This is from Jeff Goodman’s blog on Foxports.com. Some really interesting stuff about a couple of UK’s heralded freshmen:

I just found out the Preseason AP Poll will be released on Thursday. Kansas will be the clear-cut No. 1 team in the land, but it’ll be interesting to see who gets the nod at No. 2.

Personally, I like Kentucky – especially with the rave reviews coming out of Lexington about freshman point guard John Wall.

One NBA executive who was at practice recently raved about Wall’s leadership.

“I’ve never seen anything like it from a freshman,” the NBA executive told FOXSports.com. “You can tell he’s all about winning.”

Supposedly, Wall stood at midcourt and every single player on his team came over and slapped his hand.

The NBA guy also said that freshman big man Daniel Orton had his way on that afternoon with fellow frosh DeMarcus Cousins.

“He tore his #$% up,” is what he told me.

I know this will be viewed as Patrick Patterson’s team, but John Wall is clearly going to be a key leader.  Also, John Calipari has been looking for Daniel Orton to come out of his shell post-knee surgery, and this is the most positive news I have heard on this front.  If Orton can push Cousins this way as the season goes on, it will force Cousins to improve his inconsistent effort.

Hat tip to AllKYHoops.com for the find.

However, it’s just not UK basketball. Nothing approaches UK basketball.

For my money, the debut of UK basketball on Big Blue Madness is a holiday eclipsed in magnitude by only Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter…and the Final Four if UK is playing. I know that much of madness is just pomp and circumstance with little substance and too much women’s basketball, but there’s just something about the anticipation of the beginning of basketball season that I can’t quite describe.

…and that’s in a normal year.

In case you haven’t been paying attention the past 5 and a half months, this is no normal year for UK basketball. John Calipari has created an excitement around the program that I would call unmatched since the late 1990′s, without even taking the court.

That excitement is going to come to a head just a few days from now when UK takes Rupp by storm for its first official practice. In case I haven’t made it clear enough, I’m kind of looking forward to Friday night, so much so that I’m struggling to figure out how I’m going to pass the time between now and then.

I have, however, figured out the first way I’m going to spend some of that time: I’m going to list the top 10 things that I just can’t wait to see at Big Blue Madness on Friday:

10 – The Dancin’ Dude Darren Moscoe

I know it’s not a regular game with TV timeouts, but if the people organizing Big Blue Madness remember anything about last season, they will play “Mony, Mony” so that Rupp Arena fan favorite Darren Moscoe can do his thing.

You see, since Calipari has arrived at UK, one of his constant messages has been that his team and the fans will have fun. Fun was missing in a big way from the last couple seasons and the one thing that was always dun about watching UK games in Rupp was the first or second TV timeout of the second half when we got to watch the Dancin’ Dude make us forget about what we were watching on the court.

9 – The Dunk Contest

In theory, the dunk contest should be awesome. Every year I get excited about it and convince myself how good it’s going to be. This year I’m going to temper my expectations.

The dunk contest always ends up being kind of clunky and flat even though there is a good dunk from time to time.

There is reason to think it could be different this season between rumored guest judges and a certain player who has been known for his fair share of YouTube moments (he’ll remain unnamed for now…I’ll get to him later).

8 – Battle of the Bigs

Arguably the best competition that UK post players will face most of the season will come on the practice court. They are already learning each other’s tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses in pick-up games and workouts, but the intensity is about to be turned up a notch.

Playing time is not going to be handed to DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Josh Harrellson, Perry Stevenson, and even Patrick Patterson. Every one of those guys is going to have earn their keep to earn time and for the first time, we will get to see how they stack up with one another.

The distribution of playing time among the bigs will be a topic to watch all season. It begins on Friday.

7 – Seeing why the capacity of Rupp for Madness is only 18,000

Only 18,000 tickets were distributed to UK fans for Friday because of a stage that is to be set-up for the event. I’m guessing that the fans that are there will more than make up for the 6,000 missing from the normal capacity.

