Kentucky Sports Radio

It’s time to break out that old Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket! Team owner Michael Jordan announced this afternoon that the Charlotte Bobcats have filed the necessary paperwork to take back their old “Hornets” nickname, which was freed up when New Orleans became the Pelicans. The NBA Board of Governors will vote on approving the name change when they meet up in July. Jordan also indicated that the colors may change from teal and purple, and that the logo may be modified.

Will two Cats soon wear Hornets gear? We’ll find out shortly during tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery (8:30 pm ET on ESPN).

5 stats/keys to success to keep an eye on:

1. Perimeter defense- Kentucky had interior defense last season when Nerlens Noel was healthy, but the Wildcats never found the guy who could contain the other team’s best perimeter shooter or guard. Not only did hot shooting guards plague the Cats last season, but quick/penetrating point guards often burned Kentucky as well. Kentucky may not find a DeAndre Liggins or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist… but guys like Brandon Knight and Marquis Teague became formidable perimeter defenders though during their time at Kentucky.

2. Shot blocking- We have become accustomed to great shot blocking over the past two years with Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel. Marcus Lee is not necessarily either of those guys– at least not yet. Cauley-Stein showed flashes of shot-blocking brilliance late last season. The shot blocking will likely be an effort by committee rather than simply one player dominating the statistic.

3. Two 3-point shooting threats- We know that Kentucky has Kyle Wiltjer. Although his shot wasn’t consistently falling last season, he is likely to see a lot more open looks with the personnel Kentucky will have on the court. We’ve also seen Wiltjer’s defense though. Kentucky would benefit greatly from having another three point shooting threat in addition to Wiltjer in times when his defense is a major liability for the team.

4. Fouls- Kentucky will have no shortage of interior defenders between Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee, Alex Poythress and Julius Randle. Not only does that list include a list of very good players, but that’s also 25 fouls per game to spare. Not that Kentucky would (or would want to) give up 25 fouls, but foul trouble shouldn’t ever be an issue with the big men on this team. Calipari has already mentioned that he wants to press more with this team. Kentucky will be able to gamble more on all areas of the court with the depth this team will have.

5. Who will be the back-up point guard? I honestly think this is one to keep an eye on. Jarrod Polson gained a lot of experience last season and also had a lot of success. Dominique Hawkins is more athletic, but lacks the experience Polson has.

4 potential losses:

1. vs. Michigan State –Kentucky will have only had 2 true games and 2 exhibition games under its belt before facing an experienced, talented and well-coached Michigan State team. Kentucky will be the kind of team you want to catch early next season if you hope to have a chance. Michigan State will definitely have a chance.

2. @ North Carolina– The Tar Heels are 1 Andrew Wiggins short of having the talent to go toe-to-toe with Kentucky like they did 2 years ago when Anthony Davis became the late-game hero. The home court advantage for North Carolina might not be enough to even the playing field, but it’s enough to make it awfully close.

3. vs. Louisville– Kentucky was an NIT team (barely) last season and still almost beat Louisville ON the road. Louisville essentially has the same team coming back, minus a few key pieces. Kentucky will have a totally revamped and more talented roster. Stranger things have happened though in the UK/UL series than the favorite losing. You have to give the defending national champions a chance, especially in a game played in December.

4. @ Florida– Kentucky and Florida will be the class of the SEC and it’s not even really close. Both match-ups next season should be the premier SEC games of the entire season. Florida returns a great deal of talent while also bringing in one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. I expect at least 1 of the 2 games between these two teams to be a 5-point or less game.

3 things that shouldn’t surprise you at the end of the season:

1. Orlando Antigua finding his first head coaching job– It’s only a matter of time. I feel like we’ve been saying that ever since Calipari and Antigua arrived in Lexington. Antigua has passed up on a number of potential opportunities. His name will continue to be thrown into the coaching carousel mix year in and year out. If Kentucky wins its second national title in three years, coming off of yet another #1 ranked recruiting class aided STRONGLY by the recruiting of Antigua– what better timing could he have to make the move? Also, don’t be surprised to see him back in Lexington again someday…

2. At least 5 players averaging double figures. No one averaging more than 14 ppg. — Kentucky will have so many weapons that it’s hard to pinpoint who the leading scorer on this team will be. Any of the top 7 guys when you look at the roster could average double figures, easily. My guess is at least 5 of them do. Much like the national championship team of two years ago, I can’t see any one particular player scoring the lion’s share of the points either. Balance, balance, balance. Teams will have to pick their poison on any given night.

3. Louisville fans who told us “not to live in the past” for years about our national championships… living in the past and still talking about 2013.

