Kentucky Wildcats 5 for Tuesday: "Oh That Boogie!" edition

Oh that Boogie!!!

I guess one of the understated coaching tasks that John Calipari did last year was to keep DeMarcus Cousins in check.  Apparently Calipari gave Boogie just enough rope to do his own thing and knew when to pull the lead tight.  From all indications, Paul Westpahl has no idea how to control the enigmatic Cousins as apparently Boogie was booted from the King’s practice yesterday.  Apparently Boogie’s foul troubles that popped up at Kentucky have followed him to Sacramento as he leads the league in personal fouls per game (4.2) despite playing just 23 minutes a game. 

Despite the loss of his Mother yesterday, John Calipari will be on the sidelines for Kentucky tonight for their matchup against Boston University.  Coach Cal will also be on the sidelines versus North Carolina on Saturday and a private service for his mother will be held on Sunday.  There is a movement among UK students and administrators to make tonight’s game a “blackout” to show support so if you are headed to the game, wear black.  In addition, the family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to:

St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital

ATTN: Tribute Program

PO Box 100, Dept. 142

Memphis, TN 38148

or by calling 1-800-822-6344.

This of course, is Kentucky’s first appearance on the court since the beat down in Maui.  If you have noticed, I have not been as freaked out about the loss as a lot of UK sites and fans have been.  I expected a loss in Maui, and I am always a fan of learning from a loss, especially in November.  I think we saw a true indication of the Kentucky team in the Washington Huskie game.  And apparently, Kentucky returns home from Maui with their lesson learned. 

And as we know, there is much speculation that Kentucky played selfish ball against Connecticut and panicked when they got down.  For today’s fourth item, I present to you Jort’s thoughts on both things:

"On if coach has driven the point of needing to be less selfish home…“Oh yeah. That’s pretty much what we have focused on, is just on offense, trying to get open shots for our teammates and just helping each other out when we can on defense.”On if he considers this team selfish before the Connecticut game…“Well before the game we never looked at it like that. That game, when we would break down on offense, everyone would just try to do it themselves rather than as a team. So, yeah you can consider that selfish, but I think people are just trying to do what is the best thing for the team; just in the wrong way.”On the teams fight…“It was definitely tough (to play three games in three days). We don’t have the depth like we had last year and we don’t have 13 players like last year that can all play, so it was tough especially in that third game. Everyone came out and was really tired, but we played through it.”On if the team panicked in the Connecticut game…“Oh yeah, definitely. The new guys are not used to being down; especially by 20. When we were down by ten points, you know that’s fine, but when it gets to 21, everyone starts panicking not knowing what to do. It was really tough to come back from.”"

And finally, the “fourth down punt” drama will not end for Kentucky and Joker’s Phillips.  ESPN’s Chris Lowe weighs in on the situation and not surprisingly, he seems to say, “Just give Randall Cobb the ball”. 

"Punting from the 37: You could point to a lot of plays Saturday that assured Kentucky of losing its 26th straight game to Tennessee, but none was more telling than Joker Phillips’ decision to punt the football away on fourth-and-2 at the Vols’ 37 early in the fourth quarter. That was game, set and match for the Wildcats, especially considering that Randall Cobb is one of the best players in college football in those kind of situations."

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