The question on my mind is “what are they going to do with that stage?”. Coach Cal has said that Madness will be about the players and about basketball, but I’m pretty sure that the stage won’t be used for basketball. Will there be a performer? What kind of theatrics are going to take place? You know that UK Athletics is going to do everything possible to make Madness memorable, so anything is possible.

6 – KY-rie IR-ving

We’ve spent a lot of time over the past couple weeks obsessing over the ridiculous group of recruits slated to attend UK’s Big Blue Madness. Coach Cal knows exactly what kind of recruiting opportunity Madness will be, so he’s done everything he can to turn the seats behind the bench into a who’s who of top 2009 and 2010 recruits.

What I was getting at with the title of this one was the chants that UK fans have been to known to start for recruits in attendance. There are going to be plenty of options for chants, but I mention Kyrie Irving specifically because of the nature of his recruitment. Irving is a well publicized Duke lean and if he sways in UK’s direction after seeing the craziness of Big Blue Madness, it will be a perfect representation of the power of the combination of Coach Cal, the dribble drive, and everything that UK is all about.

Irving confirmed to ZagsBlog that he will make the trip along with teammate Michael Gilchrist.  We will be discussing more about the recruits in attendance as the week goes on, but for now just know that the list will be long.

5 – Coach Cal

Coach Cal has already proved to us all that he loves everything about the UK job that Billy Gillispie hated. I can think of no better embodiment of that “everything” than the craziness of Big Blue Madness.

Coach Cal has also said that he doesn’t typically like to speak at these things and take the focus away from the players, but that won’t fly for his first. He’s going to talk and he’s going to have us eating out of the palm of his hand.

4 – Patrick Patterson

Patrick Patterson has played a constant level of effory and enthusiasm over the past 2 years when he’s had every reason to do anything but play with effort and enthusiasm has been a pleasure to watch. Now, Patterson has every reason TO play the way he always has.

This is going to be Patrick Patterson’s team and the ovation reserved for him by UK fans is going to be unbelievable. As great as the UK freshmen will be, they won’t be Patrick Patterson. This is going to be the season where Patterson goes from a great player to one of the all time UK greats. It begins on Friday.

3 – The Crowd

In the past, Rupp Arena has been called a “basketball cathedral”. Part of that description is reverential, but part of that also speaks to the fact that the crowd at times has not been as intimidating as some other home crowds.

I think that changes this year. UK fans have an appetite for some great basketball and they have an appetite to be a part of a great season. UK fans always take ownership of the ‘Cats, but I think we will take it to another level this season. It begins on Friday.

2 – Seeing the interaction of the team

We’ve heard about intense, yet fun pick-up games. We’ve heard about the Three Amigos. We’ve seen pictures of the ‘Cats delivering breakfast to fans waiting for Big Blue Madness tickets. Every indication thus far is that the ‘Cats have embraced what it means to play for UK, and what it means to play for this UK team.

The talent of this team is beyond question, but there are obstacles to this season being a great one, foremost among which are outside shooting, how quickly this team picks up the dribble drive, and team chemistry. One glorified practice won’t tell us much about the first two, but we can definitely begin to gain an idea of how this team will interact, how the newcomers are mixing with the veterans, and who the leaders will be.

1 – John Wall

I know there are probably things I should be more excited about than watching John Wall for the first time, but I couldn’t even begin to quantify the amount of time I have spent thinking about seeing John Wall play for UK. UK has never had a player like him before, a player that will make any basketball fan stop on a dime and watch when he has the ball or is featured on the SportsCenter Top 10.

I know UK fans have missed being the center of gravity of college basketball over the past few years. Jodie Meeks brought UK into the spotlight with his explosive scoring, but that was fleeting. John Calipari will bring UK into the spotlight in the long term at UK, but this UK team will take some time to get ready for prime time.

John Wall will take no time to get ready for prime time. John Wall is going to have some highlight reel plays during Big Blue Madness, which will be featured on ESPNU. Casual college basketball fans don’t know his name right now, but that is going to change very quickly. It begins on Friday.

