The oldtimers tell you that your horse doesn't win the Kentucky Derby at the eighth pole (the final 1/8th of a mile of the race).  Usually, the winning move comes on the final turn as the horse positions itself for a strong finish.  And perhaps that's what the Kentucky Wildcats did in the past week.  Kentucky built a big lead against South Carolina and kept it, so that was progress.  The bigger test comes Wednesday when we see if the Cats are a different team on the road when it comes to closing out games.  Kentucky is 7-5 with the last quarter of the SEC regular season in front of them.  Win out and the Cats will get that bye they need for the SEC Tournament and they might just also put themselves in position to claim as seed as high as three on Selection Sunday.  And the difference between a '3' and a '4' is huge for a potential Final Four run.  There are two subtle developments with this team that are very encouraging.  One started a few games back with Terrence Jones becoming a more willing passer.  And in the win over South Carolina, Brandon Knight, to me, had one of his best "point guard" games.  He followed his coach's order to capture the middle of the court and there were times when he looked like he did in the first game in Windsor last August in having defenders on their heels because of his attacking style.  This time, though, rather than scoring on every drive, he was also getting teammates involved and a 9:1 assist-to-turnover ratio was far and away his best of the season.  Jones and Knight have carried this team with their scoring but what we've started to see from both of them is an improved ability to get their teammates involved.  Those are noteworthy changes that suggest the Kentucky team is making a move forward rather than just taking advantage of an opponent that failed to show up.

 

photo by Victoria Graff

v. Louisville
September 2 / 3:30pm eastern
listen on UK-IMG Sports Network
See full schedule