the 90's)

Azubuike24 wrote:

Nobody in the country can top the combo of Wall and Bledsoe, and nobody in the country can top the combo of Patterson and Cousins.

Prepare to hear from S&L

He can say what he wants. Aldrich and Collins are great, but there isn't any 2 other players on KU you can add to those 2 to make duos that can beat what UK has. KU is a deeper team because they can go legitimately 11 deep. With that said, Kentucky can go 9 deep with very good players and their 10th and 11th guys are Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson, 2 seniors who have both played nearly 100 career games and have started for the past 2 seasons.

Kentucky is by far the most talented team in the country. And I do not see them losing a regular season game.

It is incredible what Calipari has been able to do in one year.

Would Meeks even average 12 on this team? This is definitely a star studded cast. And a team I want Duke nowhere near in the NCAA Tournament. Luckily, Duke is playing well enough that I'm fairly certain we'll garner a two or three seed and not have to face UK until at the earliest the regional final. This is probably said in vain, however, as Duke will be gone by the regional semis.

I think Meeks would be the leading scorer on this team. He'd be the go-to-guy and would take a majority of the threes. Then again, I'm not really sure they have missed him. Bledsoe scoring 11 PPG and Miller and Dodson chipping in 7 has really made production from the SG and SF spots pretty consistent.

You'd know better than me, but, in end-game situations, when UK really needed someone to put the ball in his hands and "make it happen," it's my opinion that it wouldn't be Jodie's. This is Wall's team.

Obviously Jodie was one hell of a player, but some of his numbers were inflated due to UK having no one else who could carry the load scoring. This is the Jon Diebler effect. Anyway, I just think it's interesting -- and very telling of how good Kentucky is this season -- to think that the Wildcats wouldn't even need Jodie, who averaged nearly 30 and scored over 40 on a couple of occasions last season, as a senior even if he was back on campus. Calipari has certainly been healing the sick, so to speak, in his few months in Lexington. Pretty incredible.

I agree with that, but I think if Cal would've had a proven outside threat like Meeks coming in (instead of unproven guys like Dodson, Miller and Bledsoe), a lot more early on would've been designed for Meeks. Now, that isn't to say as the offense got better and guys like Cousins continued to improve, Meeks' numbers wouldn't decline, but I definitely think he would be scoring 15+ PPG on this team. That would put him right there with Wall, and you would have to figure Meeks would take just a little scoring away from Wall.

It's nice to have a player like him and be able to replace the production adequately in less than half-a-season.

The one thing I would've loved to see is Meeks in this style of play. He was great at getting buckets on steals and in transition. Him and Wall in the same backcourt would've been unfair...

Recap from the game.

http://www.truebluekentucky.com/index.php/basketball/926-guest-basketball/2613-in-case-you-missed-itevery-point-scored-kentucky-vs-arkansas.html

Azubuike24 wrote:[Jodie Meeks] and Wall in the same backcourt would've been unfair..

Essentially, if we were to use a Duke analogy, that backcourt would be the equivalent of Jason Williams and J.J. Redick. Now I think Wall has some growing to do before he's as good as a junior Jason Williams (Wall is certainly the better freshman, by a mile, though, and would likely surpass everything Williams did if he were to stay for two more years), but it's a pretty similar comparison nonetheless. Both Jason and Wall are the out-of-this-world phenom guards with the ability to will their teams to victory and J.J. and Jodie the outside marksmen with the unlimited range and Dennis Scott-like scoring binges.

Obviously Jodie wouldn't be putting up 25 a game on this team, and, as I said, I don't think he'd average more than 12 to 15 as a result of how dominant this team has become from positions one to five, but he'd definitely provide Kentucky with a frightening perimeter threat that would make Kentucky a complete monster.

Jason, why did you not come back in '03?

I digress..

thedynasty1998 wrote: Kentucky is by far the most talented team in the country. And I do not see them losing a regular season game.

It is incredible what Calipari has been able to do in one year.

By far? Watch much college bball? Not quite. I think Kansas, 'Cuse, Nova and Texas will have a say in that. The SEC is what it is..better then last year, still not very good.
UK is very good, no question about it. But they haven't exactly played a killer schedule. UNC and UConn...good teams, but not exactly as good as many thought. CBS has their SOS as 82 in the country, second highest of top 20 RPI teams.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/polls/rpi/index1

I didn't say by far the best team in the country, if you would read what I said, I wrote "most talented team in the country".

And I'm not sure how anyone can argue that.

Look at the NBA projections for them:
John Wall - Likely #1 pick
Demarcus Cousins - Likely Lottery
Patrick Patterson - Possible lottery
Eric Bledsoe - Borderline 1st rounder

Tell me what other team out there can claim that 4/5 starters have a legit chance for being 1st rounders in this years draft?