The event itself of Big Blue Madness will likely fall short of everything we have built it up to be, but it will be something we always remember, because we are about to witness the start of something special. And it begins on Friday.

This photo from The Cat’s Pause has been everywhere I’ve looked this morning, but in case you haven’t seen it, I needed to make sure you did. 

It’s nice to see these guys in UK uniforms.

One of my strongest beliefs in the world of sports is that the best athletes in the world play basketball. Football has some phenomenal athletes at the skill positions, soccer could make an argument, and baseball has a stray Carl Crawford or Grady Sizemore running around, but when it comes down to it, I’ll take the average basketball player over the average player in any other sport.

As an example, one of the things in sports that I would like to see most is a season of LeBron James playing wide receiver in the NFL. If there were some sort of fund that would go toward paying a year’s salary for LeBron, I would be all over that. His combination of size, speed, strength, and explosiveness would be absolutely unstoppable.

With that in mind, and in honor of the upcoming football season and the current series of positional previews the Pinkie is unveiling, I started applying LeBron principle to UK’s current basketball roster. With John Calipari at the helm, UK is going to have rosters with near NBA level athleticism. His first roster is already showing that even though only half of it is made up by players recruited by him.

Really the only spots on the field that basketball players are unable to fill are the line positions, so what I’m going to do is fill 6 offensive positions (QB, RB, FB, 2 WR’s, TE) and 6 defensive positions (FS, SS, 2 CB’s, 2 LB’s) with the same group of players.  There are some fits that aren’t ideal, but the point is that this is fun to think about.

Offense

Just as in our positional previews, it all starts at quarterback. This is probably the most difficult position to project, because to correctly do so, I would need an idea of arm strength and accuracy. I thought about going with Daniel Orton, because of how I’ve seen him launch full court outlet passes, but instead I’m going to pick John Wall to play QB.

Wall is the kind of athlete who could probably play any of the skill positions, but when I think about his court awareness, speed, and agility, I think he would make a pretty good QB. I’ve seen countless highlights where he finds an open man that didn’t even realize he was open. He would pick holes in defenses, and when he couldn’t, he would probably just scramble for a first down.

At running back, I’m going to have to go with Eric Bledsoe, who at 6 feet tall and just over 200 pounds, is closest to the prototypical size for a back. He’s got the kind of strength, speed, quickness, and shiftiness that would make him very difficult to bring down. Besides, his point guard skills would allow him to see the field well and find spaces underneath to give John Wall a great checkdown target.

The biggest no brainer for me in putting this imaginary team together is Patrick Patterson at tight end. All last football season, as I watched UK struggle at tight end after Jacob Tamme’s departure, the idea of having Patterson kept going through my head.

How many times have you seen Patterson get pounded by double and triple teams and still manage to dig out space? How many times have you seen a UK player lob in a half hearted entry pass and see Patterson somehow come up with the ball? Patterson has the strength, size, and hands to make a tremendous Antonio Gates type tight end.

At wide receiver, I’m going to have to go with DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller. With their size, they would create mismatches all over the place for smaller corners. They make take a few nasty hits with their length, but I think they would have the agility to run precise routes and the leaping ability to make the difficult catch.

At fullback, I say the best fit is Daniel Orton. He may be about a foot taller than the typical fullback, but he has the power to blow some people up.

Defense

The captain on the defensive side of the ball is Patrick Patterson at linebacker. His intensity and power would give the basketball version of the Whomp Squad ideal leadership. The other linebacker would be big Daniel Orton. The two players would give the ‘Cats the tallest linebacking corps in the history of football, and the summer they spent together with Hell’s Trainer Frank Matriscano gave them the strength and stamina to man the trenches for 60 minutes.

At the two corner positions, I’m going with John Wall and DeAndre Liggins. Wall would bring the kind of athleticism and ball skills that every NFL scout looks for in a DB, plus his height would allow him match up with any big wide receiver. DeAndre Liggins isn’t exactly what I would draw up when I think of a corner, but I don’t think his competitive streak would allow him to back down from anyone.

