It’s been six months and two days since Aaron Harrison’s dagger sent the Kentucky Wildcats into the NCAA Finals and we are on the cusp of the quest for title number nine beginning. It’s that time of year when all of the preseason rankings start to roll out and Yahoo! Sports has just released theirs. It’s not going to be unusual to see Kentucky atop most of these polls, but the folks at Yahoo! also gave a best/worst case scenario. We already know what the best case scenario is but just for fun, lets look at what possibly could go wrong. Happy Troll-o-ween.
"Worst-case scenario: For Kentucky, the problem with not having its usual mass exodus of superstars last spring is that the roster is actually too loaded. With nine McDonald’s All-Americans and another near-certain first-round pick in Cauley-Stein, there simply isn’t enough playing time to keep everyone satisfied – especially in the frontcourt. Poythress’ inability to either shoot from the perimeter or stay in front of opposing wings forces Calipari to play him exclusively at power forward, leaving the Wildcats with six big men and only 80 minutes to split between them. Johnson balks at being demoted to third-string center and neither Lyles nor Lee are happy with their limited roles either. Chemistry issues and erratic perimeter shooting cost the Wildcats some regular season games against lesser-talented teams, but Calipari promises to make another late-season “tweak” and Kentucky vows to pull it together in March just like it did the previous year. Alas, this year it’s not to be. Aaron Harrison can’t recapture his clutch shooting from last year as he misfires repeatedly down the stretch and the Wildcats fall in the Sweet 16. Rex Chapman floats another crazy rumor before the national title game that Calipari is NBA-bound … only this time it’s true. Calipari bolts a few days later and most of his roster follows."
What’s that all about? And no, Pat Forde did not write that. It was Jeffrey Eisenburg. Looking at it, most of the concerns have been addressed with this team in the Bahamas tour. And the mention of Rex Chapman? Just bizarre and ridiculous. Stick to sports reporting Yahoo! and stop with the trolling.
Like everyone else in the BBN, I am more than excited about watching Tyler Ulis play. In helping us get ready for the upcoming season, Jerry Tipton is doing a players preview and he relays one of my favorite Ulis stories so far about his encounter with Boogie Cousins.
"Ulis, who stands 14 inches shorter and weighs 115 pounds less than Cousins, embodied UK Coach John Calipari’s refuse-to-lose mantra. Playing in a pickup game on a visit to UK last year, he called a foul on his drive to the basket. Cousins, as UK fans recall is hardly the retiring type, insisted there had not been a foul. “We argued back and forth about the call for a couple minutes,” Ulis recalled. “Everybody walked to the other end.” That signaled that might, in the form of the imposing Cousins, made right. Or maybe the players believed a seniority system ruled: Cousins’ status as an NBA player trumped any high school player. Yet Ulis and fellow freshman-to-be and longtime friend Devin Booker stayed put. “We were just trying to wait for our call,” Ulis said. “… Nothing really went through my mind. It was just the fact I called a foul. Respect the call.” Did fear enter his thoughts? “No,” Ulis said. “Not at all.” Ultimately, play resumed with Cousins’ team having the ball. Ulis did not get the call. “Of course not,” he said. But Ulis made a larger point about not backing down. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports As we all know, the top PG in the 2015 class, Isaiah Briscoe is just coming off a visit to Lexington. He took the time to talk about his visit, which seems to have gone amazingly well."
"They actually had a women’s camp going on at the time; I’m talking 900 women from ages 35-50 and they all loved Kentucky basketball! I mean loved it; true, true fans. The support there is just crazy to me; I mean all of these women were big time fans and they wanted all the players’ autographs and pictures and things like that. That was wild to me. I got there on a Sunday and, of course, I heard all about how big the fans and the support there is and on a Sunday I could definitely see that it’s exactly what people say it is and more. Walking out of a practice there are fans there asking for autographs, walking out of the dorms they’ve gotta have gates on the sides so people don’t come all the way up to you… It’s crazy! Coach Cal told me that, when it’s all said and done, he wants me to have a Wildcat uniform on and he wants the ball in my hands so, of course, that was big for me. I’d have to give Kentucky a 10 out of 10 too! Briscoe is going to be visiting Missouri next with Antonio Blakeney and he hints at a decision soon. Stay tuned."