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Tonight, the Wildcats take on Arkansas in what is a huge game for them, and a very important game for Kentucky. If the Wildcats want to make a statement that they are becoming what we thought we'd see pre-season, now would be the night to do it. The Razorbacks are coming for their souls, and if they back down in the least, they'll get them.
Tweets of the Morning:
The team with the most to gain in college basketball tonight? Arkansas. Razorbacks have to beat Kentucky. Big chance for a quality win.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 14, 2014
Absolutely true, and Kentucky had better be hungrier than the Razorbacks are tonight.
Former UK icon & state agriculture commissioner RIchie Farmer goes before federal judge today to learn how long he will spend in prison.
— Oscar Combs (@wildcatnews) January 14, 2014
Prosecutors want 27 months.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Australian star Dante Exum is likely to enter the NBA draft, according to people in the know.
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Two UK recruits, Luke Kennard and Quentin Goodin will face each other in the King of the Bluegrass Showcase.
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A companion piece by SB Nation to this one by Will yesterday talking about Kentucky's early enrollees.
Kentucky basketball
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Jonathan Tjarks has an article discussing three games to watch when evaluating Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle and Jabari Parker.
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Coach Cal says Wildcats are still not good enough. No doubt that's true:
"You’ve got to get off this, ‘Well, we won,’ and get on this, ‘Let’s play at our best,’ " he told the Cats the next day, before putting them through a practice that ran 30 minutes longer than scheduled. "I just told them the truth. And it was kind of like: slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap.
"It wasn’t just one guy. It was, like, everybody. I think they were all, like, stunned."
I don't know why. Winning is obviously the desired outcome, but the process of winning is even more important than the outcome. You won't win every ugly game if you don't get better in both effort and execution.
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Randle is not cramping in practice, and Calipari says that tells him he's not going hard enough in practice. This might be so. I think the cramps we are seeing is a result of Julius' body changing as much as anything else, and he has to take himself out of his comfort zone in practice. If he starts cramping there, his minutes will have to be managed until it stops.
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Calipari talks Arkansas:
Other Kentucky sports
Links posts
College football
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Trouble with Missouri's best receiver. This is bad news, and could get really bad.
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Don't tweet recruits. This is very good advice, and if you were thinking about doing it, just don't do it.
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Eric Crawford laments coaching salaries. I say it's the free market at work.
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The hiring of Lane Kiffin and Bobby Petrino are the archetypes of sports hypocrisy.
Anyway, the compassionate souls at Louisville thought so much of Bobby that they gave him a seven-year contract with a base salary of $3.5 million. They conveniently forgot that he's left three programs in eight years. My favorite was quitting on the Atlanta Falcons after just 13 games into the 2007 season. He manned up by leaving a breakup letter for his players in the locker room.
College basketball
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Coaches with the most 5-star commitments since 2009. This one won't surprise you.
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Joel Embid impressive in Kansas' victory over Iowa St. last night. Iowa St. is a nice team, but I'm not sold on them at all. They rely far too much on the 3-point shot, and we've seen teams like that before — they are usually first or second round victims in the NCAA Tournament.
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When was the last time a Gamecock was SEC Freshman of the Week? Congrats to Sindarius Thornwell!
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Just in case you thought UCLA fans might be getting a little happier with Steve Alford, let this serve as a reminder that they, at least the ones at Bruins Nation, are not loving him.
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Joker Phillips as Charlie Strong's offensive coordinator at Texas? Looks like it could happen.
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I'm sorry to hear Mike Krzyzewski lost his brother William. CBS says it is affecting his ability to coach. I can understand why that could happen.
Other sports news
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Christian Laettner's jersey said to be worn by him in the 1992 Duke victory over Kentucky sold at auction for $119,500. Hat tip: Aaron's blog.
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The Big Cuz gets honored as Western Conference Player of the Week. Hat tip: Aaron's blog
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Could Rajon Rondo be coming back soon from his ACL? It will be great to see him on the court again, if so.
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The SEC Network is going to cost a lot for cable companies to carry. So the question becomes, will they carry it?
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Mike DeCourcy advocates for a sports major in colleges. I think it's long, long overdue, and a great idea. In fact, I have advocated for this myself.
Other news
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This is a 2-cup of coffee fascinating story about one of the world's best skip tracers and how she solved one of her most challenging cases. I recommend it if you have the time, it is a fascinating study in how far people can sometimes go to disappear — and do it successfully. Well, almost.
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At-home test may help diagnose Alzheimer's disease.
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Heh. Wakeup call!