At free safety, I’m going with the wily Darius Miller. I think Darius would be an absolute ball hawk and he might fool some players into thinking he was soft with his wiry build. He would play a great center field and make the big pick.

At strong safety, the choice is clearly Eric Bledsoe. I’ve seen Bledsoe compared multiple times to a safety because of his strength and tenacity, and I think he would deliver a pretty nasty lick or two to a receiver venturing in the middle of the field.

OK, I enjoyed that. Why don’t you guys join in? Post in the comments if you think I put anybody at the wrong spot, if I left anybody out. Also, which football players do you think would make the best basketball players?

Dwight Perry

Thanks to the whole big blue nation for the support over the past 3yrs..this has been a great experience that I will be forever greatful for

Just got eating with some family friends…they been with me since I got to lex…def made the transition easier

Night out on the town one more time…one last horrah if u will lol

Just got on the road, on my way back to the BULL

Everytime I hit the ground I bounce up like roundball

Matt Scherbenske

sometimes God works in mysterious ways…thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement..you guys are the best

This really is a pretty tough situation for these two kids. Both Perry’s and Scherbenske’s life has been largely centered around basketball for years, and they thought they had some time left to keep playing the game they love, even if they weren’t going to get anything more than mop up duty. We all wish them the best.

Adam Delph is said to be talking to Asbury, Georgetown College and Kentucky Wesleyan.

One other quick note. Patrick Patterson and Daniel Orton about 30 minutes in to their last day of workouts in San Francisco. They will head back to Lexington soon after and the 2009-2010 Kentucky Wildcats will finally be together in the Bluegrass.

I’m guessing those pickup games are going to get a slight bump in intensity with the return of Patrick Patterson. There are going to be some battles in the post between the three big men.

By the way, below is part two of the 9 minute pickup game video that came out early this week. I realized I had not yet posted it. This one is not quite as exciting, but Wall and Cousins both show some range on the J and John Wall continues to show his penchant for turning basically any play on the basketball court into a YouTube moment at the 2:30 mark.

Lately, one topic that has been on mind a bunch is how John Calipari is going to distribute playing time. I posted an article last week about what I thought UK’s rotation would look like, so check that out if you haven’t already.

All the talent that John Calipari has brought in his first months will give John Calipari something UK never had last year: flexibility. John Calipari is going to be able to bend and stretch his rotation to play about any kind of lineup you could ever want to play and do it with some serious, high level talent. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some lineups that we could see next year and some of the strengths and weaknesses of each:

The Starters

John Wall
Eric Bledsoe
Darius Miller
Patrick Patterson
DeMarcus Cousins

Wall, Miller, and Patterson are all but set to start in my mind, but I think this group of five is the most likely to take the floor against Morehead State in mid-November. It’s a bit non-traditional in that there are two point guards on the floor, but John Wall’s size and athleticism and Bledsoe’s build and athleticism allow each to guard a 1 or 2 if necessary.

The obvious strengths here are ball handling and passing. With how sketch the ball handling in the backcourt was for so much of last season, the upgrade is tremendous. Miller was arguably the best ball handler by the end of last year and he’s the tertiary ball handler in this lineup. Also, DeMarcus Cousins is very good on the dribble and as a passer for a big man, so it’s hard to see this group making many turnovers.

These five could also be a terror in a full court press. Wall and Bledsoe are about as quick as they come and Darius Miller’s length and athleticism would present some serious problems.

The only clear weakness you can point to is shooting. Miller is the best option from the perimeter and he was not consistent until the end of last season. I’ve said it before, but expect this kind of lineup to see zones over and over and over until Wall or Bledsoe shows an outside shot.

The Traditional

John Wall
Darnell Dodson
Darius Miller
Patrick Patterson
DeMarcus Cousins

This lineup features the traditional mold of two wing players with one point and presumably would not struggle as much against a zone (assuming Dodson can stroke it like he reportedly can). It could potentially be exposed by an opponent with two penetrating guards since Dodson and Miller could struggle against a smaller player.