2 sleeper games to keep an eye on:

1. Boise State

2. Belmont

I don’t expect that both of these games will be close, but I do predict that 1 of them will be closer than you would expect (at least until late in the 2nd half). Kentucky will likely pull away in the end, on its home court, but both of these NCAA tournament-experienced/veteran teams could give Kentucky a little trouble at first.

1  player leaving at the end of the season who you did not expect to be a one-and-done

We’ve seen this happen before with guys like Eric Bledsoe and Marquis Teague. If Kentucky wins the national championship, you can almost be sure that at least one player who had a better season than expected will make the jump. Calipari tends to have at least 1 player every season who really over-achieves. I’m not saying it will for sure happen, but keep an eye on a guy like Dakari Johnson who has developed rapidly in the last 6 months alone. As the old saying goes As someone has probably at least said once, “you can’t teach being a 7-footer.”

Julius Mays will participate in the Brooklyn Nets’ league-wide NBA combine this week. The two-day event begins tomorrow and is open to all NBA teams. The Nets’ combine features mostly five-on-five competition between potential second rounders, as opposed to individual workouts like what we saw from the draft’s top prospects in Chicago’s combine last week.

Mays is scheduled to run with guys like Pierre Jackson (Baylor), Travis Releford (Kansas), Marshawn Powell (Arkansas) and Alex Oriakhi (Missouri) in Thursday’s 11:15 a.m. session. Other notable prospects participating in Brooklyn are Peyton Siva (Louisville), Christian Watford (Indiana), Phil Pressey (Missouri) and Jack Cooley (Notre Dame), to give you an idea of what level of talent is invited.

Friday has the potential to be a pretty epic day on KSR Radio. America’s favorite hero Charles Ramsey will be on KSR Radio with me and Drew on Friday. We are making the trip to Floyd County, where Ramsey will be doing a public meet and greet. Drew and I are beyond excited and the interview could be the highlight of our young careers. So do not miss it and while you are waiting, make sure to listen to his great words set to music again…my only hope is that we can eat ribs with this dude on Friday:

On Monday, Tyler Thompson dropped a poll asking you, the Kentucky Sports Radio readers, to cast your realistic opinion on the upcoming football season. No frills, no strings attached. The results seemed optimistic overall, but there was plenty of naysaying and overboard positivity in the comments.

Without a doubt, morale is high around the program. Mark Stoops has sent a massive surge of energy into the recruiting scene and has rallied a dormant fan base around a team that mustered only two wins last season. If what Stoops has done off the field in just a few months is any indication of the product we get on the field, this season will be fun. However, the SEC is still the SEC. It will take time for the young guns to get acclimated to the size and speed. Results will not be immediate, in all likelihood.

That is not discouraging the KSR readers. They have spoken, and the majority says the Wildcats will just miss out on a bowl berth, posting a 5-7 record overall. Twenty-nine percent of the votes say the Cats will be one win shy of the post-season. That is still quite an improvement from what we saw a season ago. Next, with 25 percent of the votes, say 4-8 is most likely. Third was an even 6-6 record, getting 20 percent of the votes.

Kentucky loses five offensive starters from a unit that was among the worst overall in all of college football. That claim was no fault of two veterans on the front line, however, center Matt Smith and guard Larry Warford. Replacing these big boys up front will be no easy task. The quarterback and running back position will be the deepest for offensive coordinator Neal Brown, who can’t wait to air it out.

Defensively, Stoops has a lot to work with. The only major loss is safety Martavius Neloms, and some of the brightest players with the most upside are still young. Fans have a lot to be excited with in defensive end Bud Dupree, along with tackle Mister Cobble and Donte Rumph. Throw in linebackers Avery Williamson and Miles Simpson, and there is plenty of experience in the unit, along with its top three tacklers from last season.

The outlook for the season is not pristine, especially with teams like Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia  on the schedule. But with Stoops at the helm, surely this ship with right itself before long. I have to say the KSR readers are optimistic at 5-7. Pick up one surprise upset and we could be bowling!

Anthony Davis is in New York City to represent the New Orleans Pelicans with his head coach in the draft lottery. The Pelicans have an 8.8 percent chance of receiving the pick for a second consecutive season.

Chad Forde believes the Pelicans will take Otto Porter if awarded the top overall pick. Trey Burke and Ben McLemore are No. 2 and 3 on the Pelicans’ board.

The NBA draft lottery is five hours away and fans are anxiously awaiting the draft order. Once the ping-pong balls are drawn tonight, we will have a pretty good idea whether or not Nerlens Noel will become the third No. 1 overall pick from Kentucky in four years under John Calipari.

Here are the team-by-team and pick-by-pick odds:

SI

Let’s go Charlotte. Or Sacramento.

Follow along on ESPN at 8:30ish.

