Eric Bledsoe

LEXINGTON ? Donnie Tyndall knows Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall is an elite player, maybe even the nation's top freshman player. What the Morehead State coach didn't realize was just how good freshman Eric Bledsoe was as well until Bledsoe had 24 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots Friday to lead the Wildcats over Morehead. "If John Wall is better than him, then wow. He is something else, and when he started making jump shots in the second half, he completely took the game over.

John Wall can score. So can Eric Bledsoe. Wall gained national attention following his performance in Kentucky's win over Connecticut last week, but Bledsoe took his turn in the scoring department in Kentucky's first "real" road test at Indiana Saturday. Although Wall had 11 points and dished out eight assists, the Wildcats needed another player to step up and take the pressure off Wall, the team's point guard. Bledsoe, Wall's sidekick in the backcourt, picked up the slack.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has been trying to get the Wildcats' attention this week. Since Monday's win over Campbellsville, Calipari has been putting his team through two-a-day workouts to advance his team to the "next level. "I tried to be the same guy and get them to the next level, but it didn't work. Now, they have the other guy," he said. "All I'm doing is holding the bar higher and they need to get that bar. If they don't get it, then we do it again and again. Then, there are some peer pressure things we do and I get louder.

LEXINGTON ? Eric Bledsoe never got into a comfort zone against Sam Houston State Thursday night. Bledsoe hardly felt at ease, even though the Wildcats posted a 102-92 win over the BearKats in the opening round of the Cancun Challenge at Rupp Arena. "It was real scary," he said. "We stopped playing and kept letting them in the game. We let them keep hanging around. " In assessing the outcome, Bledsoe said the team's defensive lapses, especially around the perimeter are because of a lack of focus by the team's newcomers, especially the freshmen class.

LEXINGTON - A lot of emphasis has been placed on John Calipari's "Dribble and Drive" motion offense. However, little has been mentioned on his defensive philosophies. Calipari touched on his defensive principles during an interview last week at the Joe Craft Center. Calipari said his teams have always succeeded on the defensive end and will focus on man-to-man schemes. "The basis of how we'll play will be a half-court defense, but it's man-to-man," he said. "We'll also press and some games we'll press from the tip off and the end of the game.

His outside shot is suspect and he's not a big point guard. However, those who have seen Eric Bledsoe play have no doubt the 6-1 point guard from Birmingham should flourish in John Calipari's system at Kentucky. Bledsoe averaged 20.3 points, 11.5 assists and 9.4 rebounds per game last season at Parker High School. He's rated as one of the nation's top point guards and signed with Kentucky last week. "Eric is a consummate point guard. He's a guy who wins. What I liked best about him last year was his competitive drive and presence on the court," said Dave Telep, Scout.

BLOOMINGTON ? Remember when everyone was wondering why in the world Eric Bledsoe would come to Kentucky knowing that John Wall also was going to play for the Wildcats? The prevailing theory was that the two point guards could not co-exist, or play, together, especially since Wall could well be the best freshman point guard ever in the college game. But guess what? Eric Bledsoe is not too shabby, either. He ended a streak of five games without scoring in double figures by tallying 23 points here Saturday in Kentucky's 90-73 win over Indiana in the Cats' first true road test of what could turn out to be a very memorable season.

LEXINGTON - John Wall went back in time, and it was like old days, with the exception of the outcome. Although it's been almost two years since he played at Rupp Arena, the former University of Kentucky guard noticed little difference during the Kentucky Pros exhibition game against the Dominican Republic. Wall never lost a game in the arena while at Kentucky, but that all changed Monday night when the Dominican Republic national team, led by Wall's former college coach John Calipari, defeated the Pros 106-88.

LEXINGTON - Junior college small forward Darnell Dodson is the second Kentucky signee for coach John Calipari. The Miami-Dade Community College standout has signed with the Wildcats after averaging 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season to help his team go 26-2 and win the Southern Conference championship. The 6-7 Dodson shot 76.7 percent from the foul line to earn all-conference honors. He will have three years of eligibility remaining. Calipari missed on Oklahoma prep standout swingman Xavier Henry earlier in the week, but quickly persuaded Dodson to cast his lot with the Wildcats.

