Could the script be any better?

Over the course of the past five months, it has been a topsy turvy season for Big Blue Nation. There's been ups, such as UK's fifteen point win at Louisville. There have also certainly been downs, like going 2-6 on the road in SEC play. I regret that I have not been here to document the season, because it has been more than what I think anyone imagined that this season could be. The script couldn't have been written any better. I cried on Sunday when Kentucky returned to the Final Four for the first time in thirteen seasons, the longest drought in school history.

Flashing back to a year ago, I would not have been emotional if Kentucky beat West Virginia and made the Final Four last year, because that team was expected to do so. I also would not have been emotional if the Cats made the Final Four in 2003 or 2005, when top seeded UK teams lost in the Elite Eight, a major road block for the Cats since the Championship season of 1998. The fact that last year's team DID NOT make it with five first round NBA draft picks, and this team DID reach the Final Four despite 8 regular season losses, no Enes Kanter, and an incredibly tough region to get here (defeating WVU, OSU, and UNC), all adds to the beautiful script of this amazing run.

Josh Harrelson, who averaged a couple of minutes per game a year ago sitting behind big men DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, and Daniel Orton, and expected to sit behind Enes Kanter this year, is the best 'feel good' story in all of college basketball this season. DeAndre Liggins also has a pretty good story himself, and the other veteran, Darius Miller, had dreamt of this experience his entire life growing up in Maysville, KY. John Calipari, who has been known as a fantastic recruiter and an average coach, has proven that he is in fact one of the best X's and O's coaches in the game this season, beating every team that has defeated him in a rematch games this season. The only "V word" describing this Final Four appearance for Calipari is vindication. He's proven that he can win with less, like he has already proven at UMass (but others seem to forget), and that he can also do it without even a hint of trouble with the NCAA with this current roster.

Of the Wildcats' eight losses, six of them have been avenged, earning them the potential nickname of the "Payback Cats". Five of the six SEC losses on the road were avenged with wins at Rupp Arena or in the SEC Tournament, including two wins against Florida after losing in the final seconds in Gainesville. The Cats also lost to North Carolina in the regular season after defeating them in the East Regional to advance to the Final Four. They lost to UConn in the Maui Invitational Championship in November, and they also hope to avenge that loss on Saturday in the Final Four. If they do, 7 of their 8 losses will be avenged. Arkansas, who they only faced once, would be the only team on the schedule that the Cats did not defeat. You'd expect Harrelson and Brandon Knight, who had 0 and 6 points respectively in November against the Huskies, to have much more of an impact this time around.

There couldn't have been a better script for this team to make it to the Final Four, and perhaps, a National Championship. Regardless of how the team fares in Houston, they have accomplished the very rare feat of exceeding the always high exepctations at the University of Kentucky. With Enes, this team was thought to have a chance to still be playing right now. Without him, they weren't given much of a shot at all. It's been a blessing in disguise for Josh Harrelson, who has emerged as a fan favorite and has played himself into a chance of playing at the next level. On paper, the Cats look to be even better next season, perhaps a pre-season #1 ranking, but that team has a tall task infront of them to accomplish what this team already has and hopes to do Saturday and Monday night: bringing home the 8th National Championship to its rightful place in Lexington, KY.

Jones does it all as Cats beat ETSU, 88-65.

It's been awhile since I've last posted, and a lot has happened.

• UK won their two exhibition games easily as expected
• This Wednesday, Marquis Teague, Michael Gilchrist, and Kyle Wiltjer all signed their national letter of intents to play for the Cats on the first day of the signing period.
• On Thursday, there was bad news. Enes wasn't freed, and was declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA for receiving $33,000 more than "necessary expenses".
• This afternoon, we have found out that $20,000 of that was used for education, which could be a major implication in the appeal process later this month, leaving only $13,000 to be re-paid or accounted for.
• And tonight, without Enes Kanter, the Cats took care of business and beat ETSU 88-65.
  

