The random musings of Papaw Ott

OK....I swear we'll stop talking about the Lane Kiffin situation. It's just hard for me to get over how someone can do that to a team. Kiffin and Bobby Patrino have really shown what's important to them...

This Billboard sums up what Kiffins done to the UT football program....

As we're getting ready to go into the second conference game of the season, the Nation is definitely taking notice of this years team. UKAthletics.com has reported numerous accolades for our Coach and Players...

Here's the breakdown....

ESPN's Dick Vitale named UK head coach John Calipari his mid-season Coach of the Year and called John Wall his Player of the Year.

Calipari has led the Wildcats to a 17-0 (2-0 in SEC) record to open the season, Kentucky's best start since the 1966 team started off 23-0. Wall leads the Cats in scoring at 17.3 points and ranks second nationally in assists at 7.1 per game.
ESPN's Jay Bilas named Wall a mid-season All-America first teamer.

"The fastest player in the country with the ball in his hands, Wall is more explosive and more efficient than Derrick Rose was in his rookie season, and so far, he has been every bit the same winner," said Bilas.

He also named Calipari as his mid-season Coach of the Year.

"The job that Calipari has done in Lexington is nothing short of remarkable," said Bilas. "To have the Wildcats, a team so young it should be referred to as Kittens, still unbeaten is an amazing job."

The Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy also selected Wall as his mid-season Player of the Year.

"Kentucky PG John Wall has dominated the season," said DeCourcy. "Don't expect that to change."

DeCourcy also called Eric Bledsoe the nation's most surprising player.

"Eric Bledsoe was Scout.com's No. 37 player in the 2009 recruiting class -- and he's a better freshman than about 30 guys ranked ahead of him."

The other stud freshman point guard showcased himself to the Nation this evening. We all knew he was there, now the World knows. Eric Bledsoe scored a career high 25 points on 10-13 shooting and 3-4 from behind the arc. There are few nights that John Wall was not the best player on the floor. Eric Bledsoe was tonight. You can check out the official boxscore for the rest of the scoring and stats. We will have more stories about the game in the morning, along with Inside the Boxscore, a story on how Darius and Darnell has Section 137's (my) call for better play, a bunch of Youtube videos on the game, all the other things we do for free. If you get a chance check out www.kyrivalry.com. I did a live blog with them during the game tonight and are knowledgeable Cat fans. Go Big Blue!

Pat Dooley from the Gainesville Sun writes:
But it's back. Kentucky is back.

When Kentucky's players who should be playing 10 minutes a game were playing 10 minutes a game and Florida's were playing 35 minutes. When Kentucky would substitute and you'd hardly notice a difference. When Kentucky was bigger, stronger and -- oh my goodness -- faster.

This was the way it used to be when Florida met Kentucky. There was a talent gap that Billy Donovan eventually erased. There was a sense of entitlement that Donovan was able to overcome. There was a culture he was able to change.

But it's back. Kentucky is back.
Read Full Article

The point that I have been trying to make over the last couple of weeks is that Darius Miller and Darnell Dodson had to show up on a consistent basis for us to keep winning after the SEC schedule started. Right on cue they both played big roles in the Florida road win. Lets look at the boscore:

Official Basketball Box Score

Official Basketball Box Score
Kentucky vs Florida
1/12/10 9 p.m. at Stephen C. O'Connell Center

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VISITORS: Kentucky 17-0, 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Cousins, DeMarcus... f 5-11 0-0 3-3 3 2 5 4 13 0 0 0 0 23
54 Patterson, Patrick.. f 7-11 0-1 1-3 1 6 7 1 15 0 2 1 2 37
01 Miller, Darius...... g 4-8 1-3 0-0 2 2 4 1 9 2 0 0 0 26
11 Wall, John.......... g 7-17 1-7 4-4 0 4 4 3 19 6 2 1 0 35
24 Bledsoe, Eric....... g 10-13 3-4 2-2 1 6 7 3 25 5 3 0 3 37
03 Dodson, Darnell..... 2-4 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 0 1 0 0 10
05 Harris, Ramon....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
21 Stevenson, Perry.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
33 Orton, Daniel....... 1-6 0-0 0-1 4 5 9 3 2 0 0 4 1 17
34 Liggins, DeAndre.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 36-70 7-18 10-13 14 28 42 16 89 13 10 6 6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-36 44.4% 2nd Half: 20-34 58.8% Game: 51.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 38.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 76.9% 1

