Kentucky Wildcats Morning Headlines: Tyler Ulis is the real deal

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team held another open practice for the local media yesterday and as usual, the reports have us all salivating for November when it all tips off for real.  I have said several times due to the lack of point guards in the 2015 class and the fact that the Harrison Twins will most likely be gone after this year, that Tyler Ulis is one of the most important recruits for this team.  And apparently, he is not disappointing in practice thus far.  Ben Roberts took the time to rave on the diminutive point guard. And that tops today’s Kentucky Wildcats Morning Headlines:

"Everything I watched Tyler Ulis do against high school and AAU competition last year, he did against elite-level college competition Thursday. The little guy rarely makes a bad pass, rarely puts himself in the wrong spot, rarely makes mistakes in general. Ulis excels at getting passes off at angles that look strange but almost always end up in the right spot. During one play Thursday, he started his passing motion as if he were going to throw an alley-oop to one teammate, then, when a defender closed on that player, he changed his arm angle in one split-second and threw a cross-court pass to an open teammate on the perimeter. The result: Three points for Team Ulis."

. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

And what would a look at a Kentucky basketball practice report without talk of Aaron and Andrew Harrison? Jerry Tipton fills us in and also drops some football history knowledge on us.

"Lot of talk Wednesday about how much Andrew and Aaron Harrison have changed. But there are constants. Aaron can still shoot from the perimeter. With the scrimmage coming down to a final possession, Andrew drove to contact to get to the foul line. He made one of two free throws with 2.3 seconds left to tie the score at 27-27. Like Ara Parseghian in 1966 Notre Dame-Michigan State game (google it, kids), Calipari settled for a tie and ended scrimmage. – UK coaches had to like the several times offensive rebounding created second, third, fourth and fifth opportunities. – Prettiest play of the day? Maybe Marcus Lee’s touch pass from post to post that got Dakari Johnson a dunk."

Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

To touch on a bit about what Tipton alluded to (the change in the Harrisons), it all seems to be a very good thing. I’m just going to miss the fans on Twitter who whine about body language this season.

"They returned to Kentucky not as freshmen finding their feet but sophomores set to surge. “They’re comfortable out on the court where last year they were trying to figure themselves out, and that’s why you had that body language stuff,” Calipari said. “You don’t see any of that this year, and the only time they do anything like that is toward each other, like, where they’re saying something to each other.” In fact, in practices this week the twins have been noticeably more vocal. Andrew Harrison said he’s enjoyed having freshmen teammates ask him questions, and he’s tried to take on a more active leadership role. The result of all this changes — of bodies and body language — has led to another significant switch. The dynamic between the twins and Calipari, too, differs dramatically from a year ago. “I feel like he trusts me a lot more, and I trust him,” Andrew Harrison said. “So it should be a good year. I’m looking forward to it.”"