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BBN on the Explorer of the Seas wants Thursday Night News and Views

Drew Franklinby: Drew Franklin02/13/15DrewFranklinKSR
Randy Franklin (for the last time, we're not related) and his friends aboard the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship look like they had a blast watching Tuesday night's game from the Caribbean. Check out that textbook form on those three-goggles and the fun group they had on their trip. Jealous. Speaking of trips, I will be signing off of KSR for a few days after this post. A 6:30 am flight out of Lexington will take me to New York City for NBA All-Star weekend where I will most certainly look out of place at the parties and events. (Debating on going full Russell Westbrook to the fashion show.) If you're in the Big Apple this weekend, join me and several other Cats fans at Jack Demsey's for Saturday's game. If I don't see you there, I'll be back on Tuesday to write words on the internet and stuff. Now, to tonight's news and views so I can go pack, stay up too late, then miss my flight...   South Carolina is coming. Tyler will have a ton here on the website for you tomorrow once Calipari takes the podium for his pre-South Carolina press conference, so tonight I'll just say Saturday's game should be easier to watch than Tuesday's at LSU. South Carolina is 2-3 since losing to Kentucky by 15 three weeks ago and Kentucky is, well, Kentucky, and at home. If ESPN's BPI is any indication of Frank Martin's chances of smiling, it's going to be another angry afternoon for the Gamecocks head coach. South Carolina has a one percent chance of upset, according to the BPI. I like UK's odds. Florida lost to Ole Miss at home. Florida gonna Florida. Karl Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein named Naismith finalists. One day after Willie made the final 20 for the Wooden Award, he and Karl Towns made the final list of 30 candidates for the Naismith trophy. The group will be narrowed down to 10 on March 6, four on March 22, and the winner will be announced on April 5. Cats. Jay Bilas likes '05 Illinois over '15 Kentucky. Bilas told Champaign's News-Gazette, "As good as Kentucky is this year, they were not as good as Illinois was that year. That was a great team. It would be a fight, but I’d take Illinois in that fight." That Illini team was the real deal with Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head in the backcourt. They went 29-0 before losing the regular season finale to Ohio State, then to North Carolina in the title game, if you recall. Bilas called their first four tourney games. And while we're on the subject of Bilas, Coach Cal shared the video of Bilas speaking to the team in the Bahamas again today on his website. It's like he wrote the script for how the season would go. #NailedIt Cal also showed it to his team before Thursda's practice. Coach K sees two reasons why Kentucky could potentially run the table: 1. Defense 2. Closing games
“Kentucky has done two things that I think make you feel like it can be done,” Coach K said. “They play really good defense, so at the end of a game, if it’s a close game, they can stop you. The second thing that they’ve done is they seem to relish the pressure of making a play at the end of a game on offense. So, you have a great defensive team, and they are obviously very talented, but great defensively, and then in those moments, they want to be in those moments. And that’s very admirable. That’s a heck of a thing.”
See you at the Final Four, Kryzsweskeiskifkski. Assuming you don't draw Mercer or Lehigh again. Thon Maker will pick a class, not a school, tomorrow. One of the most sought-after talents in high school basketball will announce whether or not he will graduate this spring or return for a senior season at Orangeville Prep Academy in... wherever that is. Thon Maker, currently the No. 1 player in the 2016 class, received his grades earlier this week and is ready to go public with whatever he decided for his future. Regardless of what class he chooses, there's strong talk around his recruitment that he will never play college basketball. He's rumored to be very interested in a year of pro basketball somewhere before jumping to the NBA. I understand the pressure Maker is feeling right now as this decision decides the next year of his life. When I was a senior at UK, I decided to reclassify to be a senior at UK again for a fifth year of spicy beef wraps at Ovid's. I don't regret it, either. Not one bit. UK Hoops won in double-OT. Makayla Epps hit the game-winner with under a second left after Mississippi State hung around and forced two overtimes. Epps was the star of the show, not just because of the final bucket but the other 40 points that came before it, too. Her 42-point effort marked the first time an SEC women's player scored 40 in a game in the last five years. She's pretty good, y'all. Must have good genes or something. THE FIRECRACKERS ARE SATURDAY'S HALFTIME SHOW!!!! You don't understand how much it pains me to miss Saturday's game when the best halftime show in the world comes to Lexington. They'll be doing one of their amazing jump rope routines while Kentucky rests in the locker room with a comfortable lead over South Carolina. Ryan Lemond, you've been replaced for the weekend.   I guess I'll talk to you guys on Tuesday. Go Cats.

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2025-08-02