Dumb and Dumber To's Wednesday News and Views

If you're of a certain age, you can probably recite lines from the movie "Dumb and Dumber." The Farrelly Brothers hit came out in 1994, which was right during my adolescence, making it the funniest thing I had ever seen. If you haven't seen it by now (where have you been??), it stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two really dumb friends doing really dumb things in really dumb outfits. It's basically "The Three Stooges" for the 90's crowd, but grosser. So gross that the most popular scene of the movie is when Jeff Daniels has diarrhea in the bathroom for what seems like forever. Even at age 10, that got old after a while. However, if you love potty humor, you're in luck, because Carrey and Daniels are hard at work on the sequel, "Dumb and Dumber To." Daniels, fresh off his Emmy win for "The Newsroom," tweeted the above picture on Tuesday. According to him, that bathroom scene from the original is nothing compared to what's coming up:

"The scariest thing? There are some things that we're going to do in 'Dumb and Dumber To' that make the toilet scene [in the original] seem lame," said Daniels. "Pales in comparison and I can't divulge what, but just that they've topped it."

Slightly terrified to find out. Anyhow, let's get on with it. Julius Randle fever spreads After hearing about summer workouts, reading the practice reports, and seeing the Greek god-esque pictures, we all know Julius Randle is good. Now, the rest of the world is catching on. Jeff Goodman wrote a piece on Tuesday describing why he would choose Julius Randle over Andrew Wiggins if he had the #1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Seth Greenberg also praised Randle during his appearance on the radio show, calling him the "most physically impressive guy I've seen since LeBron James." Greenberg, who watched Randle play during the Calipari Fantasy Camp a few weeks ago, said that it's not just Randle's size that's impressive; it's his explosive play. To paraphrase Tubby Smith, he looks like Tarzan AND plays like Tarzan. The one concern Greenberg has about Randle is he doesn't want him to fall in love with his jump shot, and rely instead on using his body to power to the basket. ...But if he hits the occasional three to keep people honest, that's fine too. Dakari Johnson continues to impress Greenberg also said that this Kentucky team needs two things to be successful: 1) a guy to "coach the locker room," which they lacked last season; and 2) patience. He echoed others who said that one of the biggest surprises to him was Dakari Johnson:

"Dakari has great hands, great feet, patient around the basket, a feel for throwing out of double teams, he's got to go to get out of his move a little quicker. He labors running, but he runs hard. He's not a great runner, he's not a great jumper, but he works at it. Dakari carves out space with his lower body. ...I think he's going to be a very good, legitimate low post player that's comfortable being a low post player. That's a rarity these days."

You know what I love so far about this team? Each day, it seems like somebody new is "surprising" people, whether it be Dakari, Marcus Lee, Jon Hood (!), or Aaron Harrison. Who's next? The Dribble Drive is back The basketball team had a 35-minute scrimmage on Tuesday, and in what is becoming a very satisfying tradition, CoachCal.com's Eric Lindsey has a full practice report. Here are my takeaways: More Dribble Drive -- Lindsey says the two things he noticed were more dribble drive and a faster tempo:

"I almost get the impression that Coach Cal wants other teams to press. If you give these Cats a numerical advantage on the break, it’s game over. The length and speed of this team could also make for one of the scariest full-court presses in the country."

Stop worrying about 3-point shooting -- Lindsey says that James Young, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Jon Hood, Jarrod Polson, Derek Willis, and even Julius Randle are very capable of hitting the three, Young in particular:

"But the guy who I’m beginning to believe could be the best 3-point shooter on the team is James Young. From what little I’ve seen of him so far, he has been extremely consistent in hitting the open long-range shot and nearly as good with a hand in his face because of his length. You can see he’s put a lot of time into his rhythm and follow-through."

Derek Willis can score -- The high scorer in the scrimmage? Derek Willis. Considered by many an afterthought in the star-studded freshman class, Willis has settled in and is impressing Calipari, who said that while Willis needs to bulk up, he's a scorer that can give the Cats some points off the bench. Willie Cauley-Stein is developing a jump hook -- HOORAY! Last season, Cauley-Stein lacked a go-to move on offense, so news that he is improving in the post is more than welcome. Cal was pleased -- Lindsey says Cal was very happy with how the team was picking up the dribble drive, and told them this after a particularly impressive play between Andrew Harrison, Jon Hood, WCS, Marcus Lee, and Jarrod Polson:

“That’s how we play basketball,” Coach Cal said. “They attacked, they drove, they passed, they scored. That’s how we play. This (system) was designed for players who don’t mess around with the ball.”

Dribble drive and pressing. That's what Kentucky does. [caption id="attachment_141461" align="alignnone" width="605"] This made me laugh on Tuesday.[/caption] The Cats ain't scared With the Florida game only three days away, Mark Stoops was happy to report that his offense had one of their better practices in recent memory. Both Jalen Whitlow and Maxwell Smith looked good, and Stoops said that the offense moved smoothly under each of them. He also said that he's not changing his defensive gameplan because of the Gators backup QB Tyler Murphy. In fact, Stoops thinks facing Jalen Whitlow every day has been good preparation for Murphy. Even better? They'll have Donte Rumph back. Rumph said he bruised his shoulder against Louisville, but will be ready in time for Saturday's game. Don't expect any friendliness on the field Saturday--the veterans said that while they'll seek Joker out after the game to say hi, they're more than ready to snap the 26-game losing streak. As Bud Dupree put it, "I really don't know how you could lose that many times." (Me neither, Bud. Me neither.) Za'Darius Smith wasn't afraid to talk a little trash about the Gators, either, according to our own Nick Roush:

"It’s an OK team, I’m not just going to say (that) they’re all that. Hey, it’s the SEC.” When asked if they looked bigger/faster/stronger on tape than he expected, he said, “No they didn’t, they actually looked smaller than people we already played.”

For the love of God, follow this up with a win, boys. That's all for now. DICKIE V will be on the show in the morning to talk about the Cats. Until then, let Congresswoman Corinne Brown educate you about the Florida "Gatas" baybee... http://youtu.be/KgbBP9Em00A