Monday Quickies: Proving Ground Edition

A crucial stretch for the Kentucky Wildcats starts tomorrow night as they travel to Athens to face the Georgia Bulldogs in a road game that’s always a tough match-up, no matter the talent disparity.

They follow that up with a game this Saturday afternoon at the Auburn Tigers.

These are the first two games of a four game stretch that will give us more insight as to where this team is in regards to contending for an SEC title.

I’m expecting the Cats to go 1-1 this week with a close win at Georgia and a loss at Auburn. But it wouldn’t surprise me if that is reversed. The Cats have not played their best basketball as of late and a loss on the road to the Dawgs is not out of the realm of possibility as we saw when they took the L at Alabama.

Whatever John Calipari needs to do to get this team focused and ready for the first five minutes of the game, he better figure it out quick because they cannot afford to go down by double digits early against the caliber of opponent they will be facing.

Tweets of the Day

The last time the Cats saw Tom Crean he was still the head coach for the Indiana Hoosiers. Crean is 2-1 in his last three games against Kentucky.

Kevin Knox is really starting to come into his own at the next level.

An amazing gesture by Devin Booker.

Quickies

Calipari upset with lack of post touches against Vandy | Cats Pause- One of the more striking aspects of the game against Vandy was the inability of the guards to feed the ball into the post so the Cats bigs could take advantage of clear mismatches.

UK Basketball notes | Lexington Herald Leader- Reid Travis is struggling while Ashton Hagans is flourishing as the Cats win two in a row. Travis has to get back on track.

UK Hoops suffers home loss | UK Athletics- After a big win in Knoxville, the ladies suffer a setback as they lose at home to a mediocre Ole Miss team. It’s common that a team falls a bit after such an emotional win.

Top 25 and 1 | CBS- It was a crazy weekend in college basketball and the rankings reflect it. CBS has Tennessee as the number one team over number two Duke. The Cats are down at 22:

Kentucky’s resume features four wins over top-100 KenPom teams -- most notably victories over North Carolina and Louisville. UK’s losses are to Duke, Seton Hall and Alabama.

NFL Playoff overreactions | ESPN- Here is my overreaction: go ahead and put New England in the Super Bowl. The Patriots completely clowned the Chargers, which was a pretty good football team this season. I’m a little less certain in my Rams vs. Saints prediction but Drew Brees feels like a player of destiny this season. Much like Peyton Manning and John Elway at the end of their careers.

Andy Murray out of Australian Open | Sporting News- As his retirement tour goes on, Andy Murray doesn’t start off with a bang.

True Detective connection? | The Independent- After a bit of a hiatus, True Detective was back to form as it premiered with two brand new episodes. Fans are convinced there is a connection to season one and I could definitely pick up on some similarities. Mahershala Ali is fantastic as Detective Wayne Hays investigates the disappearance of two children in rural Arkansas over a span of four decades.

Let’s forget season two ever happened.

Also, the newest Game of Thrones teaser revealed that the final season will premiere on April 14th.

This gave me goosebumps. If you are a freak like me then you definitely will want to check out this breakdown.

It’s bittersweet for me as I’m a huge fan. I don’t want to see it end but at least I will get some closure with the show as I doubt I will get closure in literary form.