UK Turning the Corner!

UK's defensive effort against Arkansas is what we been waiting for all year. It still wasn't where I think it will be come March, not even close. That is a scary thought when you think about how great our defense was against Arkansas. As we all know defense leads to offense and that was obivious against Arkansas.

- The full court press was more aggressive and fluid than we had seen up to the point of the Arkansas game. They players didn't look lost or confused.

- The effort wasn't lacking on the defensive end

- The half court offense looked a lot better. Don't confuse that with our offense looking a lot better. Our offense did look a lot better but most of that was due to getting more transition points. Still, if you take just the half court offensive sets and look at them we looked much better.

- I told you all Cousins would start showing more of his face up game at some point and we saw that against Arkansas. That is going to be huge come tournament time if we face really good big men. Cousins will be able to take the out away from the rim and beat them one on one to the rim facing the basket. That will cause problems for good big men like Aldrich and Pittman if we face them in the tournament. It will wear them down, open up Patterson in the paint, and probably cause them to foul Cousins a lot more. I still think Cousins is no where close to the player he will be come March. Let that soak in for a min

- Darius Miller looked good but he looked good because he hit shots. However, he was a lot more aggressive. When he got the ball he first looked to make a move instead of first looking to pass the ball. That is the Miller we been waiting for

- Liggins continues to do the little things which we need him to do. Nevertheless, I saw Liggins make a few moves, especially one in the 2nd half, where it made me wonder why doesn't try to score more often. That move he made to the basket where he crossed over his defener in the 2nd half was as quick, fast, and strong as I've seen anyone on this team drive. That is saying something considering the players we have on this team.

- What Stevenson did against Arkansas might not seem like much but if Stevenson can give us that every game (which he has the ability to do) then it makes us that much better. It might not seem like it would but it does.

- Hood can PLAY! We seem to forget about him because we have such great players at his positions but on any other team Hood would play. That pass Hood had to Harrellson was a veteran pass and that is saying something considering Hood is a freshman who hasn't played much at all this season. That just goes to show how good Calipari is at developing players in which he doesn't get enough credit for. Don't expect much from Hood the rest of the season but if we can add him to the mix and get a solid 3-5 minutes from him every game it will make this team that much better. Can you imagine if Cal can steal just 2mins extra rest for each Wall and Bledsoe and get production out of Hood?

- Orton...Orton....ORTON! What can you say about the kid? WOW! he is finally starting to come around. I haven't seen a guy his size get up and down the court as well as Orton does. He beat Fortson down the court one time during the game and blocked Fortson's shot. Think about that...

- Bledsoe on a healthy ankle is SPECIAL! He is just AMAZING!

- If Wall can continue to develop that "drive and pull up" shot from 15 feet out, he will be unstoppable come tournament time. THERE IS NO DEFENSE THAT CAN STOP THAT SHOT...ZERO...ZIP...NADDA...NOTHING... 0!


So where do we go from here?

- Bledsoe still needs to "get ..... right" on defense. He was much better against Arkansas but he needs to continue to get better and then do it consistently.

- Orton still has a lot more to add to his offensive game. Good to see the knee is getting a lot better, that makes a huge difference.

- Miller needs to be consistent now. Great game against Arkansas but he needs to prove he can be a consistent 10-12 point player EVERY GAME!

- Liggins still has a high ceiling. We haven't seen anything close to what Liggins can be come March.

- Dodson still needs to learn the "playbook" on both ends of the court. Being just a pure shooter won't be enough to get him playing time and for him to be the kind of contributor he can be for this team with the way Miller and Liggins are playing right now. We don't need a pure shooter like Dodson who does nothing else. But if we had a Dodson who knew how to run the offensive plays, pass the ball well, and defend really well - Then he becomes a BIG TIME contributor with his shooting ability.

- Harris just needs to keep doing what he did against Arkansas. We can't expect much more but we also need him to contribute the way he did in limited minutes in every game. That really makes a difference when you can steal some rest for other players.

- Our defense can still improve a lot and it will

- Our offense isn't even close to what it can and will be come March.



UK took a huge step this last week and yet it is still no where close to where this team could be come tournament time...NOW that is something to be excited about. Playing like we did against Arkansas would at least take us to a final four and to think that still isn't even close to where this team can be come March must be a scary thought for the rest of college basketball.


GO BIG BLUE!