One thing was similarly clear on Saturday afternoon; Kentucky was weathering another opponent who again for some reason played better in the second half than the first. The big difference I saw was that Kentucky, well actually DeAndre Liggins, was relentless on defense. The sophomore jinx appears over for him as he was the driving defensive force that kept Vandy’s better shooting at bay and managed to guard Jermaine Beal better than either of the fab freshmen phenoms Bled-Bled or Wall. To me this is very telling and says that it really does matter that they are freshmen because there are inconsistencies in their defense that DeAndre seems to have been able to key on and maintain focus. With Liggins’ 9 pts, 4 rebs and 2 steals with 0 turnovers in 25 minutes it seemed to have an effect on the rest of the team and allowed people to maintain their defensive positions better than the moving screens they were seeing and not getting calls for in the first half. 
I said it here before peeps starting calling John Wall superman, DeMarcus Cousins THINKS HE IS SUPERMAN! Regardless if the peter parker persona he carries on with in the post game interviews is true to form this man is a superhero under the basket and around the rim. His averages in SEC play is sick and with his 21 pts, 10 rebs and the ability to get others involved against Vandy he may in fact be the emerging Kentucky superman even more than his freshmen teammate that the world all seems to know about already. It’s hard to imagine we have so many young players all grabbing so many double-doubles. The spin move that he has developed is deadly fast and he his so big the opponent has zero chance at defending it as he uses the rim to his advantage in scoring usually with the and-1 foul shot. I counted at least 5 and-1’s for the day for Cousins which was huge. 
Coach Kevin Stallings recieving his talking to following his Technical Foul
What was super hard to see on Saturday was why in the hell the refs decided that they were going to determine the pace of the game by calling foul on every single instance of contact (real or anticipated as we saw early when the refs couldn’t decide if they saw a foul or not). I don’t think I have ever witnessed an NCAA game with 58 fouls in less than 40 minutes (that’s one every 39 seconds of play). I had the pleasure of greeting those refs when they came up to the scorers table to review the play. “EVERY SINGLE GAME” I said, “EVERY SINGLE GAME”, “YOU GUYS ARE OFFICIATING BY REPUTATION”.
At that point Codi uncomfortably squirmed in her seat in hopes that we weren’t going to get a talking to, or escort out by Mitch himself. The Roy Williams gaffe where he kicked out the opposing fan for heckling a UNC free-thrower ran through my head. Then John Calipari came to the edge of his coaches box and started asking, “are you going to look before the foul to see what caused it to happen?”, “if you are looking at our guy you gotta go all the way back”. The ref promptly asked the video folks to, “show the entire 35” meaning the whole play from the beginning but unfortunately Cal was trying to talk them into seeing how they lured him in.
I feel that they were going to actually try and throw double technicals at Cousins and Vandy’s player. Smartly enough they passed and gave him a non-flagrant personal foul. Probably the best scenario that could have happened from that set up. While on the subject of fouls, when Big Cuz got his first true personal technical from mouthing off, he once again was penalized for the perception of what the refs thought he said. I was within 5 feet of him and he never said anything near profanity. He actually said, “what the phhh, man”, “unbelievable”. Unfortunately for him the refs preconceived notion that he was a trouble maker solidified his chances of getting a technical foul based on their opinion and a little help from the frosh.
I feel that they were going to actually try and throw double technicals at Cousins and Vandy’s player. Smartly enough they passed and gave him a non-flagrant personal foul. Probably the best scenario that could have happened from that set up. While on the subject of fouls, when Big Cuz got his first true personal technical from mouthing off, he once again was penalized for the perception of what the refs thought he said. I was within 5 feet of him and he never said anything near profanity. He actually said, “what the phhh, man”, “unbelievable”. Unfortunately for him the refs preconceived notion that he was a trouble maker solidified his chances of getting a technical foul based on their opinion and a little help from the frosh. 
Incompatent referee trying to explain to Coach about the Cousins Technical foul then to Pat
With the solid defensive play led by Liggins the cats out rebounded the commodores 41-22 which is super. Anyone who watches the Cal show knows he usually tells the team during pre-game that holding them under 40% shooting, +10 rebs and +10 assists and having fun is a formula for a win. Although the +10 on assists didn’t happen the rest certainly did allowing the cats to maintain and play their game even when the zone D from Vandy reared its ugly head. The motion offense seems to now be finding guys who are going to hit shots consistently and that in my opinion is a huge huge factor in UK going a long way this season. Seeing Darnell drain the 3s was a wonderful sight and seeing so many guys in double digits takes me back to those more significant wins that we have had this season. Dodson has had a roller coaster season much like Darius Miller but they both are similar in play, minutes and aggressiveness (or lack of sometimes). I do believe that DDot is the better athlete and player of the two and should see another start against Miss on Tuesday. I love the fact that such talented ballers are now all competing for a single position on the floor. It reminds me of a certain mid-90s team that I won’t mention out of fear of jinx.I don’t think I have ever heard a large crowd buzz so much in excitement than when King James himself rolled into the game. Having Lebron show up was a huge boon to our recruiting as most people don’t know that one of our major recruits was behind the UK bench and got to see for himself just how big the big blue are.
Lebron James not watching the action!
