Not Jerry Tipton's Friday Basketball Notebook

The 2013-14 season is here, and Kentucky will spend the entirety of it trying to atone for the disaster was the 2012-13 season. John Calipari’s team is trying to do something that no team in the history of college basketball has ever done: Win a national championship relying primarily on 6 freshmen who were McDonald’s All Americans. With a disappointing loss to Michigan State, the team will fail to reach its ultimate goal of perfect season, and will instead try to console itself with a national title. To stay apprised and educated, follow me on Twitter @NotJerryTipton. Here’s the weekly notebook: *Sabotage: On Monday, John Calipari announced on Twitter that he had a long telephone conversation with former president Bill Clinton. Bad move, coach. The conservative sector of Big Blue Nation was incensed, confused and betrayed, wondering why Coach Cal would want to consort with a Democrat like Clinton. Then, apparently not content with angering just half the UK fanbase, he alienated the other half later that day by announcing that the Kentucky team would be visiting the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas on Friday prior to the team’s game against Baylor that night. This raised the ire of the liberal UK fans, who were furious that their coach would choose to patronize an institution dedicated to a Republican like Bush. You can question Calipari’s judgment, but you can’t question his efficiency. In just a few short hours, he forced every Cat fan on the planet to hate him. Conspiracy theorists will wonder if this was intentional. With the annual “Cal to the NBA” rumors surfacing, is the wily coach just greasing the skids for his inevitable exit to the Knicks? Well played, Coach Cal. *Make Some Noise: Last week, UK sophomore Willie Cauley-Stein averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds and 8 blocks per game. However, he failed to win SEC Player of the Week. Instead, the honor was shared by Florida’s Casey Prather (23 points and 5 rebounds per game) and Mississippi State’s Craig Sword (18 points and 1 assist per game). Obviously, in order for UK to reach its goals, WCS has to play to his full potential. However, as long as his career best efforts (such as the 15 points, 8 rebounds and 9 blocks he posted vs. Providence) don’t even garner consideration as the SEC’s best, this team is a long way from realizing its dreams. When Cauley-Stein is overshadowed by a little-known guard who scored 12 points in one game and had 0 assists in the other game, things must change for the Cats. Quite simply, if he can’t post better numbers than 15/8/8, then title #9 will remain a pipe dream. *So What'cha Want: Last week, Aaron Harrison was named SEC Freshman of the Week. This does not bode well for Kentucky. Basketball, of course, is a team game. But as long one player is collecting accolades like this at the expense of his fellow Wildcats, UK will not reach its goals. This Kentucky team has a roster full of highly touted freshmen, all of whom were more than likely perturbed when they learned that one of their teammates was hogging all the headlines. Maybe this is why Julius Randle’s streak of double-doubles finally came to an end against Providence Sunday. Not convinced yet? Consider the evidence. NONE of the players who won SEC Freshman of the Week last year has ever played in a Final Four. Good luck reversing that historical trend, Kentucky. * On this date: On this date in 2011, Kentucky had just come off a last second win over North Carolina and was preparing to travel to Bloomington to face Indiana. It was IU’s biggest game in a decade and UK’s biggest game in a week.