Kentucky @ LSU: Pre-game Notes

By SkyAntoine

Posted January 26, 2012, 7:08 pm

0 Comments

Coach Cal will take his talents to South Baton Rouge Saturday when the #1 Cats (20-1, 6-0 SEC) take on the #73 ranked LSU Tigers (12-8, 2-4 SEC).  The Tigers will be looking to salvage their season and there is no better starting point than knocking off Kentucky.  Sometime between now and 30 seconds ago Calipari told his players and the press that Kentucky is LSU's Super Bowl and how they will "play out of their mind" Saturday.
 
The month of January has not been kind to LSU who has dropped 5 of their last 7 games since the world celebrated Kentucky defeating Louisville.  Prior to January 1, LSU had won 7 straight with a big home win over Marquette.  Losses away to Alabama, Florida and Mississippi State, although respectable teams, have shaken the confidence of LSU.  On their current stretch of games, LSU Coach Trent Johnson said. "I've got a group that's really struggling (emotionally) right now. They fought. And we're just tired of coming up short. It hurts." 
 
Kentucky, by all accounts, is much more emotionally stable and expected to take care of business before playing the Dirty Snitches of Tennessee next Tuesday.  In this week's SEC Teleconference Coach Johnson said, "I don’t know if it’s Kentucky or the Miami Heat we have to play on Saturday.”  It's understandable how he gets easily confused between the two.  We do have MKG.
 
What to watch for Saturday...
- Leading scorer Justin Hamilton will learn about ball spikes.  UK's defense has been incredibly awesome to very good to good most games.  A few teams have given us fits fighting around picks and a couple of times I think we were watching butterflies rather than sticking with assignments, but we continue to be solid on defense.
 
- Can UK put a team away?  We get up by 10...then we're up by 4...then we push it out to 9...  Sound familiar?  Fans can clamor over good, tight, buzzer beaters all you want, but I'm ready to see an old fashioned beat down.  Maybe Cal will pull a Steve Spurrier and run up the score.
 
- Assists/Turnover and rebounds for Teague.  The kid has been playing solid lately and it still seems like everyone is looking for him to prove that he can run this team.  Regardless, point guard play cannot be underestimated and we need Teague to continue to build for March (and April).
 
- Terrence Jones cannot be in every other Tweet about how much we are outscored when he's in the game.
 
- Will Eloy make the court?  Apparently he's developed superhuman skills in practice, yet we're keeping our secret weapon on the bench.
 
- Will Lamb get back in the groove?  It was strange watching him miss 75% of his shots versus Georgia, but maybe I was just concentrating on his lack of hair.
 
- Will Darius Miller ever be referred to as "Disaperious" Miller again?  Let's hope not.  He's got that "I want #8" look in his eye and so does the Big Blue Nation.
 
GBB!  
This guy isn't walking through LSU's door.

Comments

Who are we talking to?
That's not an email! Ha.
What would you like to say?
Great! Your comment was successfully posted.