If the starting lineup I offered earlier turns out to struggle due to lack of shooting in some games, this kind of lineup (with Wall and Bledsoe interchanging and Patterson, Cousins, and Daniel Orton splitting time) could be the one that becomes the default.

The Dribble-Drive Special

John Wall
Eric Bledsoe
Darnell Dodson
Darius Miller
Patrick Patterson

Darius Miller showed in New Zealand that he can play some post defense on a 4 man and John Calipari’s 4′s are typically called on to play more like 3′s. I think this is a lineup you will definitely see next year, especially with how many SEC teams play smaller, three guard lineups.

The rare team that has a traditional post up 4 man would be difficult to deal with for this lineup, but I think this group would play well together.

The Humvee

John Wall
Darius Miller
Patrick Patterson
DeMarcus Cousins
Daniel Orton

The dribble drive isn’t made for this kind of lineup, but if John Calipari wants to absolutely clean the glass, he could go with this group. Patterson will be called on to develop his ball skills and I’m sure Calipari will want him to be able to play like a 3 by the end of the year, so it’s not stretch to think he may be put in that spot. Besides, can you imagine Patterson posting up a small forward?

The weaknesses here are shooting and defensive matchups. Patterson would likely have some trouble playing his guy straight up on the dribble and Miller may struggle with a 2.

The Freshmen

John Wall
Eric Bledsoe
Jon Hood
DeMarcus Cousins
Daniel Orton

OK, you probably won’t see this lineup often, if ever, but I just wanted to remind you how good the freshman class is.

Veteran Presence

John Wall
Darius Miller
Ramon Harris
Patrick Patterson
Perry Stevenson

I haven’t included Stevenson or Harris in a lineup yet and I think we can expect Harris and Stevenson to get some time (especially Harris).

The Victory Lap

DeAndre Liggins
Jon Hood
Ramon Harris
Perry Stevenson
Josh Harrellson

Hopefully we’ll be seeing this group a bunch with 20+ point leads, with a little Dwight Perry or Mark Krebs sprinkled in.

The Billy G

Michael Porter
Jon Hood
Ramon Harris
Perry Stevenson
Daniel Orton

Ladies and gentleman, your starting lineup for the 2009-2010 Kentucky Wildcats had Billy Gillispie kept his job. I don’t even know, what’s the name of the tournament that teams that miss the NIT play in?  The CBI or something?

I just threw up in my mouth looking at that.

July recruiting in full swing – John Calipari and his staff were all over the place this week, evaluating many of UK’s top targets for the class of 2010 and beyond. Calipari has made his opinion of summer recruiting well known and he used Twitter to restate his views. Calipari takes part in summer recruiting only because he would lose ground to his competition if he did not.

Calipari says that eliminating the summer evaluation period would allow the power in recruiting to shift back to high school coaches instead of AAU coaches. The AAU system is responsible for so much of what is wrong with amateur sports. It is conducive to the culture of hangers on that so many athletes fall prey to. Additionally, freeing up coaches during the summer would allow coaches more time with their current players instead of future players and more time for family as well.

However, John Calipari takes full advantage of his opportunities to see top high school talent and to be seen by top high school talent. Perhaps the most intriguing development of the week was the fact that Calipari was seen rubbing shoulders with one LeBron James. Cal is not afraid to point to and take advantage of some of his high profile relationships to help himself in the recruiting game, and there’s really no better name to be associated with than LeBron.

UK is being mentioned by such a ridiculous volume of top names right now that it’s really not even worth it to run them down. Really, just look at any list of the top 50 in the country and you’ll have a pretty good idea who UK is after.

Jodie Meeks and the NBA – One piece of news that particularly excited me this week had to do with a player who won’t be on the roster next year. The man who made UK basketball remotely watchable in 2008-2009 signed a 3 year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, 2 years of which are guaranteed.

This is really excellent news for a guy who was assured nothing after being passed over by every team that had a pick in the top 39 of the NBA Draft. Getting a deal like Jodie did as a second rounder is not too commonplace, so congrats to Meeks for getting this done.