Every fan base has its trolls. We know them well here at KSR. While most of us just ignore them and wait for them to slither back beneath their bridge, Vanderbilt offensive line/run game coordinator Herb Hand took action. Hand received some offensive tweets about his wife from a Tennessee fan, and replied to them with the following message:

“Feel free to come by anytime so we can talk about this in person like men. …You are welcome to come to my office so we can discuss this face to face…I fully welcome the opportunity.”

He also copied the tweet into a text message and sent it to Tennessee head coach Butch Jones. Here’s a screencap (warning: salty and somewhat blurred language ahead):

Hand has since deleted the tweets from his feed, but posted this message to his followers this morning:

Some will say that Hand went too far and should have just ignored the tweets, but I applaud him for calling the guy out. Next time you guys get unruly in the comments section, maybe we’ll have him pay you a little visit.

Photo by Regina Rickert

After going into the season ranked eighth in the country, it was a sad day in Hoover for your University of Kentucky baseball team, who lost to Ole Miss 4-1 in the opening round of the SEC Baseball Tournament. The Rebel Black Bears jumped out to an early lead, and despite having the bases loaded in the seventh inning, the Cats couldn’t mount a comeback. Their lone run came in the fourth inning off a delayed-steal play with two outs.

The Bat Cats started the season 22-6 and ranked as high as seventh in some polls, but a late season skid has totally halted their postseason plans. They will finish the season with a 30-25 record. Ole Miss will move on to face Arkansas tomorrow.

Get ‘em next year, boys.

Rivals.com updated its 2014 college football rankings today and Drew Barker got a bump up from a 5.8 four-star to a 5.9 four-star player. Barker is ranked No. 117 (previously No. 153) in the list of 250.

Mikel Horton joins Barker as the only other UK commit rated 5.9. Horton is the 131st (previously No. 209) overall player and the 22nd-ranked running back.

Thaddeus Snodgrass also made the list at No. 205 overall.

Cats.

UK safety Ashely Lowery is still recovering from his horrific car wreck earlier this month at his mother’s home in Georgia, and according to this picture from Lowery family friend Doug Stutsman, he’s got plenty of reading to do. Stutsman posted the picture of Ashely’s get well cards on Twitter with the caption “Never seen so many get well cards before. #BBN.”

Ashely expects to return to school in June.

“I will make you eat your feet.”

Archie Goodwin is one of four NBA prospects tabbed as combine “losers” in a piece at SI.com. Though the label is only “for the moment,” it is clear that Archie’s inconsistent jump shot may be too much for him to overcome as he tries to improve his stock in these weeks leading up to the draft.

Losers (For The Moment)

Archie Goodwin

Goodwin struggled with his jump shot throughout the combine — “Very flat,” a Western Conference coach said — and looked like the player who said he would be “delusional” to think he was ready for the NBA. There is a raw, Jamal Crawford-like talent in Goodwin, an athletic, dynamic combo guard who can score in a variety of ways. But it could take years to develop that player in him, if it can be brought out at all.

Once a potential lottery pick, Archie is now expected to go in the late first round to early second round range. Draft Express updated its mock draft today and it projects him going to the Suns with the last pick in the first round.

Another combine loser, according to SI.com: Shabazz Muhammad.

[SI.com: Winners, losers from the 2013 NBA draft combine]

While talking about Louisville’s success in an interview with KSR last week, John Calipari said, “We won it first.” Now, that jab at the Cards is a t-shirt in The KSR Shop for members of Big Blue Nation to own.

Pre-order your “We Won It First” t-shirt at TheKSRShop.com today!

One of the few setbacks from Spring Practice was Donte Rumph’s shoulder injury. However, Rumph is recovering nicely from his surgery, and should be ready to play once the season rolls around. In fact, ESPN’s Chris Low says that he’ll be one of the top defensive tackle prospects from the SEC in next year’s draft:

Donte Rumph, Kentucky: He had his spring cut short by shoulder surgery, but the 6-3, 323-pound Rumph is an imposing figure in the middle. If he’s healthy, look for him to be on a lot of teams’ draft boards.

We want the Rumph…gotta have that Rumph…

Have you ever woken up on a Tuesday and wondered, “Man, I wonder what Ramel Bradley is up to these days?”? Apparently Bradley has his team, GreenTops Netanya, one game away from the Israeli Premiere League Final Four. Netanya was down in the series 0-2, but Bradley led them to two straight wins, with 19 points and had 7 rebounds and 6 assists in last night’s victory. Game 5 is Thursday night, and if they win, they move on to the Semifinals.

In case you missed it a few weeks ago, Ramel also accidentally hit his coach in the face while trying to save a ball. Smooth.

On this morning’s radio show, Matt and the crew will discuss the NBA draft lottery, football expectations, and navigating the world the way it’s meant to be navigated: with an atlas.

#TeamNoGPS

Join in on the fun by calling (502) 571-1080.

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