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December 11, 2009

Wildcats as good as advertised

By JON WEBB The Glasgow Daily Times Fri Dec 11, 2009, 08:13 AM CST

GLASGOW — I don’t make a habit of admitting I’m wrong.

Such confessions never do much good, really. They insinuate weakness, stupidity and do a considerable amount of tarnish to the mental-picture of myself as an omniscient genius.

But sometimes they’re warranted. So here it is:

I was (94-percent probably) wrong about Kentucky.

While commenting on the release of the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches Poll in the Nov. 1 edition of the paper, I wrote the following:

“After a 22-14 season and two years under Billy Gillispie, the Wildcats are far from the fifth-best team in the nation.”

Well, they aren’t. They may be the best.

After beating both North Carolina and Connecticut in a span of five days, Kentucky has passed its two toughest pre-SEC-season tests and earned itself fourth-place rankings in the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.

The team boasts the best point guard in the nation and a solid supporting cast.

The Wildcats would have little trouble unseating the teams ranked ahead of them, also.

Top-ranked Kansas’ schedule thus far has been the equivalent of Goliath playing eight versions of David’s asthmatic, I-bruise-easily little brother.

The Jayhawks’ only true competition thus far has been unranked Memphis — a team Kansas defeated only by two and that hasn’t beat anyone significant in its own rite.

Texas and Villanova, the No. 2 and 3 teams, have endured more respectable, if still yawn-inducing schedules, with neither playing a truly top-tier opponent.

A portion of the three teams’ “competition” sounds more like schools made up by a high school dropout eager to get his inquisitive uncle off his back at Thanksgiving dinner.

(“Yes Uncle Dave, I’m going to ... uh ... Central Arkansas University now. It’s in the middle of the state.”)

Granted, Kentucky did its fair share of slumming early in the year. Names like Sam Houston State and North Carolina-Asheville don’t intimidate, but acronyms like UCONN and UNC do.

Now: I’ve admitted Kentucky is good. Maybe even excellent.

But they’re not perfect.

In both the UNC and UCONN games, UK blew leads and nearly came out on the wrong side.

Despite leading by 15 at the half, the Wildcats let Carolina back in and watched the Tar Heels outscore them 38-25 in the second. As far as UCONN, Kentucky took their Nikes off the gas after building a 12-0 lead in the first 4:18 and allowed UCONN to crawl back and eventually take a 29-23 advantage going into the last 20 minutes.

As the season progresses and more and more intel about UK’s freshmen creeps into scouting reports, building early leads and “jumping on” teams early will become increasingly difficult.

But I digress.

I mistook the Wildcats for an inexperienced, inflated-talent, potential 20-10 team at the beginning of the season. I was wrong.

Unless Indiana beats them on Saturday, in which case the Hoosiers will reign triumphantly over the region and redeliver the glory days to glorious Bloomington.

Go Hoosiers.

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SPORTS COMMENTARY: They are who I thought they weren’t

Wildcats as good as advertised

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