The celebrity “Y” was for the first time that I remember a non-UK grad/former athlete. I would like to know who else may have that distinction to share with Lebron? For the most part he cut up and had fun watching the game and really got to laughing when Taylor for Vandy chinked a reverse dunk. 
King James version of the "Y"
Seems like the wildcats are slowly appearing to be a multi-headed monster that is going to be hard to stop. I want to backtrack one year for a moment and realize that we had lost 6 more games at this point last year so FORGET about South Carolina last week. On, On U of K to the next victim!
At exactly an hour and a half before the game we found ourselves in no line for an elevator as the masses crowded the stairs and escalator. As we were waiting in the line to go through security and to the other end I couldn’t help but make the mental note to wait till closer to game time next time she comes with me. We made our way through the sparsely arranged folks on the concourse and on to the elevator at the top of our section. After a short ride back down the three stories we had already gone down, and up already we found ourselves in the guts of Rupp Arena where many people never get to see. The gentleman on the elevator directed us to where we needed to go and as we made the turn I realized we had just walked through the front entrance area of the Arkansas locker room. I quietly tried to tell her where we were when she said “the locker room?”, it was quite a funny moment as I was trying to not make a deal about it and she did it for me. As we turned the corner towards the arena we started to go out through the tunnel and she exclaimed. “I feel important coming out of here” and that statement couldn’t have been truer. She didn’t realize it but she was the vip of the day for me. We walked our way by the Arkansas bench and on to our seat where we passed Tony Delk, Scott Padgett and a few of the team doing a soft shoot around.
About half way through the radio show I believe that she grew tired of hearing the coach’s fluff on the game, fans etc and said it was time to go. As we excited through the opposite tunnel we came in on I happily told her we were walking by UKs locker room and low and behold there was Cousins and Orton leaving for the parking lot. After pointing them out to her and letting her see them we kept on walking towards the exit. Upon exiting the building at the security door we began walking out into the back parking lot and a door opened up to our left and another person began walking out next to us. He was wearing a pink shirt and tie and it was hard to get the words out of my mouth that John Pelphry was walking next to us. I said “good game coach, good luck with the rest of your season”. 
After a 31 point homecoming scorching of his pretty decent team he turned and very humbly said, “thank you so much I appreciate it”. It was like a captivating finish to an extraordinary day and I couldn’t believe my self that it went so great and that in the end it was an unforgettable going home just like us yet mammaw is the unforgettable this day. It seemed that everything went perfectly and for me that is what I wanted more than anything for my lovely Mammaw. Mammaw Foley had the time of her life today and I had the great privilege to be there and experience it with her.
Coaches Calipari & Pelphry greet pre-game
How tough is that? Its about as tough as a kid who scores 16 pts & 14 rebs in 17 minutes by being two-downed and three-downed each time there is even a hint the ball is coming his way. I shouldn’t have to remind you that he didn’t react whatsoever to a solid lick to the face. Sadly I do. It seems on nearly every play he is getting hacked but its rarely called. Is it because he is so big and aggressive that the refs look the other way? Is it because of his reputation as being an unstable player on the court? Notice I said reputation because through the first 20 games of the season I have seen very little actual play that supports any of the misguided reports that he is a loose cannon. Rebound machine
Eric Bledsoe seems much more of a loose cannon than Cousins as he seems to always find the controversy when he is on the court and it seems to find him too. Dare I say if it weren’t for his pre-game antics at the Louisville game the early scrum may not have happened? I am beginning to start calling him the teams “spiritual” man as he seems to really get his entire emotional self into the game. While this sounds negative it could very well be the thing that gets his teammates hyped up without having to encounter the other side on a personal level like he does.
Darnell & Miller able to learn their roles better and Millers stroke was near perfect this night with 18 big pts, player of the game honors, and being the radio show guy. It was great seeing DeAndre whip out his membership card to the hustle club. He simply stuck the D so close to the Arkansas guards that it was obviously affecting the way they were able to interact with their teammates. The super hustle and diving to the floor making every 50-50 ball his created the turnovers that allowed the cats to push over the hogs this day. It’s obvious he has now worked his way into the magic 7 that Cal likes to rotate from even though it’s really a magic 9. Who would think that Cal would embellish something to prove a point? How great is it that it’s actually 9? I don’t see another team that deep out there currently. Total team hustle was everywhere as guys are trying to prove their worth to the team including guys like Harrellson who is a constant force when he gets into the game and of course Perry who had a nice dunk on his birthday. Happy Birthday Perry or “Per-Bear” as one sign read.
John Wall seems to have about as much fun as any wildcat I have ever seen. Always smiling & welcoming the pain infliction from the contact on his and-1s. He seems fearless in taking the ball to the rim knowing the consequences of such a drive is going to be at least a two man hack job to keep the basket from happening. This is clearly a resignation by most opposing coaches that he is going to do his thing and the only way to stop him is to hack him in the pre-shot drive. Similar to the reservation they are going to have to hack Cousins to death to try and limit his output. Wall does have a few questions as good as he is. The first is that I have been still seeing him stand flat footed on the defensive end when others are around the basket. Could he be trying to avoid an injury? It seems that he knows the system better than anyone on the team but is driving it a bit to enhance his style of play. I can see this slowly going away from the level it was happening early on. That could mean only one thing, he is maturing. As he gains wisdom it appears his skill level is growing too. Good decision making when under control. 