Jodie promptly played a very efficient first 27 professional minutes in the Vegas summer league, scoring 14 points on 6-9 shooting in an ugly 65-59 game between the Bucks and Dallas Mavericks. He and Joe Alexander led the Bucks in scoring, but Joe Alexander needed twice as many shots to get his points.  Juan Palacios played 10 minutes but only put up one shot and did not score or get a rebound. The Bucks have 4 more summer league games and we will keep you updated on Jodie’s and Palacios’ play. 

Patterson and Orton bust it in California – Patrick Patterson and Daniel Orton still have about 2 weeks left of their workouts with Hell’s Trainer, Frank Matrisciano.  Accounts from the families of Orton and Patterson have been 100% postive to this point.  The two were already close and they should come back even closer…and without an ounce of fat on their frames. Also, neither the troublesome ankle of Patterson or the balky knee of Orton have presented any problems, which is great news.

Darius Miller grabs the gold – Darius was a key member of Team USA that won its first U19 World Championship since 1991. Darius wasn’t the go-to scorer and he didn’t get to play as many minutes as I’m sure he will this season, but he made a bunch of big plays, including 2 steals early in the 4th quarter of the gold medal game to help seal an 88-80 victory.

This is such a great experience for Darius. It’s an experience that will help him mesh well with a UK team next year that will be similarly talented. Darius did exactly what you would expect of him. He found a role and filled it very well. When he needed to get a basket, he got it. When his team needed a big rebound, block, steal, or assist, he got it. Miller got great reviews from his coaches and you always hear players talk about what a great experience it is to play for their country. Very few get the opportunity, so you have to feel good for Darius.

The next step for Miller will be bring that confidence he has built back home and also to use that confidence to grow into a more assertive scorer, because he is going to be UK’s best option as a wing scorer. I know I can’t wait to watch him play.

Darnell Dodson – Dodson is the one member of UK’s six man recruiting class that has not yet arrived on campus. There has been some speculation that he is facing some academic obstacles, but Calipari has said that Dodson will be in Lexington for the next summer session. Also, he was included on UK’s officially released roster, which should alleviate concern. This video has also been making the rounds this week, which shows Dodson in an excellent 32 point performance in which Dodson seems to be a very diverse scorer with a solid stroke, which will be a welcome addition to the roster.

Consequently, I researched a little bit into how minutes were distributed for John Calipari’s last 4 teams as the head coach of the Tigers. What I found is that Calipari has been very consistent in the depth of his rotation and his starting lineup. I consider a player “in the rotation when he averages over 10 minutes per game and plays in a majority of the team’s games:

2008-2009:
-9 man rotation
-5 players started at least 27 of team’s 37 games
-Same 5 players averaged at least 25 mpg
-1 player averaged more than 30.2 minutes

2007-2008:
-9 man rotation
-5 players started at least 33 of team’s 40 games
-Same 5 players averaged at least 25 mpg
-No player played more than 29.5 mpg

2006-2007:
-8 man rotation
-5 players started at least 35 of team’s 37 games
-7 players played at least 20 mpg
-No player played more than 28 mpg

2005-2006
-9 man rotation
-6 players started at least 21 of team’s 37 games
-Each of those 6 played at least 21.1 mpg
-No player played more than 27.3 mpg

As you can see, Calipari has used a 9 man rotation in 3 of the past 4 seasons and has found a pretty consistent starting lineup by the end of each year. Calipari’s starters generally get the bulk of the minutes and the 3 or 4 players off the bench play around 15 minutes a game. Also, in 2008-2009 Calipari had 2 players play 30 minutes a game (Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier), and that was the only time he had a player play that many minutes in the last 4 seasons.

I believe we can expect basically the same the same during the upcoming season. Let’s take a look at the 9 men who I believe will fit into this rotation. Players in bold are expected starters.

John Wall – G
Eric Bledsoe – G
Darius Miller – G/F
Patrick Patterson – F
DeMarcus Cousins – F/C
Daniel Orton – F/C
Ramon Harris – F
Darnell Dodson – G/F
DeAndre Liggins – G/F

The 3 players that I do not believe will factor into the rotation are Perry Stevenson, Josh Harrellson, and Jon Hood. I think each will get chances early in the year as Calipari learns his team, but I see the rotation shaking out like this.

