AND…. Gary Parrish, of CBSSports.com, is reporting that ESPN #1 overall 2009 recruit Xavier Henry has a clause in his Letter of Intent that requires Memphis to release him without stipulations, if Calipari leaves the Tigers. Henry is a 6’6″, 210 lb shooting guard from Oklahoma.

AND…Demarcus Cousins?

Who is this man-child, and how much would it improve UK’s team to have him? Well the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Cousins is rated the No. 1 power forward, and No. 2 prospect in the country. He considered UK early in the recruiting process while attending one of Gillispie’s summer camps, but ultimately gave a surprising verbal commitment to UAB which he rescinded to pledge to Memphis and Calipari.

How much he would improve a front line loaded with Patrick Patterson, Matt Pilgrim, Orton, Perry Stevenson, et al, is anyone’s guess, but can we say bulls on the boards? That’s what we’ll have if we add the beast Cousins to the mix….

Now that John Calapari is courting the job at UK, Demarcus’ mom was ask how they were taking the sudden news: “The things that have developed over the last 24 hours or so, he is not too aware of,” Ms. Cousins said. “He’s at the aquarium today with the (McDonald’s All-American) group. I’m sure if they had any down time, that someone has mentioned it to him. Right now, we haven’t talked about it.”

On John Calapari:

“He likes the way he motivates his players, said Ms. Cousins. “He has watched Coach Cal for a long period of time. He is the type of coach that is very up-front. There’s no gray area. You know right away that his way is the way it is. You learn and he pushes you, and that is what DeMarcus likes about him.”

Kenny Walker, former UK star and NBA player, seemed ecstatic over the possibility of John Calipari joining the Wildcats as head coach:

He has a very charismatic personality. He’s a great communicator. He’s a great motivator. He’s a proven recruiter. Those are all things you need at the University of Kentucky,” said Walker. “He really has all the qualities you need for this job. He’s very good with fans and the media. He relates well to the players. He is the complete package.”

“All I have heard about Calipari is how much fun it is to play for him and that’s what college basketball is about. Get an education, get some exposure for yourself and have fun. Then take it to the next level if you can. “He will get guys to do that and make it pleasant experience for them, and I don’t think that has been the case at Kentucky the last two years.”

Billy Gillispie’s young charges showed that there is still basketball being played in the state of Kentucky. Sure it was an also ran, NIT bound, Ole Miss Team we beat, but that was the goal and we did it well, well in the second half.

Kentucky advanced to the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Tampa on Thursday with balanced scoring and some tough second half defense.

Post game had BCG saying “that’s the way we should be playing”, referring to the stingy defense that allowed Ole Miss only 18 points in the second frame.

Indeed, it was the D, and the B, as in Balanced Scoring, as Meeks led the way with 25, while Patrick had 15 points and 14 big rebounds. Perry Stevenson had a great game, matched by one Darius Miller, who came in and added 12 points to go with Perry’s 13. Perry cracked the double-digit point barrier for the first time in eight games. Darius Miller, only an 18 year old freshman, equalled his second-highest point total against a Southeastern Conference opponent

“I don’t really care how many points I score so long as we win. When something like that happens I’m glad we have help on the team. People off the bench gave us great energy and help.” said Jodie Meeks. Indeed, BCG that is the way we should be playing, and a lot sooner than now.

Uk’s 13 point victory was a second half clinic on how to play defense and UK must put together two of these halves to have a shot at their next opponent, LSU. “Today we did what the coaches asked, and that included playing hard and tough. We controlled the tempo with our defense and rebounding, things we had not been doing.” UK junior Ramon Harris. Indeed, Ole Miss was only 2 for their last 9 in the last eight minutes enabling UK to post the victory…

LSU is in the headlights…We’ve played ‘em close once. We will do it again. “We’re definitely a better team like this,” Meeks said. “The more scorers you have, the better.” Let the game begin, keep the bubble alive. GO CATS !..!..!

For as good as UK looked on Saturday in the confines of Rupp; that’s how bad they looked on the road before a packed house of screaming Gamecock Fans…Indeed, UK showed it has the youth and immaturity to lose at any time should they not play with the passion commensurate with the situation. Playing for 1^st in the SEC East, UK looked like a bunch of high-schoolers getting their dose of humble pie before a packed house of screaming “I told you so’s….. We came out and looked rigid and tight and never really had a chance. Patrick Patterson was the only player that I could discern that played very hard while he was out there.

