Courtside with the Kentucky Wildcats

As John Calipari suggested on Thursday, freshman Eric Bledsoe was not going to play against Clarion.

Bledsoe sprained an ankle in the exhibition against Campbellsville. Calipari did not want to risk further injury against Clarion. UK needs Bledsoe in the opening game against Morehead State next Friday, Calipari said.

The other freshman guard, John Wall, must sit out the Morehead State game as punishment for having recruiting expenses paid by an agent, his AAU coach, Brian Clifton.

While noting a perceived lack of coditioning against Campbellsville on Monday, Kentucky Coach John Calipari suggested that maybe the Cats expended too much energy during warmups.

“What would wear you out?” Calipari asked reporters. “Anxiety. Not knowing how to warm up.  They warmed up like they were out of their minds. Dunking.”

If that was th eproblem, two fans helped out before the game against Clarion. The fans asked freshman Daniel Orton to stop warming up and pose for a picture. Orton posed.

Clarion plans to honor Kentucky Coach John Calipari before Friday night’s exhibition game.

Clarion’s crackerjack Sports Information man, Rich Herman, said that the school would present a framed No. 21 jersey to symbolize the uniform Calipari wore for Clarion in the early 1980s.

The jersey will be presented by Calipari’s coach at Clarion, Joe DeGregorio, and Calipari’s high school coach, Bill Sacco.

UK Coach John Calipari’s impatience extended even to All-American candidate Patrick Patterson.
Calipari mildly rebuked Patterson for not being more assertive against Campbellsville.
“I got on Patrick,” the UK coach said Thursday. “ ‘You took seven shots. You kidding me?’  ”
That was a rhetorical question.
Calipari said he may call more plays for Patterson to get the big man more involved offensively on Friday against Clarion.
“He’s one of the best players in the country,” Calipari said. “He needs to play that way.”

Kentucky players and Coach John Calipari look forward to welcoming freshman John Wall back to active duty against Clarion Friday night.
Wall sat out the opening exhibition against Campbellsville as part of the punishment for accepting an agent, his AAU coach Brian Clifton, paying for some recruiting expenses.
Coincidentally or not, UK did not attack the basket against Campbellsville like the dribble-drive requires.
When asked if Wall’s absence led to the timid play, Mark Krebs said, “You want to say it didn’t mess with it because we’re all supposed to pick up the slack. It definitely afffects you.
“In the future, we have to take up the slack better.”
Calipari noted how seeing Wall play against outside competition for the first time should excite UK fans. The coach also said that Wall is the team’s vocal leader
Freshman DeMarcus Cousins wished aloud for the game when Wall and Eric Bledsoe both play. That might not happen against Clarion because Bledsoe might be rested because of a sprained ankle incurred against Campbellsville, Calipari said.
It won’t happen in the opener against Morehead State on Nov. 13 because that’s the second game Wall must sit out.
“I can’t wait till we get them both,” Cousins said. “Then we’ll have a story.”
And the name of that story?
“The unstoppable duo,” Cousins said.

After not playing sophomore DeAndre Liggins against Campbellsville, Kentucky Coach John Calipari hinted at more benchings against Clarion on Friday night.
When asked if all the players would play against Clarion, Calipari said, “Probably not.”
He did not say what players might get pine time.
With a smile, Calipari noted how any coach would enjoy wielding the power over playing time.
“That’s the greatest thing about being head coach,” he said.

