What will Kentucky Wildcats basketball work on over winter break?

All of the students are home for the Holidays and the campus in Lexington is dead. The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team only has two games left in 2014 and for the coaches, it is a time to transition his team and get them ready for conference play. The minds at ESPN got together and discussed what John Calipari will be working on the next few weeks. Here is what Seth Greenberg had to say:

"Greenberg: Without Alex, it gives them so much more flexibility and versatility offensively and defensively. Now, against a pressing team you’re always going to have another skilled player on the court. You can go small. At the end of the first four or five minutes, the second unit is going to come in. But whoever fits the style of play and is playing best will then transition into the second unit. They’ll play portions of that time. Each four minutes you’ll see adjustments to the platoon. The one value is you’re always going to have another shot-maker on the court. Maybe another playmaker on the court. Maybe another defender on the court. It’ll give them more versatility. What you’ll miss is the explosive play Alex can make. When he runs down a player, when he flies and jumps over someone and dunks or gets a tip dunk … the energy plays he came up with in the NCAA tournament set the stage for Aaron Harrison to knock down those 3s. If I’m Kentucky, I’m working on my zone offense, making sure we are locked in on what we want to do on any type of “junk,” making sure our defensive transition is as good as it can be and offense in general. Making sure we’re getting the best flow we can get offensively, especially in late-game situations."

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

If you are under a certain age, Saturday’s game between UK and UCLA may just be another game on the schedule. Sure, Kentucky Wildcats fans know that this is a game between the two teams with the most NCAA titles, but the Kentucky Wildcats have surpassed UCLA as the premier team in college basketball. Glenn Logan from “A Sea of Blue” remembers when the Bruins were king and he is excited about this matchup.

"All this aside, I love the idea of playing UCLA, because of their history. I remember most of their NCAA championships, and I especially remember the 1975 NCAA championship game where the Bruins, in John Wooden’s final game, defeated the Kentucky Wildcats in San Diego. I was so disappointed in that loss, even though I could never bring myself to be angry with Wooden or his team, because I always admired UCLA’s history and success. Other than the Louisville Cardinals, this might be the game I have looked forward to the most this season just because of the Bruins’ history and their domination of college basketball during my formative years. Yes, I cheered against Bill Walton & Co. when they faced North Carolina State in the 1974 Final Four, because my favorite player ever as a young man was David Thompson. That remained true throughout his professional career."

Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The big story today in pro basketball will be the trade of Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks. The most interesting thing about this story is not how the did not happen on the cusp of the NBA trade deadline, with Boston sorting through several suitors, but how the trade happened. Keith Olbermann reported that this deal went down in the green room at the “Colbert Report” finale. Just another reason to like Mark Cuban.

"Cuban is not the Mavericks’ head of player personnel; Donn Nelson has ably held that role for years, but no other NBA owner packs as much analytical and scouting punch as the Mavericks’ el jefe. It’s true that his team’s franchise cornerstone, the legendary Dirk Nowitzki, was drafted a year and a half prior to Cuban purchasing the team, but Cuban has intelligently tossed himself into the world of basketball analytics while still encouraging his hired basketball men to do their job. It’s a delicate balance and the Mavericks haven’t been championship contenders since the team’s 2011 NBA Finals win, but the franchise has been in the championship mix routinely since 2001, and it’s hard to argue with Cuban’s approach. The ability to work through salary structures, possible promises on contract extensions, and noise from all manner of scouts, coaches and Mavericks employees in real time on one smartphone also helps. This is an entirely different era than the one that, say, Boston general manager Danny Ainge was working in when he was dealt from Boston to Sacramento for Joe Kleine and Ed Pinckney 25 years ago."