Cousins also said he knew Wall was going to make that shot against Miami, but joked that he was going in for the rebound just in case. That proved somewhat prophetic against Mississipi State this past Sunday, as Cousins didn't just watch his teammate. You would expect a kid that grew up in Alabama loving football would know how to play until they blow the whistle, but it was impressive that Cousins had the wherewithal to make that play. It was something of a surprise to see Wall's shot come up that short, but it was no surprise to see Big Cuz doggedly pursue the missed shot. When Demarcus really, really wants to get a rebound, that is pretty much the end of the story.
Going for that rebound might have been something Cousins would have done at the start of the season, but he has grown so much over the course of the season in other areas. How about Cuz pushing Orton away from a potential technical foul against the Vols? Nobody has gotten more nicknames than Demarcus this year, but peacemaker wasn't one of them going into that game. The Alabama native has lived somewhere on the edge, but has never really crossed that line and done something totally stupid. He has toed that line just close enough that an opposing player has to think twice about mixing it up with the man they call Boogie. It has been a great to have a player that is truly hated by rivals, but in Kentucky, we love our Cousins!
A recurring theme, and something that will hopefully aid us over the next few weeks, has been that each UK game has been our opponents Super Bowl. We have consistently gotten each team's best shot, and not many teams can claim that. Our experience, or lack there of, has many talking heads shying away from picking the Cats. In fact, Dicky V is the only ESPN type to pick UK baby! Of all the things in our favor, the fact that so many ESPN idiots are picking other teams to win it all is one of the most comforting. I will take the opinion of the folks in Vegas who have Kentucky and Kansas as the clear favorites, over the geniuses at the worldwide leader. If they could make picks half as well as Vegas, you wouldn't know their names, and they would have a lot more money.
I can't claim to know how UK will respond to the Madness that is the NCAA tournament. Nothing would surprise me with this group. We could come out and destroy everybody, and we could lose in the second round. That volatility is probably why so many don't trust us, but that is just what makes this group so interesting. You might see something you have never seen before with these guys. Cousins could take somebody's head off, or go 40 and 20 on somebody. Each John Wall fast break is poetry in motion (like when you are fast forwarding your DVR). John Wall is worth the price of admission alone on most nights, but the Cats are so much more than that.
This group is a unique mix of big personalities (Wall, Cousins and Coach Calipari), and a truly humble and cerebral future lottery pick in Patrick Patterson. Throw in some other unselfish role players (Miller, Liggins, Harris, and Purry Stevenson), and three guys that might not know exactly who they are just yet, but seem to be figuring it out at just the right time, (Bledsoe, Orton, and Dodson) and you have a group of ten players that have been able to turn around college basketball's best all time program a lot sooner than expected.
Patterson will go down as one of the most beloved players of all time, and I credit his steadiness as the #1 reason the talent has been able to blend as well as it has. Patterson is everything you could ask for in a Wildcat. He is like a mix of the two leaders from Remember the Titans rolled into one, and he can grow a mean Afro. By the way, I loved that Calipari showed the team that movie before the season. Great move, in a long line of great moves made by Kentucky's coach. Patrick and his family have embraced everything about being a Cat. He could have left last year for NBA money, but decided to return to reach some goals he had set for himself and the program. They were pretty good goals too. Win a National Championship, and graduate in three years. Most kids his age haven't figured out what they are eating for lunch, much less a career path.
On top of all that, anybody that has met P-Pat will give you a glowing report. Of all the great things to come from this season, I am most happy for Patrick Patterson and the seniors who are on their third coach. Those guys might not have faced the same adversity as the Unforgettables did in the early 90's, and the return to glory has been much more sudden than that groups arduous journey, but Patrick Patterson deserves to go down in history in that same breath for his commitment and overall representation of the state of Kentucky. Hopefully there is a story book ending for Patterson and the rest of the Cats, but like the Unforgettables, at least in my book, this group doesn't necessarily have to win it all to reach immortality. They have already done that by helping put the University of Kentucky back on top of the College Basketball landscape.
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