Perhaps sensing a team beaten down from the previous two seasons or wide-eyed newcomers, Kentucky Coach John Calipari tried to be good cop.
Sensing that didn’t work, he became the bad cop on Wednesday, He instituted a curfew, called for two-a-day practices (the first beginning at 6:15 a.m.) and generally whyen from Camp Cal counselor to Parris Island drill sergeant.
“It’s a new Coach Cal,” freshman DeMarcus Cousins said. “Intense and focused. It’s not the laid-back, chilled Cal no more.”
Calipari attributed the change to what he saw in Kentucky’s opening exhibition game against Campbellsville. Although Uk won, the coach did not like how the players went about it. Fatigue set in, causing the coach to question the team’s conditioning. Few took the initiative and drove assertively to the basket, the trigger mechanism for Calipari’s dribble-drive offense. Defensive intensity waned.
Calipari likened the situation to a scrimmage performance by his Memphis team last year against St. Louis.
“I saw right there the team was not tough enough, not in condition and the attentijon to detail wasn’t there,” he said. “When I saw the same thing against Campbellsville, I went to sleep with what I call blood sweats.”
Calipari all but promised a better performance against his alma mater, Clarion, in Friday night’s exhibition or a continued effort to get there.
Noting his own new exercise routine (reflected in the sweat-soaked t-shirt he wore to practice), Calipari said, “Either they catch up to it or get dragged through glass.”

Calipari noted that he’s been counseled to stay patient. It’s only early November.

“The problem is we’re opening the season against a NCAA (Tournament) team,” he said in reference to the Nov. 13 opener against Morehead State, which played in the NCAA Tournament last March.

ESPN’s recruiting coordinator, Paul Biancardi, spoke highly of Kentucky-bound wing Stacey Poole, Jr., during a teleconference Wednesday.

After noting that ESPN rated Poole at No. 50 or 51, Biancardi said, “He could be better than that. He’s coming on strong, 6-4, 6-5 and built like a man.  He fits the dribble-drive to a T. From 17 feet in, he can really dominate.”

With the week-long November signing period beginning next week, Biancardi dismissed the importance of Kentucky having only one commitment in place for the high school class of 2010.

“It’s not how quickly (commitments come),” he said. “But that you get who you want.”

Kentucky star Patrick Patterson will attempt to play a different style of basketball this coming season. Of course, he’ll be facing the basket more and playing with a higher level of talent.

That should mean Patterson will not have to almost single-handedly battle opposing team’s front lines around the basket, two ESPN analysts said on a teleconference Wednesday.

“I’m anxious to see how the experiment works,” analyst Fran Fraschilla said.

Fraschilla noted how Patterson will have to adjust.

“He’ll no longer have three guys hanging ovr3 him when he posts,” Fraschilla said.

Paul Biancardi, ESPN’s director of recruiting, noted that he expects UK to run plays to get Patterson the ball in the low post and use him in pick-and-roll situations.

“They’re going to move him around the floor as much as they can,” Biancardi said. “He’s going to score from different areas of the floor.”

Kentucky’s dependence on freshmen will lead to losses this season, two ESPN analysts said on a teleconference Wednesday. But the experience those players gain through the season should make UK a formidable team in the post-season.

“They will get beat along the way on a number of occasions because someone is more experienced,” said Fran Fraschilla, a college basketball commentator for ESPN. “But by March 1st, they should be a very, very good basketball team capable of getting to the Final Four and winning it.”

Paul Biancardi, ESPN’s director of recruiting, saw the Kentucky freshmen  hitting a wall.

“Talent will win games for them,” he said, “but there’s going to be a point in the season when as freshmen they’ll hit that mental wall. They’ll be there physically, but mentally they won’t show up.

“And you’ll see that against experienced teams, especially in the SEC. That will come back and haunt Kentucky on those nights.”

Both analysts lauded Kentucky’s freshmen as superior talents.

Fraschilla noted how the top-level competition played in high school and the AAU circuit makes it easier for high school stars to adjust to the college level.

From watching Kentucky practice in September, Franschilla said he saw the kind of good attitude and willingnenss to learn as signs of a smooth adjustment.

“The guy that jumps out at me in terms of attitude and work ethic is John Wall,” said Fraschilla, who added that former UK star Tony Delk put in a good word for Wall. “When Tony Delk tells you someone has a great attitude, you can kind of take that to the bank.”