Entries from November 2009 ↓

Daniel Orton and DeAndre Liggins are shooting with their teammates here at Freedom Hall. The two missed the public workout on Sunday because of school obligations.

So UK will be at full strength for its game against North Carolina Asheville later Monday evening.

The SEC named Kentucky guard John Wall its Freshman of the Week for last week.
During the week, Wall led Kentucky to the championship of the Cancun Challenge. He scored a career-high 23 points in UK’s victory over Stanford in the finals. His two free throws with 2.4 seconds left sent the game into overtime.
For the week, Wall averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds. He was named the Cancun Challenge Most Valuable Player.
The SEC named Florida guard Erving Walker its Player of the Week. Walker averaged 12 points and five assists in helping Florida win the Legends Classic championship. He was named the event’s Most Valuable Player.

At UK’s public practice Sunday night, the Cats stepped on the Cardinals.
The Louisville Cardinals logo marks half-court at Freedom Hall where UK will take on UNC Asheville Monday night.
When Patrick Patterson came out, he sort of stomped on the logo.
DeMarcus Cousins and Josh Harrellson stood on either side of the logo, jumped and came down on the logo in a more elaborate sort of stomp.
John Wall and Eric Bledsoe seemed eager to follow suit until an assistant coach stopped them.
The practice itself was more of a light workout that followed about 30 minutes of pictures and autographs.
Absent were Daniel Orton and DeAndre Liggins. Coach John Calipari said the two had Monday morning classes and he didn’t want them traveling to Louisville, returning to Lexington for class and returning to Louisville for Monday night’s game.

At a public practice in Louisville’s Freedom Hall Sunday night,  University of Kentucky coach John Calipari coached fans on winning more Wildcat games in Cardinal territory.
Talking to the crowd of about 4,000, Calipari said, “no question we’d like to play more than one game here. I wouldn’t be against us moving a league (Southeastern Conference) game here. But they have to be sellouts.
“It’s easier for me to sell we should move games to Louisville if they (the UK administration) see a packed house,” said Calipari, urging fans to buy tickets.
UK plays a winless UNC Asheville Monday night in Freedom Hall. In advance, the team held the Sunday workout.
About 13,000 tickets have been sold for Monday’s game. The capacity is 19,200.

UK Coach John Calipari just tweeted about the public practice Kentucky will hold Sunday in Louisville.
Freedom Hall gates will open at 4:30 p.m. The practice will begin at 5:30.
This continues a tradition of public practices held in conjunction will UK’s annual “home” game in Louisville. The practice part has not always been conducted.
UK plays winless UNC Asheville Monday night in Freedom Hall.

Here are a few leftover notes and quotes from Kentucky’s championship run in the Cancun Challenge:

– UK big man Patrick Patterson shrugged off an ankle sprain in playing well against Stanford in the championship game. He had 12 points and 11 rebounds to post his fourth double-double of the season and 25th in his UK career. That moved him out of a tie with Pat Riley for 10th on the program’s all-time list.

Next up: Jamal Mashburn with 26 and Sam Bowie with 27.

Patterson’s gotten his 25 double-doubles in 65 career games. Riley played 80 for UK, Mashburn 98 and Bowie 96.

Patterson took a cortisone shot before the Stanford game to ease the pain of an ankle sprained the previous night against Cleveland State. After the Stanford game, he said the ankle would be fine by Monday, when UK plays UNC Asheville in Louisville.

– UK Coach John Calipari saluted Stanford, a team that finished ninth in the Pac 10 last season but blessed with a standout player in Landry Fields.

“We didn’t play that bad,” the UK coach said. “They played really well.”

– Stanford seemed to visably tire down the stretch. The Cardinal scored only three baskets in the game’s final 14 minutes, none in overtime.

Stanford Coach Johnny Dawkins noted that Fields played all 45 minutes. “We had to have him out there,” he said.

– John Wall and Eric Bledsoe received praise from both coaches. Calipari called them two “killers” who can inspire a team to victory.

“We have a couple guys who are just killers to win,” the UK coach said. “Other guys have never played that way. What you want is to have the guys with killer (instincts) to bleed to the other guys. Just have the will to win.”

Noting the long three-pointer Bledsoe made to put UK ahead 69-65 with 33 seconds left in overtime, Dawkins said, “That just shows talent level. It was a deep three. Give the kid a lot of credit. He wanted it.”

– Dawkins suggested UK will benefit greatly from the experience of such a close game.

“It’s huge,” the Stanford coach said. “What they gained will carry them a long way. The coach sees who’s capable.”