Some will also argue against Ramon Harris factoring in the rotation, but Calipari has reportedly liked his defense. If you look at Calipari’s last 4 Memphis teams, it has been Antonio Anderson who has led the team in minutes the past 4 years. His defense got him minutes even though he average double figures just once. For this reason, I think you will see Ramon Harris on the court this year.

I also think DeAndre Liggins will be a part of the rotation because of his ability to play point guard in case Bledsoe and Wall are on the bench and the small forward position due to his size. I see him playing 15 minutes or so per game.

I also think that it is likely that 6 players on this years roster will play at least 20 minutes a game (5 starters plus Daniel Orton). You will notice that I include only 3 natural post players in the rotation. Patrick Patterson figures to play 30 minutes a game at either the 4 or 5 (maybe even the 3 from time to time), which leaves 50 minutes at those two positions. I think Orton and Cousins will get the vast majority of those minutes.

Also, people who have not been hearing reports about the pickup games in Lexington may be surprised to see Eric Bledsoe along John Wall in my forecasted backcourt. Bledsoe has been a revelation in these games, giving John Wall everything he wants and more. I think Bledsoe and Wall will be able to play very effectively together, although you have to imagine that a lineup with Wall and Bledsoe will see plenty of zone defense. That will put pressure on Darius Miller or whoever is playing the 3 to hit the outside shot. Even so, can you imagine a bigger upgrade in ballhandling in the backcourt from last season with these 2 playing together? Bring on the ball pressure!

Let’s take a look at how I see the minutes being divvied up at each position when UK plays a close game. Expect the 3 players not listed in the rotation to steal a minute or 2 here or there, but for simplicity’s sake I have excluded them.

PG – Wall (25), Bledsoe (10), Liggins (5)
SG – Bledsoe (13), Miller (10), Wall (5) Dodson (5), Liggins (7)
SF – Miller (15), Dodson (10), Liggins (7), Harris (8)
PF – Patterson (25), Cousins (5), Orton (5), Harris/Miller (5)
C – Cousins (17), Orton (17), Patterson (6)

Comment below if you disagree with any of this!

Accounts of battles between John Wall and Eric Bledsoe are already becoming the stuff of legend. Seeing the two potentially play together has to be a terrorizing prospect for opponents.

The two are part of UK’s top ranked recruiting class that is now in Lexington getting accustomed to eachother and the rest of their new teammates, save for Darius Miller (U-19 Team USA), Daniel Orton, and Patrick Patterson (training in California with “Hell’s Trainer”). By all accounts, the group is getting along really well and enjoying eachother quite a bit.

They seem to be very aware of the high expectations for this season and even embracing of them. Steve Moss of WKYT has the following report on the summer so far:

John Calipari’s first recruiting class is on campus and some of my friends at UK say the pick-up games this summer have been, shall we say, interesting.

From all indications, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe are blending together nicely. Calipari has said he has no problems having two point guards on the floor at the same time. In fact, he has said, the dribble drive offense is very effective with two, penetrating point guards in there together, pitching and dishing, or getting to the rim.

Wall and Bledsoe fit the bill, according to folks who have seen the pick-up games. Wall is dazzling, as we’ve seen in the Hoops Summit and McDonald’s All-American games. According to witnesses, Wall has dominated at times and has thrown down more than a few “sick” dunks.

Bledsoe was the first point guard to commit to Calipari and UK. Many have wondered how Bledsoe and Wall would co-exist. Sources say Bledsoe and Wall get after each other during these pick-up games and many times Bledsoe gets the best of Wall.

I’m told Wall isn’t the only guard with blazing speed — Bledsoe is extremely fast in the open court. Each player tries to get to the rim whenever possible.

