The Great John Wall

I knew I was going to regret missing out on this season of UK basketball. I've managed to keep up with every ounce of news online, however - including live streaming of the games thanks to justin.tv/funchester. You know only a true blue fan would stay up until 4 in the morning watching the Cats play Indiana on a Saturday night. I'm proud to represent this unbelievable program on the other side of the world and it's been fun watching us be so successful.

John Calipari is a good coach. Sure, he has shown to be a better recruiter than coach as of late. But give the man some credit because he sure does know how to get the one and dones on the right track! Demarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Eric Bledsoe, and John Wall have all shown their great will to win. Yet, at the same time, they have shown their inexperience as well. That being said, Coach Cal has done a marvelous job of making sure these highly talented players learn how to execute and make every play count. 10-0 is not easy to do, especially with all the hype and pressure coming from our fanbase. Nevertheless, Patrick Patterson and Ramon Harris have stepped up and lead this team with their impeccable execution each game.

I mention Ramon Harris and Patrick Patterson because they are the ones crashing the boards, calling the plays, and just making sure that these younger players' heads are in the game. Ramon may not be averaging a double-double as Patrick, but he sure is being vocal and being a mature basketball player for us.

Having said all those great things about our two seniors (let's just call Patrick a senior because he's graduating this year), lets not dilute the amazing show put on by our highly ranked recruits. This truly is arguably one of the best recruiting classes in the history of the sport. Eric Bledsoe could easily be starting elsewhere and has been humble enough to give up his role as point guard to the superiorly gifted John Wall. With 23 pts verse Indiana, he has shown that he has the abiliity to adjust and excell as a shooting guard as well - even while still recovering from an ankle injury. Although he has made quite a few freshman mistakes, he has a high basketball IQ and it will be wonderful seeing him develop each game and be a great starting point guard for us next season (assuming he doesn't go pro). On a side note, does anyone else think Eric resembles with Tony Delk? Speaking of Tony Delk, my all-time favorite Wildcat, why didn't he get a spot on our coaching staff? Oh well, former NBA star point guard Rod Strickland has shown to be a great teacher for our future NBA star point guard John Wall.

My best friend Jessica and I have decided to give John Wall the nickname, "The Great Wall" 长城（chang2cheng2). Jessica gave him this nickname because she is actually a student in Beijing and so it seemed rather appropriate. Jessica, better known as Li(3) Meng(2) Chi(2) 李梦驰，has become quite the Kentucky Basketball fan. Being from Guangzhou in southern China, she has always enjoyed watching the China Basketball Association (CBA). She laughed and told me how everyone thinks it's boring to watch CBA because they aren't nearly as athletic as NBA players. But she doesn't watch CBA to be entertained with dunks, she really understands the object of the game and enjoys seeing it played fundamentally. Chinese basketball hires western coaches to help Chinese athletes learn the fundamentals of the game and so they have a much different playing style because of the cultural background difference.

Anyways, I have really enjoyed watching the games online with Jessica. She teaches me how to basketball terminology in Chinese, and I do the same for her in English. As a lover of the game of basketball, she never really knew someone like myself could be so prideful for a certain team. My love for UK basketball is obviously contagious because she has asked for a Wildcat mascot stuffed animal for Christmas. I'm excited and hope this contagious fanhood will ripple effect into her peers back in Beijing! I find it suiting for Chinese to become UK fans because John Calipari has recently traveled to China and John Wall's nickname is ironically suitable for the nickname "The Great Wall".

Let me revert back to our great roster and boast about John Wall a bit. This 6-4, 195lbs. "diaper dandy" is only just a month or so older than myself. If only I could be as talented as he! It has always been a dream of mine since I was a kid to play basketball for Kentucky, but seeing this phenomenal athlete perform boggles me. And I'm not alone - even dukey Jay Bilas agrees that this Cat deserves to be the #1 pick in the NBA draft. Averaging 18.1 ppg and 7.1 apg, he has been the ultimate definition of point guard for our team. Sure, the first couple games he was a little hesitant in calling plays and making some turnovers. But that didn't keep him from making the highlight reel with a game-winning shot to save us from losing to Miami of Ohio! He is something special and as a UK fan I am honored to say that he put on our jersey even if for one season.

Which makes me wonder...with our new coaches, new offense, new transfers, new freshman, and new atmosphere it would seem that Kentucky can only get better than what level they have already scaled up to these first 10 games. Each game has brought our young team more experience, and with their unbelievable talent more confidence. Could you see the confidence shown by all verse Indiana? You would have to be silly to not take notice of Patrick Patterson shooting the long range jumper like he was Reggie Miller. And then to have the trust in his big men Cousins and Orton down low says even more about the confidence our players have in their ability to take over. With this confidence, I will be hoping and praying that we can hone in on the prize of that 8th national title. We all know it's possible. Calipari knows it can be done (as long as they don't fluke like Memphis did verse Kansas). Patrick Patterson stayed another year because he wanted to be in the NCAA tournament, so he's hungrier than ever. And John Wall wants to prove that he should be up there with Carmelo Anthony as a freshman able to lead a college team all the way and then head to the NBA in style.

Most of all, UK fans believe it can happen. The Gillespie era is a thing of the past, it's a new era - Calipari's era. He has instilled quite a bit of hope in the Commonwealth and reignited our pursuit for that title (and 2,000 wins - we beat the Tar Heels!). Rupp would certainly be proud - and no matter what happens, I will always be proud to bleed blue.