Game Day Links: Kentucky Wildcats vs. Louisville Cardinals

Apr 2, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari waves to the crowd as he cuts down a piece of the net after the finals of the 2012 NCAA men

Well, in roughly seven hours, the State of Kentucky will be an absolutel wreck.  Regardless of the outcome of this game, there will likely be fights, vandalism and general hoolaganism down in the ‘Ville but what’s new, right?  Yeah so to some this game is very important and Louisville is that team.  But ultimately every basketball game comes down to several factors, and perhaps no motivation is greater than, “Who Needs It More” and that is the case here. What isn’t clear is exactly which team that is. Rick Bozich explains…kinda.

"LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – This is not the Louisville-Kentucky basketball game we were fussing about in October. Not even close. Those were the days when Kentucky earned 27 first-place votes in the pre-season Associated Press college basketball and Louisville earned 14. They were ranked number one (UK) and number three (Cardinals). But that was only going to be a temporary thing. By the time both teams got to Rupp Arena on Dec. 28, they’d be ranked one and two. It was a temporary thing, all right. Rick Pitino’s team is ranked sixth and John Calipari’s team is 18th. None of the 65 voters placed Kentucky higher than 11th on his ballot, and John Feinstein of National Public Radio and Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated do not include the Wildcats in the top 20. Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not that Louisville has played much better than Kentucky. The Wildcats have played three top 20 teams – and lost to Michigan State, Baylor and North Carolina. Louisville has played one – and lost to the Spartans. According to Ken Pomeroy’s computer power rankings, Louisville does not have a single win against a team ranked in his top 100. Kentucky has three beating Boise State (54), Providence (71) and Belmont (98). How unusual is this? Extremely. Even that UK team that plunged into the NIT last season had one early Top 50 win. Louisville had three early ones a year ago. Pomeroy shares his data starting with the 2003 season. This is the first time that at least one of the two programs didn’t deliver a win over a Top 50 opponent prior to UK-U of L game. So what do we have? Confusion? Lots of fussing about which team needs it more – Kentucky because its fans will get flighty if the Cards win in Rupp or Louisville because this will make Calipari 5-1 over Pitino at UK. Pomeroy’s numbers have not moved for more than a week. His formula likes the Cardinals to steal one in Rupp Arena by a point. Jeff Sagarin is another computer power rankings guy. His formula sees the game just as close, but with Kentucky about a point better. Confused? Who isn’t, including the coaches? “Kentucky is going to be a great team come March,” Pitino said. “We just have to hope they aren’t a great team come tomorrow.” “There are games that we won that are good wins for us but they’re not (against) a team that’s in the top five or top 10,” Calipari said. “So how many opportunities will we have at games like that, how many are we going to have from here on in?”"

In a game of “who wants it more,” it ultimately comes down to match-ups on the court.  Coaches coach and players play so breaking this down has been pretty interesting.

"1. Kentucky needs a quality win And so does U of L, but the Cardinals will have more opportunities with challenges against Connecticut and Memphis in American Athletic Conference play. For UK, there’s Florida, and that’s about it for Southeastern Conference rivals. With the Wildcats 0-3 against ranked teams, a victory over U of L would help an NCAA tournament resume. “It’s too early to even start talking about that,” Calipari said, then joked: “This game is only a big game if we win. If not, we…move on.” But what the UK coach noted was how close his team has been in each of its big games: against Michigan State, Baylor and North Carolina. Each were within reach at the final media timeout. “We’re not ready to win those games yet,” Calipari said. “This team in February is not going to be what it is now. I like this team.” 2. Young Cats need to handle adversity In the first Calipari-Rick Pitino meeting with Calipari at Kentucky, former Wildcat DeMarcus Cousins set the tone early with a physical play on U of L’s Jared Swopshire to open the 2010game at Rupp Arena. As for pushing and shoving this year, “That’s an issue that both teams will have,” Calipari said, “so we’ll deal with it when the game starts.” If the calls don’t go UK’s way, however, Calipari wants to see a better reaction from his players than he has in big games so far this season. That’s mainly done with better body language. “We’ve got to look like a team,” he said. “We’ve got to play with more energy. When adversity hits, we have to respond. Those are the three things.” 3. Calipari is expecting zone U of L, with all but two starters back from last season’s national title team, has struggled to find its way into the matchup 2-3 zone that helped the Cardinals win their championship. Chane Behanan started the season suspended, while Luke Hancock dealt with a nagging Achilles’ injury. Neither start regularly for U of L, which now also starts point guard Chris Jones and Montrezl Harrell at the four spot. Still, the Cardinals showed more zone than possibly all season in their final pre-UK tuneup, a victory last Saturday at Florida International. Calipari expects the zone to return to Rupp Arena on Saturday. “You’ve got to attack it,” he said. “They’re aggressive with it. Occasionally they’ll flip into a man to man, but they’re switching and trying to keep their big man in.” And off made baskets, the press will be waiting for UK’s freshmen. “If they see weakness — they see blood — they’re coming,” Calipari said. “They’re a good team. They’re where they should be ranked. They’re a top-five team. “They play in fourth and fifth gear. Here they come. So if you stop at any point, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh. You stopped playing.” 4. More than youth vs. experience There are 100 ways to assemble a team, Calipari insisted Friday — more than the simple “youth vs. experience” debate brought up each time UK plays a major power. There are also “100 different ways of coaching; 100 different ways of playing,” Calipari said. “The good news is, our guys have gone to the league (NBA) and done well.” But playing U of L, a program Pitino has branded with “Louisville first,” Calipari does match up against a direct opposite on Saturday. And he again pitched the “players first” mentality. “I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do here for the players,” he said. “I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do for the program.” 5. One player fitting a role It’s Dominique Hawkins, believe it or not. Calipari said the freshman guard out of Madison Central, who averages 1.5 points off the bench, helps UK most within his 5.8 minutes per game. Calipari said he’d like to see more of that from his team, just like Pitino gets from every member of his rotation at U of L. “They collectively know what their roles are,” Calipari said. He noted that guards take most of the shots, but the wings are capable of making 3-pointers. Then the four and five spots hit the boards on both ends. “They do it, and they do it well,” Calipari said."