You’ll remember, Calipari said he likes to recruit “big” players, or at least, guys that play big. Bledsoe is listed at 6-feet, but according to those who’ve seen him go against Wall, Bledsoe plays much bigger. Bledsoe has thrown down several dunks over Wall and had a memorable slam over Jon Hood, who stands 6-foot-6.

Off the court, I’m told, these two really like each other and are becoming fast friends. On the court, it appears they’re pushing each other to their limits.

Freshman big man DeMarcus Cousins is also making his presence known this summer. Cousins, the 6-foot-10 big man from Birmingham, has been a beast in the pick-up games. I’m told Cousins hasn’t been afraid to voice his disapproval when some of the upperclassmen don’t play hard.

(This is great to hear about Cousins, a guy who consistent work ethic has been called into question)

Daniel Orton hasn’t been in town this month — he’s on the west coast with Patrick Patterson, training with Frank Matrisciano. Calipari said Darnell Dodson isn’t on campus either. Calipari said he hopes Dodson would be in Lexington for the final 4-week summer school session.

As Carl spelled out so well in covering for me while I was traveling in the home state of Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins, we now know who will NOT have a scholarship next year.  All that’s left to determine now is whether Jodie Meeks will be lucky number 13 on the roster or whether UK will save some money this year on basketball scholarships.

I don’t think anyone at this point would tell you 100% that Jodie Meeks is going to return, but most of what you hear points toward Jodie returning to Lexington for his senior year. I think this is the 3rd time I have written this, but even though Jodie Meeks has shown every indication that he wants to go pro right now, he’s smart enough and he has good enough people around him that he will make the best decision for his future now matter what. Jodie knows who he needs to listen to and what he needs to hear to stay in the Draft and I don’t think he will be afraid to do the right thing for him.

Let’s take a look at some of what people are saying about Jodie today:

-Gary Parrish wrote about how Jodie Meeks decision will impact the national college basketball scene and had this to say:

“For what it’s worth, multiple industry sources — some close to the Kentucky program, others on the NBA side of things — have told CBSSports.com that Meeks will probably withdraw by Monday, if only because he’s projected by most to go somewhere outside of the first round.”

-Andy Katz broke down the decisions of the players who have yet to make a decision about staying in the Draft and wrote this about Meeks:

Meeks won’t get into the first round, but he is a likely second-round selection. UK coach John Calipari doesn’t know for sure, but he was confident earlier in the week that Meeks would return. If he does, that only enhances the prospects for a team already expected to compete for the national title.

Jodie has said all along that he would have no problem coming back to school if he did not get a first round guarantee and based on this, it doesn’t sound like he’s getting that. Also, this drives home the point I brought up on Wednesday: John Calipari got some “strong indication” this week that Meeks would return, which allowed him to make a final decision to not renew the scholarships of Matt Pilgrim and Kevin Galloway. He may have gotten that indication from his NBA sources or maybe from the Meeks camp.

-Dave Baker Tweeted on the subject Friday evening:

“‘Solid’ source tells me Jodie cancelled his workout in Portland. As Pete Rose would say “if I was a betting man…” I’m betting he’s back!”

Jodie worked out Thursday with the Bulls and today with the 76ers so he has taken full advantage of this process, but if this is true it would seem that he has enough to make a decision.

John Wall made us wait until the signing deadline to make his decision and it appears Jodie Meeks may at least wait until a day or two before it. I know I have no problem waiting a little while longer if it means we get to watch Jodie join Wall in UK’s back court.

Another piece of interesting news today was Matt Jones’ revelation that Patrick Patterson will join Daniel Orton for 8 weeks this summer in San Francisco to train with the very well known Frank Matriscano. Orton and Patterson developed a very close relationship during Orton’s recruitment and it now appears that bond will grow stronger.

Orton and Patterson are going to come back to UK in the best shape of their lives, which will demand that DeMarcus Cousins step up his work ethic and his game to keep pace. This could be an excellent thing for Cousins, who has never really had to push himself on a consistent basis to succeed. Some of the best competition he will face all year will be in practice at UK, which will demand that he bring it all the time if he wants to play the kind of role his talent warrants. I don’t need to tell you, but this bears watching.