Cal Dares the Cats to be Special
1. Is Special Season Slipping Away?
John Calipari is very pleased with his team but that’s not to say that he doesn’t have any criticisms. He is still disappointed in the lack of communication on the court and he is still waiting for his team to “kick in”. Cal said point black, “This year, we could be really special, and we’re not right now.” The Cats are still 20-1 and have shown flashes of brilliance (see Arkansas game) and has a will to win like no other team so far in the Calipari era. But they do have their flaws and complacency at times seems to be the main one. You can chock a lot of that up to youth, but the emergence of Darius Miller may eliminate much of that. Read the entire Lexington Herald Leader column here.
2. New Platinum Uniforms get mixed Reviews
At first, I wasn’t a fan of the new Nike Hyper Elite Platinum uniforms but the more I look at them, the more I like them. Many traditionalists still prefer blue and white exclusively, but if we learned anything from the football season, we learned that college kids really dig flashy new unis. The black uniforms the football Cats wore really seemed to lift the team to another level as far as intensity and excitement and may have had a small part in beating Tennessee. I think the basketball Cats will embrace the look and play insanely well at home against the Vols on the 31st. Count me as one that like the new look, but I get it if people don’t care for it. At least we are relevant enough to have the opportunity to wear them. And at least we don’t wear Adidas.
3. Are the Cats in for a battle against LSU?
LSU went on the road to Mississippi State last night and almost upset the sixteenth ranked Bulldogs. The Tigers were handed a 76-71 loss and the game was close throughout. LSU has played well at home and it seems as if Cal thinks his team is itching for a loss. Could Saturday be the day?
4. Cats Sharing the Wealth
We can talk about youth all we want, but in many cases this young team is wise beyond it’s years. Kyle Tucker of the Courier Journal wrote a nice piece on how these talented players have put their egos aside in order to embrace a team first mentality that has been winning them basketball games. Cal may be looking for something special in these guys, Kyle Tucker may have found it. It’s amazing to think that five different players on this team are averaging double digits in scoring.
5. Would Brandon Knight have stayed if the Cats had not reached the Final Four?
Brandon Knight did an interview with a Miami Heat website (I’m guessing because he is a native Floridian?) and made a surprising confession. Knight said about his decision to leave Kentucky for the NBA, “I wanted to stay but as far as the season that I had as far as the successfulness of my team, it was the best option for me.” It sounds as if Knight did have some major reservations about going to the League and you can sense he is frustrated with the struggles on his team. It also sounds that he may have returned to Kentucky if his team would not have made it as far as they did in the tournament and if he had not had the success he did as a freshman.