East Tennessee State isn't one of the best teams the Cats will play this year, but they were a veteran team that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago and a major upgrade in talent from Pikeville, Dillard, and the Canadian teams that they have played this summer. They were a very good test for a young team in their opening game. I expected the young Cats to fall behind early in this one, but eventually come back to win rather easily. I thought the new guys would be overwhelmed by the difference in talent compared to what they've faced in the preseason. I expected a similar sloppy performance as what we were accustomed to early on last season with a young team. I was wrong.

It was an all around excellent opener, and I must say, they're ahead of where they were a year ago. They're also a much better shooting team than a year ago as they shot 50%, 13 of 26, from the field. Brandon Knight made 4 0f 7 from behind the arc, Doron Lamb made 3 of 5, DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller each made three, and even big man Terrence Jones, the star of the game, made 2 out of 3 three point attempts. It's safe to say that this team probably won't shoot like this every game, but they probably won't ever go 0-25 from 3 ever again, either. Jones finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. There didn't seem to be anything that he couldn't do. The other scoring leaders for the Cats were Lamb (20), Knight (17), and Liggins (14).

Darius Miller also had 8 points and Josh Harrelson played well in limited playing time. Harrelson started the game and grabbed the first rebound and scored the first basket for the Cats but was called for 2 quick fouls which put him on the bench the rest of the 2nd half (one of those fouls seemed questionable). Harrelson also picked up a third foul early in the 2nd half and finished with 2 points and 7 rebounds in just 16 minutes to play. With the absence of Kanter and Harrelson on the bench, Eloy Vargas had to fill the void but was unable to get into the scoring books. It didn't really matter because Terrence Jones did just about everything, inside and out. Jon Hood, who came off a 17 point performance in the previous exhibition game, only got into the game for 6 minutes and scored 2 points.

With or without Enes Kanter, this is going to be a very good team. It's not life or death on this decision. He'd be a huge addition, but they've been preparing all off season to play without him and they will be just fine without him. Kentucky fans need to have perspective. Remember Billy Ball? This team will be, at worst, the 2nd best team we've had in 5 years. Then, next year, we'll be even better and perhaps even better than last year. I don't expect this team to accomplish everything that happened a year ago; but they are a better shooting team, they are playing better early on than they did last year, and I do believe they could go further into the tournament. "Enjoy the path", as Calipari says, it's going to be another great year!

The Cats take the football field tomorrow in a must win game against Vanderbilt. Bowl eligibilty and momentum going into Knoxville are on the line. It's been reported that, finally, Derrick Locke will play.

(Photo Courtesy of UKathletics.com)

Blue dominates White: Knight scores 37, Jones scores 29

With only ten players eligible to practice upon the eligibility ruling of Enes Kanter, tonight's Blue/White game required every player to play for 40 minutes straight with no subs. It had to be a great experience physically for ten guys to all play 40 minutes and they all seemed conditioned pretty well for it. Brandon Knight had cramps in the final remaining seconds, but his legs were good enough for him to score 37 points and only turn it over 2 times in 40 minutes. Terrence Jones, who played very little in the Canadian exhibition trip because of a nagging ankle injury, had a good showing of his post skills and athleticism for the first time in front of Big Blue Nation with 29 points! The projected starting players were primarily on the blue team, and that combined with 40 minutes of play for everyone may have increased production numbers; however, Calipari had the players switching jerseys and getting accustomed to playing with different guys throughout the game.

