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John Calipari brought Tyler Ulis and Marcus Lee along with him to SEC media day on Wednesday. There were some interesting nuggets, so let's get right to it:
- Is it just me or does Cal seem a little less confident here about Skal Labisierre than in the past couple of weeks? Maybe I'm paranoid but it's the "We'll see" that gets me. Game time is getting closer.
- Cal put in Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe, and Tyler Ulis in at the same time and ran the dribble-drive. And he LOVED it. I know we have heard this before, but this really may be the team that Cal goes back to his traditional dribble-drive system.
- The Wildcats are picked to win the SEC this season. Maybe surprisingly, Vanderbilt was picked to finish second. I would have thought that would have gone to the LSU Tigers with all of that talent, but the Commodores are a sleeper in the conference.
- LSU's Ben Simmons was picked as preseason player of the year. I think a couple of Kentucky guys will have something to say about that.
- Of course the Louisville scandal was brought up to the coaches. Texas A&M's Andy Kennedy took the stance that coaches can't know about everything while Calipari took the stance of coaches have to be held accountable for whatever happens under their watch. Cal is speaking from experience on this one.
- LSU and Mississippi State are blending veterans with super talented freshmen.
All in all I think that the SEC is going to be a much stronger conference from top to bottom than it has been for a long time. Vanderbilt, LSU, Texas A&M, and Auburn will be much improved. I'm not yet going to put Mississippi State there because this will be Ben Howland's first season and Malik Newman is just one player on a bad team. Same thingwith Alabama, give Avery Johnson time, but they will be good in the future.
This will not be a cake walk for Kentucky this season and for years to come. I believe those days are over.
Tweet of the Day:
How much???
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) October 21, 2015
This was Boogie's reaction to Tristan Thompson's new deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Boogie is the best center in the NBA and he continues to be disrespected.
Kentucky Football:
ICYMI Thadeus Snodgrass will transfer from Kentucky. The four-star wide receiver sees all of the young talent in front of him and doesn't see much playing time in the future. I'm not sure there has ever been a time in Kentucky football history where a four-star player transfers because he isn't going to see the field. What a time to be alive.
John Clay writes the second half of the season will show how far Kentucky football has come. He also notes that Dan Mullen hasn't ever lost to Kentucky, dating back to the days when he was offensive coordinator at Florida. Clay also reminds us that Kentucky went on the road last season at this time to face LSU. Let's not talk about that outcome.
Garrett Johnson is proving that he is the whole package. There have been games this season where Juice was unquestionably the best receiver on the field. I hope we see that Saturday as well.
The Kentucky offense is still finding it's feet during Shannon Dawson's first season.There have been some mistakes, but all in all I am pleased with the offense. I still think he needs to figure out how to use his big time play makers in the correct situations, but that will come.
SB Nation Mississippi State site For Whom the Cowbell Tolls has a podcast previewing the Kentucky showdown.Give it a listen.
Other Kentucky Athletics:
Kentucky baseball assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Brad Bohannon has been named national assistant coach of the year. He has been with the Wildcats for 13 seasons, and many of those have been quite successful. An honor well deserved.
Kentucky women's soccer team have quite the challenging weekend aheadas they head to #4 Auburn and Tennessee.
College Football
In your weekly Team Speed Kills SEC Power Poll, the Wildcats fall to 11thand the Mississippi State Bulldogs up to 5th. Vanderbilt and South Carolina swap spots at the bottom of the barrel.
The Top 25 games of the weekend aren't as enticing as last week, but #20 California at UCLA, Tennessee at #8 Alabama, and #15 Texas A&M at #24 Ole Miss should make for interesting games.
Other Sports:
The New York Mets complete the NLCS sweep of the Chicago Cubs last night and will head to face the winner of the ALCS in the World Series. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the Streble household last night.
The Los Angelas Dodgers have parted ways with Don Mattingly.With that payroll and the lack of postseason success, I understand this completely.
Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals get crushed yet again, this time by Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post. Read the following in the voice of RIck Pitino:
No other coach, player, or trainer knew anything about any of this, especially not me. Obviously something happened in that dorm, from what people are saying on ESPN, the strippers who danced at two dozen parties over four years, and the five players who would talk to ESPN only anonymously for fear of reprisals from the Louisville family. I am dedicated to finding the whole truth of the matter. Which is why I texted my nephew, who used to live in the dorm, the one I named after his father. He said, "I never saw a thing."
Terry Rozier: No longer a Louisville Cardinal.
Hear @T_Rozzay3 address the scandal brewing at @GoCards. #Celticstalk pic.twitter.com/3P1MxlFyIU
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@SherrodbCSN) October 21, 2015
L1C4 is so bogus and lame. Also notice he doesn't deny anything.
Katina Powell and her daughters on The View on Friday. It'll be interesting to see how that goes.
— Bob Ballin (@brow_down) October 22, 2015
Double gross. This just gets uglier by the day from a national standpoint for UofL. And their leadership continues to do nothing.
Why has Jimmer Fredette been such a bust in the NBA? Did you know he was still in the NBA? Do you remember him at all?