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HOME TEAM: Florida 11-5, 0-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 Werner, Dan......... f 1-8 0-4 4-4 2 4 6 3 6 4 3 0 0 33
23 Tyus, Alex.......... f 5-12 2-4 5-6 3 4 7 2 17 1 0 1 2 35
32 Macklin, Vernon..... c 4-6 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 4 8 1 2 0 0 19
01 Boynton, Kenny...... g 5-17 2-8 0-0 1 1 2 0 12 2 2 1 1 30
11 Walker, Erving...... g 6-15 4-9 4-4 0 3 3 3 20 4 1 0 2 33
03 Shipman, Ray........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 9
25 Parsons, Chandler... 3-5 0-2 2-4 2 1 3 1 8 1 0 0 0 28
33 Murphy, Erik........ 1-3 0-0 2-2 2 4 6 0 4 1 1 1 0 13
TEAM................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 26-68 8-27 17-20 16 22 38 13 77 14 10 3 5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-33 30.3% 2nd Half: 16-35 45.7% Game: 38.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-13 23.1% 2nd Half: 5-14 35.7% Game: 29.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-10 80.0% 2nd Half: 9-10 90.0% Game: 85.0% 1

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Officials: Tony Greene, Mike Stuart, Tom Eades
Technical fouls: Kentucky-None. Florida-None.
Attendance: 12618
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Kentucky...................... 38 51 - 89
Florida....................... 31 46 - 77


Darius' line is exactly the way it should look every game! 4-8 from the field for 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and no turnovers. I know everyone says that there is no way that this team can go undefeated. If Darius keeps playing up to his capabilites, and he keeps getting the minutes he got last night (26), then everyone in the SEC is going to dread seeing the Cats no matter where they play them.

The enigma found the answer last night as Darnell Dodson hit several big threes in the 2nd half. Dodson was 2-3 from the 3 with 6pts in only 10 minutes. If Darnell can keep hitting the "roof blowing off" threes as he did last night, he will not have to worry about DeAndre Liggins taking any time from him. The Cats need the "Cameron Mills" type player that can come in and be a sniper and break the other team's back. He did that vs. Florida. Darnell had my fist pumping on both of the 3s he made.

DeAndre Liggins took a step backwards last night as he didn't answer the call of Coach Cal. Cal was hinting earlier in the week that he was thinking about starting Liggins. Monday he told Larry Vaught that he wouldn't start him, but Miller and Dodson better start playing better. Well, Liggins folded tent last night, and Miller and Dodson stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun. Liggins played 6 minutes with 2 turnovers. We will still need Liggins down the stretch, so hopefully he can rebound off the poor performance. It was ill timing for Liggins to play so bad because he was possibly breaking the starting lineup if he outplayed the other 2.

Ramon Harris was non-existent last night only playing 5 minutes and had 1 rebound. As I have stated before, Harris' playing time will really reflect the pace and style of the game that is being played. Last night was a shootout, so it is hard to play a guy that shoots a lot of blanks on the offensive end. The Alaskan Assassin will get his minutes, beacause the way the defense looked in stretches versus the Gators, we will definately need a stopper in the future.

All in all it was a great offensive effort shooting 51.4% from the field and 38.9% from the 3. Our free thow shooting was also a lot more reliable tonight as we shot 85%.


I love how everyone contributed offensively and if our "role players" keep contributing we are a very scary team. I just wish Texas would hurry up and lose so the real #1 team can take its rightful place on top of the polls. Go Big Blue!