LOUISVILLE -- Point guard Eric Bledsoe has Florida No. 1 on his recruiting list, but Kentucky is No. 2 and could move to the front. "There's a chance Kentucky could move up," said Bledsoe, who describes himself as a "pass first point guard," before Thursday's practice here for Saturday night's Wazoo Sports Derby Festival Classic. "They just have to recruit me more and harder. If they do, then they can move up. " Bledsoe does plan to make a visit to Kentucky Sunday to see new UK coach John Calipari and his staff.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Kentucky guards Ryan Harrow, Julius Mays and Archie Goodwin have frustrated UK fans with their inconsistency at times this season and befuddled even coach John Calipari at times. However, Tennessee guard Skylar McBee says the trio may have had no chance to succeed this year considering who they had to follow. McBee, a senior, played against John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, both first-round draft picks and current NBA stalwarts, three years ago. Two years ago he went against Brandon Knight and DeAndre Liggins, both draft picks and both on NBA roster.

Is there a chance that this Kentucky basketball team simply is not tough enough overall to be a Final Four contender? “It's hard to say if a team is soft as a unit,” Fox Sports college basketball analyst Larry Conley said. “I think they have guys that play with skills. Their skills actually are pretty solid. Are they mean and nasty? No, as a team they are not but that does not mean they can not go out and win games. I've seen a lot of teams do that. “It's always nice to have one or two guys like that (mean and nasty)

LEXINGTON - Maybe he was only trying to motivate his team as he insisted after the game. Or maybe, just maybe, Samford coach Ben Seltzer was just saying what other coaches and opposing players might be thinking. Early in the first half of Tuesday's eventual 88-56 loss to unranked Kentucky, Seltzer was overheard by a media member telling his team this was the “worst Kentucky team ever” even as the Wildcats were building a huge lead. Kentucky was coming off back-to-back losses that dropped the Cats from No. 8 in the Associated Press rankings to being unranked - the biggest one-week fall in the AP top 25 ever.

John Calipari did everything he could at the Final Four to make it clear he was happy at Kentucky and not interested in going to the NBA. “The biggest takeaway (from the NBA) is they fired me. What I learned there was, in college it was always about movement, motion offense.  That was the '70s. Motion and passing, not knowing who is shooting. In the NBA it was all about spacing. There is motion, but it's more about the space of the court. So I was able to come back (to college)

NEW ORLEANS - Twice before John Calipari had taken a team to the Final Four and lost twice - on the court and to the NCAA. His Final Four appearance with Massachusetts - and semifinal loss to Kentucky - was voided by the NCAA even though Calipari was never found guilty of any wrongdoing. His Final Four appearance with Memphis - and title game loss to Kansas - was voided after the NCAA gave Memphis the clearance to play Derrick Rose and then voided the wins for playing Rose.

ATLANTA - Sophomore Jarrod Polson has played only 31 minutes in 11 games this season for Kentucky, not exactly what the walk-on guard from West Jessamine High School hoped for this year. However, even though he's taken just two shots and scored only one point, Polson continues to not only be popular with his teammates, but also with fans. One magazine he recently named him one of the 24 “hottest” players in March Madness. Today Kentucky faces Baylor in the South Regional final and a win would send the Cats, and Polson, to a second straight Final Four.

LEXINGTON - He knows it's not like other games, but Kentucky senior Darius Miller insists the Wildcats have to treat Saturday's nationally televised game with Louisville like it is just another game. “We can't take it like it is a different game. We can't get into all the hype and all of that,” said Miller. “We have to continue to do what we need to do and listen to Coach (John Calipari). We can't let our emotions get the best of us and let it get out of hand. We have to come out and treat it like another game and hopefully come out with a win.” Miller knows saying that is one thing.

Southeastern Conference Television analyst Joe Dean Jr., who was an assistant coach at Kentucky under Joe Hall, admitted going into last season that he thought a case could be made that Kentucky might be only the fifth best team in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division. Of course, the Wildcats went on to win the SEC tournament and advance to the Final Four, something Dean says many friends who are his friends didn't let him forget. “I may never live that down, but going into last season, and even for part of the season, Kentucky just did not look like a Final Four team,” Dean said.

Jeff Sheppard was always a creative basketball player, especially during the 1997-98 season, when he helped Kentucky win its most recent national championship. However, Sheppard is insisting that what he's doing with the Big Blue All-Stars is not a novel idea. He has a team of former UK players who are now on NBA rosters scheduled to play a series of exhibition games against NAIA schools in Kentucky, starting with Saturday's game at Pikeville. Other games will be Sunday at Alice Lloyd, Monday at Georgetown, Tuesday at Union and Oct. 13 at Mid-Continent.

LEXINGTON - Based on what former Kentucky players thought of Monday's exhibition game against the Dominican Republic, there likely will be similar type games in the future at Rupp Arena or maybe Memorial Coliseum. “I am down with it as long as we don't have the same refs,” joked DeMarcus Cousins, who just finished his first season with Sacramento, after scoring 28 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. “My agent is here in the back, so we will talk about contract negotiations,” said Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who had seven assists, seven rebounds and three points.