Duke Plays Kentucky Tuesday And, Well...Things Are Different Now
The Mark Pope era looks to be very different from that of John Calipari.
On Tuesday, Duke renews pleasantries with Kentucky in the Champions Classic, and while we’ll have a proper review posted presently, it’s probably a good idea to talk about Kentucky a bit, because Kentucky is certainly talking about Duke.
As you probably know, after last season, BBN and John Calipari had just about had it with each other. We’ve had a great time mocking his notion that Draft Day was the most important day in Kentucky basketball specifically because we knew it would rub Kentucky fans the wrong way. They don’t think that at all. They want championships, and new coach Mark Pope, who helped to hang one banner in 1996 as a player, knows it and he totally gets Kentucky Basketball.
As a result, after missing on stars like Danny Hurley, the fans have totally bought in to Pope. We have to see how his teams do on the court, but from a distance, he’s done an impressive and very fast overhaul. Calipari dumbed down his offense to make it easier for his one-and-dones to master it (they still didn’t) and when the talent slowed down, so did UK’s post-season success. This drove Kentucky fans out of their minds.
Anyway, this is what you need to understand: Kentucky fans are absolutely jacked right now and they see Duke as a measuring stick, an eternal chance for payback for 1992, and they are so ready for it. On Matt Jones’ Kentucky Sports Radio Show, someone named Vicky from Cynthiana says she’ll run out on the highway naked if Kentucky beats Duke Tuesday. Trivia: Cynthiana is the home of former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall.
The players are riled up too. Check out what Kerr Kriisa says. If you don’t catch the sneering undertone, well, listen again. They seem pretty fired up for this one.
And please look at this clip from Kentucky’s game against Bucknell. This is one play, and it’s Bucknell, not Kansas, Gonzaga or Houston...but the ball movement is absolutely gorgeous.
And that sort of thing has Kentucky fans unbelievably excited.
In their minds, this game is a chance to re-establish parity with Duke. They’re rejuvenated, Atlanta isn't that far away and they’re going to show up in classic BBN fashion.
On the other hand, Duke’s team is playing very well together and, as Kriisa obviously knows, Flagg is getting a ton of attention. There’s a chance that Tuesday could be his official coming out party - and that’s also true for Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach.
We don’t have any idea what’s going to happen in the first meeting between Jon Scheyer’s Duke and Pope’s Kentucky, but if Duke has a big night, it’ll be fun to see how Big Blue Nation takes it.