Patrick O' Savior: Sparks rights the ship

Let Mike "ACC" DeCourcey and Andy Katz wax "knowingly" about the sorry state of Kentucky basketball. Today, all is good with the Wildcats ... they won.

Thanks to a vintage Patrick Sparks game (much needed, I might add) and another strong Rajon Rondo all-around game, the oncoming train that is the fickle UK fanbase was, for a few days at least, held at Whine Junction. While there's no masking the sense of timely desperation coming from the UK bench, and since it's clear Tubby Smith is himself baffled by his charges, the key right now is to find a winning formula. Tuesday's 80-66 consolation game win over West Virginia in the Guardians Classic may not have been awe-inspiring, but it get the boo-birds off the team's back, and it showed yet again how multi-talented this team can be.


It's pretty amusing to me that West Virginia, a team that came within a few botched free throws of beating #2 darlings Texas the night before, is, according to DeCourcey, "the one really good team in all of college basketball that has lesser talent than [Kentucky does]." So, if they win the game against Texas on Monday (who won the Guardians Classic, by the by), are they still untalented? And if Texas loses to WVU and then to Kentucky, does that make the Cats more or less "talented" than the Longhorns? I guess the point is moot since Texas is now perfect (4-0), Kentucky and Iowa 3-1, and semi-talented losers West Virginia 2-2. To me, the media's fascination with talent is dictated often by wins and losses. Was Illinois more "talented" than Arizona last year? Both teams had great seasons, and it took a gargantuan effort by the Illini to overcome the PAC-10's best in the Elite Eight. Both had two NBA players (Zona's Frye and Stoudemire, Illinois' Williams, Head), both won their conferences ... so was Arizona less talented? Depends on who you ask.

Back to the game, the results of Sparks' shooting outburst was eerily similar to what happened last year, when the Cats rose or fell on the back of their homestate hero. It's a dicey proposition for any team to rely so heavily on the output of a single player, so even an ardent Sparks fan has to hope Tubby Smith can get some more scoring out his "less talented" wings Bobby Perry and Joe Crawford. Perry followed up his career high in points on Monday with a 4 point-, 2 rebound-effort on Tuesday, the sort of on-again/off-again that has haunted him. Crawford hit a great three-pointer to charge up the guys, but was limited to 14 minutes. It's encouraging to me that Crawford put together 4 rebounds in that time, and had 4 quick assists in limited action on Monday, too. I just hope the kid has patience and toughness enough to play through whatever is hounding him right now, be it injury or doghouse.

Several things stood out to me about the win, momst notably the double DNPs of Shagari Alleyne and Lukasz Obrzut. The two seven footers were lassoed to the bench while onetime redshirt possibility Jared Carter got their combined 10 minutes and 2 rebounds of production. Kudos for Carter, but it's not promising that two scholarship centers are so ineffective as to be deemed unusable against a top 15 team (WVU held the #13 spot on Tuesday). Another season of undersized centers looks possible with Randolph Morris out of the loop. With all apologies to Llyod Bentsen, I knew Erik Daniels, I followed Erik Daniels and you, Sheray Thomas, are no Erik Daniels.

Rondo amassed 10 rebounds (all defensive) and 15 points (5-for-9, 1-for-3 threes), while Ravi Moss -- who may deserve the starting slot for his shooting alone -- tallied a clutch 11 points, 6 of them on threes. Rondo's rebounding seems a common theme for scribes right now, who follow the Tubby mantra that the more rebounds a point guard gets, the fewer the frontcourt is getting. I, for one, disagree. Clearly you would prefer to have Rekalin Sims (9 points, 7 rebounds) and Thomas pulling in double figure boards, but so long as someone is getting the rebounds, particularly the man who wants the ball in his hands, why is it all that upsetting to have a rebounding guard? It's too easy a target for me, especially since Rondo himself noted after the first game that he had renewed focus on the glass.

I have several times offered up that Rondo's newfound rebounding prowess reminds me of Jason Kidd (his lack of effective jumpshooting in college, as well), who pounds the glass and starts the break in one fell swoop. No one is decrying Jason Collins' lack of rebounding because Kidd is controlling the floor. Seems logical to give Rondo the same leeway.

There is no mistaking the fact that Kentucky is not in fighting shape yet, and it's frustrating, sure. But if Tubby and his crew can iron out their problems now, get through the first month 5-1 heading into a home game with young North Carolina on Dec. 3, I think that Big Blue Nation should chill out and let them breathe. It's a long season, and there are a lot of pieces on this team to like ... enough that it makes them uniquely dangerous in a landscape of underachieving top 20 teams.

Remember, wary fans, Syracuse is 3-2, Michigan State is 1-2, Iowa is 3-1, Stanford is 0-1. The Cats navigated some rough waters without a solid core, which like all Tubby Smith teams, will come. Just give it time, and be thankful such a talentless bunch of losers (according to the national media) can scrape by.

PS - I should stop being surprised by this, but Rondo is averaging 14 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 2.8 steals. Homina!