Now if you want to talk about best team, you can make an argument, but you can't for most talented, which is exactly what I said.

Arkansas is a shell of its former self. Nolan Richardson has really had the last laugh in that whole debacle.

That being said, this UK time is the real deal. As someone else pointed earlier, it brought back images of this:

Dynasty is right. There is major talk of Eric Bledsoe being one and done as some have started to say the scouts are projecting him the 2nd PG taken in the upcoming draft. Right now, nbadraft.net has the following:

John Wall #1 in 2010
Patrick Patterson #7 in 2010
DeMarcus Cousins #8 in 2010
Eric Bledsoe #5 in 2011
Daniel Orton #25 in 2011

Bledsoe will probably move into the 2010 draft, and I really hope he doesn't go pro. He's a huge part to next season.

Wow. Losing Bledsoe after this season would be a huge blow for UK if they do indeed lose Wall and Cousins as early entrants, and Patterson to graduation. Who is Cal looking at bringing in next year? I know I've heard that CJ Leslie is probably headed to Lexington. Are they still a possibility for Brandon Knight?

According to Rivals.com, Brandon Knight is still very high on Kentucky. Others that are still considering UK include: Josh Selby (#2 guard), Terrence Jones (#5 forward), CJ Leslie (forward from John Wall's high school), and Doron Lamb (#8 guard). These guys, along with previously committed Stacey Poole, would give UK the number one recruiting class for next season. Its all very hypothetical at this point, though.

Thanks, GOONx19.

How many schollies does UK have to give for the 2010 class if Wall and Cousins leave?

Wall, Cousins, and Patterson will leave for sure. Ramon Harris and Perry Stephenson are graduating, and I'm pretty sure that senior Mark Krebs is on scholarship, too. That would leave six for next years class.

If Patterson, Cousins and Wall leave, along with Seniors Perry Stevenson, Ramon Harris and Mark Krebs, UK's scholarship situation would look like this:

SENIORS
Josh Harrellson

JUNIORS
Darnell Dodson
Darius Miller
DeAndre Liggins

SOPHOMORES
Daniel Orton
Eric Bledsoe
Jon Hood
***Ricardo Ratcliffe

FRESHMEN
Stacey Poole
***C.J. Leslie
***Brandon Knight
***Terrance Ross

As of now, it would be 5 scholarships available as 6 would be open and one goes to Stacey Poole. I think it's almost a lock that UK gets C.J. Leslie and either Brandon Knight or Josh Selby, likely Knight. They COULD land Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, also Selby and Knight, or possibly a few other prospects. Terrance Ross, a guard from Maryland is in the mix, so is Ray McCallum, a guard from Michigan. The top JUCO player in the country, Ricardo Ratcliffe, a PF from Florida has also been visited by Calipari. Former 5-star recruit, Eloy Vargas, a transfer from Florida has also been rumored to be a possibility, but I'm not sure how valid that one is. There are also a few other frontcourt prospects that have been discussed, foreigners to be exact. Not much is known about them at this time.

I think this is what UK's class ends up looking like above.

Certainly, a backcourt of Knight and Bledsoe would automatically be one of the best in the country, and the trio of SF's would be very, very strong. The big key would be how much Leslie and Ratcliffe can replace Patterson's production, and how quickly Orton's offensive game can develop. With that said, if Cal brings in this class (very, very possible) and both Bledsoe and Orton are here another year, the Cats will be right back in the top 10 next year IMO. It would be another young and inexperienced team, but the talent would be very high.

Thanks for the rundown, Azu. I guess I keep thinking that Patterson is a senior because he's scheduled to graduate sometime this year. I'm sure he'll be headed to the NBA, just as you said.

With 6 scholarships available for next year, and one of the best recruiters in college basketball running the show, I'm positive that UK will reload. If those freshmen have an impact anywhere close to that of Wall, Bledsoe, and Cousins, I completely agree that UK will once again be a Top 10 team next season.

Take it for what it's worth, but there's a guy on one of the Carolina boards that seems pretty reliable, and is somehow well-connected to the recruiting game. He says that Leslie to UK is a done deal. We're all well aware that recruiting is an inexact science, and things can change at the drop of a hat, but from what I have seen, this guy knows what he's talking about.

What type of vibe are you getting on 2011 recruit Quincy Miller? I know he's supposed to be pretty high on Duke, but UK seems to be a major player too. I think Miller was originally a Carolina target, but I'm doubting if they're in the picture now since he professes his hatred for them on Twitter every time they lose. haha