Sc rode the heady play of guard Devan Downey and came out and hit 4 of their first 6 three’s and the game was over for all intents and purposes. In my pre-game pep-talk I suggested that Porter might need lots of help with Downey. He did, and he didn’t…He did need help; he didn’t get it, in anyone that BCG put on Downey. He is just too quick and too good. The substitution pattern on this night went beyond logic into bizarre world…I don’t have the numbers on minutes played, but it looked as if Galloway could have been uses if available, for all those useless 30 minutes or so that Liggins stood out there. And, to play Porter and Sloan at the same time on SC’s guards was the biggest mismatch since Hawaii took on……just kidding Bill!,,, you guys know what I mean…There isn’t a way that those two can handle SC’s two at any time. Nuff Said!

Since BCG is always eager to take the blame for a loss, I will eagerly give him some of it; given he played the same defense against SC he played in Lexington and lost worse here than there…I wonder how BCG wanted us to double down on Downey and Frederick as they drove the lane when we couldn’t do it in Lexington and prevent them from the kick out pass to the man with the open 3.

BCG did have this to say about the game:

“They have a point guard; we don’t”

On Perry Stevenson: “He is just not playing hard enough”, Gillispie said. “That’s two times in the last, what, week or eight days that I’ve said something about a guy not playing hard enough and that’s the first two times in my career I’ve ever said that. That’s shameful, in my opinion, to everyone involved.”

SC and Darrin Horn, had the easy, logical, perfect game plan, and we had the task to crack it. We did not. We let them run the ,”drive and kick”, on their first 6-3 balls and they hit 4 of them. It would be better to let the guards go on those drives than the wing defender to collapse on him and let Downey kick to the open shooter…..But that is what happened last night and that is how they took us out in Lexington….

AND, don’t get me started on the substitution patterns…Can we hire Bruce Pearl’s guy who does his for him..BCG’s patterns were illogical based on even his last game and I don’t think that anyone did anything in practice since Saturday to radically change the way one would expect it would be. I suspect that after BCG watches last night’s game for the 20^th time, maybe he would concede that.

UK needed a “team effort” to play in this game, and they hardly looked like one all night. As bad as we made UT look on Saturday, SC made us look last night. That is basketball, but this glaring weakness is one that teams will exploit until BCG and Co. Stops it. Maybe we don’t have the personnel to stop it. Maybe we do not have the point guard the SEC requires to overcome it. We shall see.

It must be the fact that Scotty Hopson was in the building; the reason that Darius Miller chose to have his best game as a Wildcat. For the basketball junkies out there, you might remember that Darius had 41 points the last time these two young warriors met as high school seniors, and solidified his choice, in my mind anyway, for Mr. Basketball in the state of Kentucky.

With Bruce Pearl letting his assistant make the substitutions, he had ample time to work out his defenses on Jodie Meeks. Jodie was “face guarded”, and “double teamed”, most of the game and had only 4 points at the half. But, “a funny thing happened on the way to the forum”. Not only was Patrick Patterson back, he was back with a vengeance. He looked like a man that had been sitting out a couple of games to tell you the truth.

With 2Pat and Miller leading the charge, UK came out like a “house ablaze” playing stifling defense all over the court today. Indeed, the hated VOLS were down 13-0 with 11:55 to go in the first half!

UK looked like a totally different team today than the one that had just played some 4 SCORE and 6 hours Earlier…..hmmm. The difference? Could it be that Perry Stevenson is to 2Pat, what Scotty Pippen was to Michael? It seems to be true. Perry, not the greatest post up player himself, looked great shooting jumpers off feeds. He is being used well in that regard, therefore, “Viva la Difference”.

Could it also be that the rest of the TeAm decided that they needed to score some points? And score they did, with the aforementioned Miller scoring 17 points, a career high, on 6of6 shooting, and feeding his big post man to the tune of six assists! 2Pat had 19 points, but more importantly, showed that he was B-A-C-K. Suffering what appears to be no “ill effects” from his ankle problem, he had more than one emphatic dunk. Even A.J. played aggressive on the offensive end, showing his Kevin McHale “up and under”, repertoire to Wayne Chism drawing free tosses both times….It was a great day and a great time for a great game by UK.

Could it be that this team is now starting to mature, and MiGhT be one of those “UNRANKED” teams outside the Top Twenty Five, that gives the ranked ones fits at tourney time?..?..? Seth Davis and his cohort selected Arizona, and Fl St., respectively. Did they forget UK?

Well, it turns out he could not as UK fell to a determined Vanderbilt squad in one of the most atrociously officiated games I have watched in the first half. At the half with the score tied at 30 and with 20 more minutes to play, and 13 total fouls whistled, and 13 more to be blown on Vanderbilt, AND Darius Miller getting 3 fouls while playing well – and starting the Second Half..

BCG is getting a much needed Technical in the First Half, just to keep the refs from taking over the game, UK has fought and scratched the first half with our starters, Darius Miller(2^nd half) and Perry Stevenson on the bench, with 3 and 2 fouls, respectively.