Other statistics of note include 26 rebounds by Josh Harrleson combined with 16 points for a double double, Eloy Vargas was also just one rebound short of a double double, and I believe Jarrod Polson scored in double figures as well (but official stats are not yet available). After not seeing hardly any action from Jones or Vargas in Canada, Harrelson was the primary big man. Despite the improvement of Harrelson and the solid play in Canada, the thought of how the team might shape up in the post without Enes Kanter was concerning going into tonight's scrimmage. It's hard to make much of these scrimmages, but tonight certainly showed that the Cats are still very talented in the post with or without Kanter. The Terrence Jones we saw tonight was the Jones we can expect to see in the season, and not the injury plagued Jones that we saw in Candada. All and all, tonight was a tremendous effort and an entertaining display of action tonight for a sub-less ten Wildcats who all gave the fans a good show and some good hustle for 40 minutes straight. We've got another pretty darn good team, folks!

P.S.- tonight at midnight marks the 1 year anniversary of Wildcat Wrap.

A year ago, inspired by Big Blue Madness and the excitement generating around John Calipari's first season in Lexington, I started this site in the early morning/late night hours of October 27th, 2009. The idea just suddenly came to me, and I immediately jumped on it. I didn't even wait until the next morning to get it going. I started it up right then when the idea came to me that night, and here I am a year later.

Who would have thought that writing on this blog would have led me to a new career path? I've discovered I really like to write and am pretty good at it. I'm currently taking a stab at a journalism career, covering sports for the Xavier Newswire. I'm also at Xavier for my Masters of Secondary English Education and if a journalism or sports information career doesn't pan out, I plan to teach English and Journalism and get into sports administration at the high school level. Because of all these changes, I won't be able to update the site regularly anymore, but I will check back and write some stories here and then. Thanks to everyone for all of the support throughout the past year.

Sincerely,
John

Cats fumble away opportunity, again.

It was another impressive night from a numbers perspective for Mike Hartline and the Kentucky passing offense. The running game looks to have a solid future but certainly missed not having Derrick Locke. The defense also was not great, but at the end of the day- all Kentucky had to do was hold on to the football and they would have likely escaped with another victory and stay in the SEC East race. For the second time this year, they simply gave away a victory. You simply can't expect to turn the ball over and give up a short field in the SEC. Good teams take advantage of that and even mediocre SEC teams will usually not let you get away with it. First at Ole Miss, and now at home against Georgia...if the Cats had not fumbled themselves out of these two games, they'd be atop the SEC East standings with a 6-2 overall record and a 3-2 conference record.

Once again, an opportunity to make that next step forward in the SEC ended in disappointment. Things don't get any easier next week in Starkville, either. Dan Mullen's 6-2 Bulldogs are for real. They've already knocked off Georgia and Florida and they have a major New Year's Day Bowl within their grasp. The Cats can still position themselves for bowl season nicely with winning these last three games(and honestly, who would be disappointed with ending the season with a win in Knoxville?). But hopefully the Cats bounce back resiliently again this week and play spoiler to the great season MSU is having in a similar way that the Bulldogs did to the Cats in 2007.

And good news...Tuesday night is the Blue/White basketball scrimmage! Cheer up, Kentucky! Thanks to allkyhoops.com for this photo of Wall and Bledsoe going at it in last year's scrimmage.

SEC East Showdown: Georgia vs. Kentucky

Suddenly, the Cats find themselves miraculously right in the middle of an SEC Championship race. After losing their first two conference games in ugly fashions, they put up a terrific effort against Auburn but fell short again to fall to 0-3. Last week, the Cats finally held on to beat #10 South Carolina. That win combined with a Florida loss to Mississippi State, puts the Cats just a game within first place. If Vandy beats South Carolina tonight, then Vandy will occupy first place in the East. It's anybody's game. One more loss from South Carolina and one more loss from Florida is all that the Cats need to rely on. If the Gamecocks beat Florida, and Florida losses to Arkansas or Georgia (the most probable of scenarios), then the Cats can control their own destiny with a favorable schedule the rest of the way.

