Calipari 1.21 - Cats Rebound v. Commies, Take Control of SEC, Big East

Arguably the Cats greatest four-year player ever.

Kentucky got back on track against a recent nemesis with an impressive beating (85-72) of one of the hottest teams in the country. Vandy was leading the SEC with an unblemished mark, had won 10 straight, and had crept into the national polls. None of this mattered to the Boys in Blue as they focused on not losing their second game in a row.

The big story on the day was Lebron wearing a Kentucky-blue Harry Potter/Waldo cardigan during the Kentucky cheer in the second half. Very cool scene to have the greatest player in the World be a part of our own Path to World Domination. It's an unstoppable duo. The game as a whole, though, had to be one of worst ever to have the superstar witness. There was no flow in the game, it lasted eight hours, and the crowd was its usual sleepy self. With the exception of the run at the beginning (essentially putting the game away), the Rupp crowd showed LeBron they can nap with the best of 'em.

It was also apparent Freak Show knew LeBron was courtside, as he was seen talking to LeBron & Co. while he was on the bench. Seeing Wall get giddy on the bench and mouth, "Let's do it," to LBJ, leads me to a few points:

• I know LBJ isn't going to be at many games, but do the talking before or after the game. As rabid as our fan base is, if something goes wrong, we'll look for things as to why they did. And if we don't, Jerry Tipton will.
• Wall saying, "Let's do it," to LBJ, can only mean two things. Either LBJ said, "me & you next year, " which we all would love to see, or he said, "let's go to Camelot West on my way back to the airport." Not for sure what was said, but it was most definitely one of the two.
• With the Cutler report out that you're not having fun and you're not listening to coach, it doesn't help to be doing your own thing on the bench. It's hard to tell the exact context of Wall's statements to the Cut Man, just be careful. We haven't been relevant in a while.

The second story of the day for me was the start of Darnell Dodson over Eric Bledsoe. I'm not gonna lie, I kind of like it. Getting Dodson involved early on was key to the first half run that ultimately won the game. Easily his best game as a Cat (16 points - 7 rebounds) at a very crucial time. The defense is suspect, but who cares at this point. If the person gets by you, they have to face Pat, Big Cuz, or Orton. I'll take my chances.

Now we get to Big Cuz. The dude is a freak of nature and seriously has a chance to be an all-timer, but the attitude is costing him millions. Every game it's something...........every......game. Coach Cal needs to tell him before they take the floor each game that. "I know DeMarcus, it's not your fault." Then again, it's hard to convince the kid he's doing something wrong when he sees his stat line after each game. All it's gonna take is for a ref to be having a bad day before one of our games to cost the team for a week. Come on Big Fella, we love ya.

A few other notes:

• Pat got back on track via points (12 points - 4 rebounds), but something just doesn't seem right. Even when Big Cuz was on the bench, Pat was never in post-up mode. It seems like an eternity since Pat was taking people to school on the block. Is it a confidence thing? He does have to go up against DC every day in practice. That has to chip away at your confidence, right? Maybe I won't old Pat back, and have yet to come to grips that it's not going to happen. What say you?
• Eric Bledsoe (13 points - 7 rebounds - 3 assists - 3 steals - 1 TO) had a solid game off the bench. He still got his minutes (33) and we got someone else involved in the offense (DD). It will be interesting to see if Cal keeps this lineup Tuesday.
• We destroyed those poor Commies on the boards. We had 39 rebounds (18 offensive) to Vandy's 21 rebounds overall. Looks like we got the message.
• Liggins had another solid game (9 points - 4 rebounds - 2 steals - 25 minutes), while Darius is becoming an afterthought. Even Ramon got more minutes (9 vs. 8).
• I love Daniel Orton as much as he loves to foul.

Nice win and a good way to get back on track. There are a ton of underground stories with this team, and I am very interested to see how we come out against #18/#20 Ole Miss Tuesday night.

Go Cats.