Saturday Morning Hot Links

I ran out of witty sausage pictures. Good Morning, everybody. Today kicks off Alabama weekend for UK basketball. The Men's team takes on Auburn at 4:00p this afternoon where Matt Jones will be along for a Live Blog. Tomorrow, the UK Hoops squad squares off against the Crimson Tide at 2:00p at Memorial Coliseum. Feel free to use the radiant heat of the hot links to thaw from the past weeks Snowpocolypse. • A writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune tries to make a comparison between this year's UK men's basketball team and. . . 2002-03 Syracuse. The feeble connection being the stellar play of both John Wall and Carmelo Anthony. While it is meant as a compliment, I'm positive the 09-10 UK squad is deeper and more talented than the Carmelo-led Orangemen. Stick to football commentary, Myron. • Back in the day when Tubby Smith's UK team was routinely waxing the floor with Florida, Billy Donovan was looking for answers. After a particularly brutal loss, Donovan appeared to the press and admitted that what Tubby was doing was working and what he was doing wasn't. The big change he made was to stop recruiting NBA-ready players that were jumping from high school to the Show and concentrate on players that would stay longer. The result was 2 championships. The climate has now changed with the introduction of the NBA age requirement, but Billy still seems reluctant to adjust via this report in the Miami Herald. • Brian Eldridge of the Kentucky Sports Report has a breakdown of a small Auburn team. • Auburn coach Jeff Lebo has kind words for Eric Bledsoe, a player whose high school career he followed closely. • In breaking douche-cannon news, Christian Laettner picks his weekly three team parlay and really goes out on a limb. The chest-stomper extraordinaire offers superb insight by saying that Texas A&M isn't in the same league as Texas and he doesn't see Auburn being able to handle Kentucky. Ground breaking analysis, that. He does offer the UK team some advice by saying they are too sloppy and dribble the ball too much. He says UK plays 'too fast'. What is it with these Duke guys and wanting Kentucky to slow it down? Watch the video just to see Laettner's bulbous honker and his Spencer Pratt flesh beard. • The Bleacher Report expects the Wildcats to be ranked #1 before the month ends. They also have an article that shines light on the emphasis Calipari is stressing on lackadaisical play. • The Vanderbilt Hustler publishes the SEC basketball power rankings and you'll never guess who leads the list. • For those following the James Paxton situation with UK, the LA Times provides some follow-up to the situation. • WKYT provides a nice profile on Calipari and the financial impact he has on the Commonwealth. The Heavy Hitter also provides a few good quotes. • Ducker-of-podcasts, Andy Katz, shines an ESPN spotlight on Calipari's efforts to raise money for the Haiti tragedy. • Speaking of Calipari, his former point guard Tyreke Evans is profiled in a NY Times article and he credits Calipari with developing his skills as a basketball player. He also compares him to Bob Knight. Which is kinda funny considering the recent jabs the General took at HC. That is about it. I'll be with you all day and don't forget the Live Blog before and during the Auburn game. Go Cats!