Both teams fighting tonight at Commonwealth Stadium have as good of a chance as anyone. Both teams, Georgia and Kentucky, will have to win out to have a chance. Neither team can have a chance if they don't escape Commonwealth with a win tonight. It's often a cliche when coaches call one particular game the biggest ever in program history (as Spurrier did a week ago); however, the championship implications of this game is something that hasn't been experienced at this stage of the season in Kentucky in maybe over a half century. In 2006, the Georgia win was what sparked the turn-around of Kentucky football. Last year's win on the road "between the hedges" sparked confidence from a young team trying to climb the SEC ladder. This year's affair with the Bulldogs could get the Cats' to that next level in SEC supremacy. The LSU win could have been bigger, but this one will be more meaningful tonight.

Kentucky 31, #10 South Carolina 28!

This isn't right, and I'm sorry. UK just had what might be a season changing game last night and a win over a top 10 team...and the best I can do to cover it for you is this video. I'm sorry, but writing for the Xavier Newswire student newspaper(which I am loving by the way), grad school, and also working on top of that is cutting into my time at wildcat wrap. I'll try to have more on the game (and SEC East Championship scenarios...yes, I'm being serious) later in the week. But for now, enjoy the video!

New Years Day Bowl still in reach for Cats?

A win on Saturday against Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks would put the Cats in an excellent position to win seven or eight games this season. If they win out, they could even win 9. It sounds crazy at this point, but UK's game with Auburn showed that the Cats are improving and the easier part of the schedule is near. After Saturday's game with South Carolina, the Cats should be favored in each of their remaining five games against Georgia (2-4), Mississippi State, Charleston Southern, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee (2-4). The Cats find themselves at a disappointing 3-3 at the midway point of the season. All of the remaining games are winnable, but realistically, Kentucky should lose a few- especially considering the psychological effect of ending long streaks against Spurrier and Tennessee.

The crushing loss to Auburn at home last week was tough and the Gamecocks won't be any easier to beat this week, but South Carolina is coming off of a very emotionally draining win over #1 Alabama. History tells us that it's very difficult to come off of a big win like that and follow it up with a second straight strong performance on the road in the SEC, even when you're expected to win. Spurrier is calling the Kentucky game, "the biggest in program history". Much of that is "coach speak", but Spurrier recognizes that his team has to continue to perform and not be content with the win over Alabama if he wants to finally take the South Carolina program to the next level. Kentucky fans are also dying to get to that next level and it's not coming as quickly and easily as many fans would like. The South Carolina program under Spurrier, however, is an example of how long it can take for a good program to become elite. It's much easier to go from bad to good, but the next step can be a long process.

What the Cats will need to do is continue to get just a little bit better each year and they'll need to earn a bowl trip outside of the state of Tennessee in the near future to excite an increasingly bored fan base that has grown accustomed to turn attention towards basketball season in October. A warm weather bowl game would also be huge for recruiting. A new SEC bowl lineup will make this a much easier task. Last year, the SEC ended its ties with the Independence Bowl and added a new, bigger bowl to their lineup for this season: the Gator Bowl. The Gator Bowl is rich in tradition and is played on New Years Day. Recently, it has been played between some of the top non-BCS Bowl bound teams out of the Big East and ACC. This year, the Gator Bowl will feature the SEC #6 or 7 team against the Big 10 #4 team.

In the new SEC bowl pecking order, the Gator Bowl will be slated behind the BCS, Capital One, Cotton, Outback, and Chick-fil-a Bowls. Yep, that's right- a major New Years Day Bowl Game will now be slated at the exact same position that the Music City Bowl has been previously been granted in the SEC bowl pecking order (the MCB now has the 7th or 8th pick behind the Gator, depending on the BCS picture). The Music City Bowl, of course, has been the Cats' destination in three of the last four seasons. If the Cats can repeat what they have done in three of the last four years in winning seven regular season games, or if they can match last year's 4-1 finish in the remaining five games...then they should be destined for Jacksonville instead of Nashville and will have the chance to continue the SEC's dominance over the Big 10, likely against a team such as Wisconsin or Michigan. Is that enough for Kentucky football fans to be a little more excited for the stretch run?