The summer basketball buzz is all about Cal and the Cats
By Staff
OK, I know that all of you are looking for information on the soon to be infamous Erin Andrews tape and we will look at that in a few … but right now, it’s all about Calipari.
John Calipari has been on the job with UK less than three months and UK once again has retaken its rightful place receiving love and adoration from the ESPN writers … well at least until Rick Pitino tells Pat Forde to bash the Cats some more. But yesterday’s ESPN Insider featured an article by Mike Hume proclaiming the Cats as the number one program on the rise over the summer vacation.
The expectations are high for the Cats and the players believe there are capable of matching all the hype they have received. “We believe that we can have a Final Four team” said Patrick Patterson. “It’s just a matter of doing work on the court, gelling as a team, and performing when the lights come up”. The article mentioned Patterson off season training regime and hinted at big things for Patterson. Patrick’s health has improved so much, he has been able to ditch a pair of foot braces he claimed weighed him down last season. Patterson also weighed in on a couple of the talented UK newcomers:
On John Wall
“I was surprised by his IQ on the court. He knows where to put the ball. He knows what shot to take. He knows what’s a bad shot. He’s just an overall monster”
On DeMarcus Cousins
“(In pickup games) he’d grab the ball off the rim, run down court and do a little crossover between the legs and lay it up. He surprised me with his ballhandling skills at his size and stature”
Despite all the talk of Final Four’s, Calipari realizes that nothing has been won … yet. “I’m letting them run with all these wild thoughts, and I’m not saying a whole lot. But at some point you have to say ‘Guys, six new players, six returning players’. Never have they all played together as a team and never have they run this offense before. If we are going to dream big dreams, let’s go for it. If everybody thinks we’re that good, maybe we are”.
Just maybe….
ESPN continues it’s look with four more teams on the rise, and then next week details five teams on the way down (Louisville and Memphis will be featured – heh) and North Carolina and Duke will be featured as teams at a crossroad.
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Jay Bilas also weighed in on the Cats and compared them to the Michigan teams with the Fab 5. He says the difference is that the 1992 team had older players that were experienced in the coaches system, which UK does not. He says UK has the potential to win big but youth and inexperience could cause the team to finish short of expectations.
Joe Lunardi agrees that the “Fab Five” comparisons are valid, but pointed out that Michigan did win a title in 1989 and that UK has bigger ground to make up. He did go as far as to say that he would have expected Calipari to make a big improvement at UK “even without the overwhelming influx of new talent”
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Aside from her guest starring on EA Sports NCAA Football 10, ESPN’s Erin Andrews is getting um, a lot more exposure than usual. Seems some pervert drilled a hole in the wall of her hotel room and is trying to sell, um, revealing videos of the ESPN hottie. This piece of “news” comes to us courtesy of the good folks at TMZ.
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