Archive for February, 2010

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DeMarcus Cousins had more great interviews last night continuing to make the media laugh during his time with them.  Rick Bozich has a great video of DeMarcus Cousins talking about his game and how he is taking a beating on the court.  Cousins does compare himself to Shaq, but in regards to how much he gets fouled.  Although the video is entitled “Cousins compares himself to Shaq”, don’t be mislead.  He does have a very valid point about getting fouled frequently and also that teams cannot “hack a Cousins” because he hits his free throws.

As far as the rest of the team it could be said that John Wall draws a lot of contact as well.  The other teams are trying to do what ever it takes to slow him down.  Daniel Orton and Patrick Patterson are two guys that have been bumped around pretty good as well.  One big change that we are seeing take place in college basketball is the emergence of very physical play.  Of course last Saturday against Vandy is a horrible example as there were a ton of fouls called.  The game lasted over 2 hours and was dominated by the ref’s.  I do not think that UK is the only team that has experienced physical play as it is becoming more of the norm for college basketball.

Check out Tom Leach’s videos with John Wall and Coach Cal discussing the recent comments.

Here is what Coach Cal had to say about John Wall and his comments following the UK/Vandy game.

Cat Scratches Blog

Following the Vanderbilt game on Saturday there started to be reports of John Wall’s comments.  Much like any interview that takes place you have to see the full interview and not just part of the quotes.  While I was standing in the media room listening to various interviews I was not present for the John Wall comments that got Alan Cutler and Kentucky Sports Radio so concerned.  After reading Cutler’s article on LEX18.com I was a little concerned but wanted to see more of the comments and not just a little piece of the interview.  Larry Vaught shed some more light on what was said and it makes a lot of sense and should calm down anyone who is worried about where Wall stands.  Larry Vaught’s article is a must read and much more insightful with a bigger picture of what Wall was saying and the proper context.

John Wall is a very humble basketball player with a very high basketball IQ.  There have been different reports wondering how the emergence of DeMarcus Cousins has impacted the rest of the team.  While Cousins has shown he is one of the top players in college basketball and arguably the top big man in the country, John Wall and Patrick Patterson have not had their typical games.  Some have argued that when Cousins plays well the rest of the team struggles suggestion that Cousins does not compliment the rest of the team.  I do not agree with that at all and feel that there could be two different things going on.  First, I believe that Cousins has picked up his game when the other players are not playing well.  Instead of getting his normal double double he is dominating the game in all facets.  Second, which I don’t think is correct at this moment, is the other players don’t like to play second fiddle.  Wall has never played second fiddle, but I do not think he minds being out of the spotlight.  He and everyone else knows how great of a ball player he is.  He also knows that great players go through slumps and his slumps leave him still outplaying most all players on the court.

Right now Kentucky has two of the top players in the country.  Going into the season all we heard about was Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins and how they were the best players in college basketball.  Now DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall is the best point guard/big man combination in the country.  Lets not forget Patrick Patterson and his impact on the game.  Patterson has not been himself, but do not expect that to last much longer.  Patterson always gives 100% and that can never be questioned and it is only time before he has a break out game.