In the second half the ‘Dores came out firing, and went up by 5 points early, as UK turned the ball over, while BCG takes out Harris and Porter…at the 17:46 mark of the second half… Galloway, who had a good first half, comes in for Porter.

If Perry had a pair, he’d be a pick, but he don’t and he won’t. Tough to hit with a pass; Perry needs to create and pass himself, which cripples the team not having the BIG WARHORSE in there on the receiving end on the Passes ‘O Perry…Vandy scores the first nine of the second half and UK never recovers…

Fouls started again, with the “stripes” calling 3 straight on UK, two of which were on Liggins. This has to be the toughest place to play in the conference, due to the officials losing their “peas” on one end of this building. It happens every year that I see, and is apparently not going to stop….I know that Tubby did not enjoy playing in that building, and I know that BCG don’t envision lots of losses there in the future, but right now it’s a tough out!

Good to see A.J. put that move on Ogilvy and get 11 points. A.J. played until he fouled out and for the most part played hard…Perry Stevenson had a sub-par game and his play was needed in the worst way. Jodie Meeks did not play his game as he was harassed by a 6’7” “athlete” the entire game. Oh, he hit his average; but in a loss 6 for 21 shooting is not good enough…BCG said he had “a good game for a great player…the team just didn’t play well”….

UK allowed Vanderbilt to be more comfortable in what they tried to do in the second half, Vanderbilt had too many second chance points, and shot 46 per cent for the game, and let them get too comfortable in their own offense…

This team without 2Pat is a shadow of what it can be, and the margin for error is slim now. The loss is tough, but not the end of the world…2 Pat will be back and we’ll be a tough out again; tough enough to beat Vanderbilt.

Indeed, this is not a basketball gym, as the sidelines are so deep it is more of a “baseball dugout”, given the room to operate…I hear the Vandy players get their workouts just “running into the game”, but that’s a different tale for a different day…

PLaying all your games in a gym like that gives one school a tremendous advantage. Now, I once played some competitive billiards, and one’s home table is special, but you don’t want to be gifted on a 9 ft table, and then forced to play on a “snooker table”…It’s human nature. Psychology takes over the players minds also. In short, we played like crap, and as UKBoo noted, there is a reason some players don’t play as much, and we ALL were able to see that last night!

Well, it turns out BCG could not solve the short “jinx” he has going, and just as his predecessor once took it on the chin, so shall he. UK fell to a determined Vanderbilt squad in one of the most atrociously officiated games I have watched in the first half. At the half with the score tied at 30 and with 20 more minutes to play, and 13 total fouls whistled, (AND 13 more should have been blown on Vanderbilt), AND Darius Miller getting 3 fouls while playing well – and starting the Second Half..

BCG is getting a much needed Technical in the First Half, just to keep the refs from taking over the game, UK has fought and scratched the first half with our starters, Darius Miller(2^nd half), and Perry Stevenson on the bench, with 3 and 2 fouls, respectively. Lucky to be tied at 30-30 and the officiating eased up the second half and we proceeded to lose the game. NO EXCUSES!

In the second half the ‘Dores came out firing, and went up by 5 points early, as UK turned the ball over, while BCG takes out Harris and Porter…at the 17:46 mark of the second half… Galloway, who had a good first half, comes in for Porter.

If Perry had a pair, he’d be a pick, but he don’t and he won’t. Tough to hit with a pass; Perry needs to create and pass himself, which cripples the team not having the BIG WARHORSE in there on the receiving end on the Passes ‘O Perry…Vandy scores the first nine of the second half and UK never recovers…

Fouls started again, with the “stripes” calling 3 straight on UK, two of which were on Liggins. This has to be the toughest place to play in the conference, due to the officials losing their “peas” on one end of this building. It happens every year that I see, and is apparently not going to stop….I know that Tubby did not enjoy playing in that building, and I know that BCG don’t envision lots of losses there in the future, but right now it’s a tough out!

Good to see A.J. put that move on Ogilvy and get 11 points. A.J. played until he fouled out and for the most part played hard…Perry Stevenson had a sub-par game and his play was needed in the worst way. Jodie Meeks did not play his game as he was harassed by a 6’7” “athlete” the entire game. Oh, he hit his average; but in a loss, 6 for 21 shooting, is not good enough…BCG said he had “a good game for a great player…the team just didn’t play well”….

UK allowed Vanderbilt to be more comfortable in what they tried to do in the second half, Vanderbilt had too many second chance points, and shot 46 per cent for the game. UK and let them get “too comfortable” in their own offense in the second half, according to Darius Miller on the “Star of the Game” show.

This team without 2Pat is a shadow of what it can be, and the margin for error is slim now. The loss is tough, but not the end of the world…2 Pat will be back, and we’ll be a tough out again; tough enough to beat Vanderbilt.