– After the game, Calipari said he learned a few things from watching the Cats in an entertaining and tense game. In those situations, UK will want the ball in Wall’s hands, Bledsoe taking clutch perimeter shots and gutty Ramon Harris and Patterson on the floor.

There are many reasons to want the ball in Wall’s hands at crunch time. Here’s one: He made eight of eight free throws against Stanford, including two of two with 2.4 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

In two games at Cancun, Wall made 17 of 18 free throws. In the last three games, he’s made 22 of 24.
That near perfection moved his season’s accuracy to 80.4 percent (37 of 46).

No wonder Wall chuckled when asked if he was nervous stepping to the line to try to tie the game with Stanford. “I wasn’t that nervous,” he said with a smile.

UK’s other freshman ballhandler, Bledsoe, has been no slouch at the line. He’s made 15 of 17. His 88.2-percent accuracy is best on the team for players who’ve shot more than four free throws.

When Kentucky beat Cleveland State on Tuesday, Coach John Calipari noted the physical, intense play of the Vikings. CSU Coach Gary Waters said that was his team’s style, not a strategy specifically designed for Kentucky.

Cleveland State’s loss to Virginia in Wednesday’s third-place game supported Waters’ contention. The Vikings played rough and tough again. But Virginia won 76-65.

Late in the game, Cleveland State’s Jeremy Montgomery got whistled for a foul after he sent Virginia’s Mike Scott flying to the floor.

In taking out Montgomery, Waters spoke to him for several seconds before sending him to the bench.

All-American candidate Patrick Patterson and defender Ramon Harris must pass a re-evaluation of injuries before being permitted to play against Stanford Wednesday night, according to UK game notes provided to the media.

From the looks of the pre-game warmups, Patterson and Harris passed inspection. Each moved freely as the Cats did a layup line and then shot jumpers.

Patterson injured his right ankle and Harris his right knee against Cleveland State Tuesday.

Harris returned to the game, but Patterson sat out the last 18:56. UK listed each player’s status as “day to day.”

A good sign appeared later in the day when Patterson was observed not wearing a protective boot on the injured ankle.

Patterson was seen wearing a protective boot on his right ankle earlier in the day on Wednesday. UK officials did not rule out the possibility of the boot as a precautionary move. He’s had a series of ankle issues as a high school and college player. Most notably, after his freshman season for UK, Patterson had surgery after missing the final five games because of a stress fracture on his left ankle.

After the Cleveland State game, UK Coach John Calipari saluted Harris as a willing and able defender. That was a notable compliment on a night Calipari criticized his team’s effort and attention to detail.

With Kentucky playing the late game Wednesday night, it would be a good day to spend at the beach or pool.

Alas, it is overcast and rainy in Cancun today. It rained overnight and continued to rain or drizzle throughout the morning and early afternoon.

Jerry is not happy.

Not to mention UK fans who gathered in the lobby.

There’s always the option of eating and drinking. All food and beverages are included in the fee. So gluttony is all but encouraged.

UK fans, who arrived Sunday, say the weather has been wonderful until today. Sunny and warm each day.

Late in the first half of Kentucky’s game against Cleveland State on Tuesday, the public address announcer playfully gave the crowd a weather report: 50s in Lexington and Cleveland, but 86 degrees in Cancun.

Moments later, it got considerably stickier for Kentucky when John Wall picked up his second foul and went to the bench. UK broke open the game in the second half.

During his post-game radio interview after Stanford beat Virginia Tuesday night, Cardinal Coach Johnny Dawkins saluted Kentucky’s elite status.

The radio host noted that Stanford had not played UK since the 1998 Final Four. So, the host said, the game Wednesday night “carries a special cache with Stanford fans.”

Dawkins agreed, saying, “When you look at Kentucky, it’s a great program with amazing tradition. You have to give them a lot of respect for what they’ve accomplished. And it’s a great opportunity for our program. We’ve worked hard to give ourselves an opportunity to face a team of that caliber.”

Kentucky will play Stanford Wednesday night (9:30 p.m. EST tipoff) in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge.

Of course, Dawkins is no stranger to big games against Kentucky. As a former assistant at Duke, he witnessed many classic games, most notably the 1992 East Region final (the so-called Christian Laettner game) and the 1998 region final (UK won with a stirring comeback). Both games sent the winner to the Final Four.

“A lot of times it was basically for championships,” Dawkins said. “. . . It’s been an amazing rivalry.”

When asked if he aspired to make Stanford the Duke of the West, Dawkins smiled and said, “I’ll tell you what, if we can raise Stanford’s level to the program we’re going to face tomorrow (Kentucky) and to the level of a program like Duke, I think we’d be pretty proud. They’re some of the most elite programs in the country.”