Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation and welcome to the Tuesday Morning Quickies.
The big news of the last 24 hours is Kentucky’s elevation to #1 after Duke’s last-second loss to Kansas. But that hasn’t gotten anyone off the Duke train, trust me. Most sportswriters still see them as the team to beat pending the return of some of their talented freshmen currently sitting out with injury.
Partisan though I am, I think I’ve seen enough of Duke to know that Kentucky is not only currently the better team, but is going to have a big head start on Duke no matter when their injured players get back to full speed.
As of this writing, there are no reports of an imminent return for any of the three injured frosh: Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden. Unfortunately for Duke, the later their return, the less time they will have to integrate these guys back into the rotation, and the more competition they will have missed. This is going to matter. Exactly how much is unknown.
The good news is, the Blue Devils have a couple of home games against markedly inferior teams before they have to take on Michigan State in Cameron. Hopefully, they will have some of those guys available by then, and we’ll be able to get a better read on how good the Blue Devils really are. Their schedule is pretty favorable going forward with only Michigan St. and Florida remaining as highly-ranked foes on their non-conference slate.
The team that most UK fans aren’t talking about right now is Villanova, who garnered all but two of the non-UK first-place votes, and exactly half of UK’s total of 42. The northern Wildcats have been much more thoroughly tested than Kentucky, having beaten a very good Purdue team (narrowly) on the road, a decent Wake Forest team by eleven on a neutral floor, and a not-horrible UCF team by ten on neutral. The good news for ‘Nova is that their offense is great. The bad news is that their defense against better teams has been loathsome.
That’s really why I like the Kentucky version of the Wildcats — defense. Kentucky’s worst defensive performance is equal to or better than Villanova’s best except for their first game against #294 Lafayette. When Kentucky finds its offensive groove (and it will), I think they are going to be very, very hard to beat.
Tweet of the Morning
John Calipari went from having zero commits, to the No. 1 class in the country after the early signing period.https://t.co/QBbUgdgCAh
— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) November 21, 2016
And this is news because… Oh, that’s right — it’s the same story every year!
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Mark Stoops’ press conference pre-Louisville:
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Kentucky has a pressure-free shot to ruin Bobby Petrino’s season. I think this is right, but if so, UK is going to have to figure out how to contain Lamar Jackson.
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Mike Rutherford reviews the Kentucky defense from a Louisville perspective. Pretty balanced look, by my lights.
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Kentucky needs discipline along with emotion against the Cardinals. That discipline part was really absent in the first quarter against Austin Peay.
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Stephen Johnson II hasn’t practiced in a while due to injury, but he’ll be back at practice this week. That’s really good news.
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UK closing the gap against rival Louisville. Right now, the difference is pretty much Lamar Jackson.
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Kash Daniels, backup linebacker for UK, is turning into a weapon on special teams.
With the exception of punting, UK’s special teams has been really good this season. It’s a nice change from, say, last year. And the year before that.
Kentucky basketball
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2018 point guard Immanuel Quickley has cut his list to eight, with Kentucky among them. Louisville is no longer on his list.
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Mychal Mulder made the most of his chance against Duquesne. I thought Mulder looked good, and he’s way more athletic than most people imagine.
I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of him.
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Coach Cal ties Rupp Arena record for most wins. That record is gonna fall real soon. Coach Joe Hall held the record previously by himself.
Other Kentucky sports
Links posts
College football
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What’s gonna happen with Charlie Strong? He’s apparently the only person who hasn’t been told he’s been fired.
The author points out that this is a position Les Miles was in last season. Either way, I wouldn’t want to bet on Strong being in Austin come November next year.
College basketball
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Luke Kennard saving Duke while everyone else is injured. My question is, whither Grayson Allen?
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Virginia dismisses junior transfer (from Memphis) Austin Nichols. Sounds like one of those “team rules violations” to me.
Other sports news
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Eric Bledsoe scored 29 points in a loss to John Wall’s Wizards.
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Refs blow a call in the Toronto-Sacramento game the other night. Patrick Patterson demands an apology.
Other news
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Good news: It seems that the “impossible” EM drive works after all.
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Why our first alien encounter could happen soon. God, I hope not. I fear the Great Filter.
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Faster, please: Researchers identify antibody that kills 98% of HIV strains.