Black & Blue Tuesday

It’s bad enough taking a shot to the gut, but to have it followed up with a jab to the face, ouch. That’s how my Tuesday went, when I learned that John Wall was headed to Lexington and Gerald Henderson signed with an agent, ending his career as a Blue Devil.

First, let me take the high road. Congratulations to Kentucky. You got a solid talent in Wall. There is no doubt, with or without Meeks, Kentucky is an instant top-10 team. I know some of you Blue Grass faithful will want to stick them No 1 right now, but let’s let these kids earn something before we award them the title.

The talent is there, with four for-sure NBA players (if Meeks comes back), with potentially three more future NBA players as well. I see four challenges for Kentucky though:

A) Who you going to cut? If Meeks comes back, the Wildcats will be four over the scholarship limit. That means four players have to give up their scholarship. My guess is, Coach Cal will tell some they won’t see any playing time and four will eventually transfer out. It’s a little rough, but Coach Cal wanted to bring in his own boys, plus keep Gillispie’s recruits, and that’s that.

B) If Kentucky wants the title, there’s little time for growing pains. While Patterson and Meeks were the stars last year, let’s not forget, these two have yet to taste the NCAA tournament. Obviously, that won’t be an issue this season, but if they want a title, the two most important players will be two freshmen; Cousins and Wall. If you recall last year’s Final Four, there weren’t a lot of freshman playing the important minutes.

C) The Wildcats are oozing with talent, but don’t forget, talent doesn’t just automatically jell. If that was the case, then this past summer the U.S.A. basketball team would have won their fifth straight gold medal in China, and not just their first in a long time. These guys will have to learn to check those mighty egos at the door to make a deep run in the tournament.

D) Calipari still needs to prove he’s a championship coach. There is no doubt he’s the man in recruiting, but let’s not forget, this is a man who’s had some pretty great talent already and still has the same amount of championships as I do (that would be none). Maybe he’s learned something too and will value free throw shooting.

Having said all that…it sure would be nice to have those problems. Good luck, Kentucky and good luck, John Wall.

As for Henderson, I’m certainly disappointed, but I can’t blame the guy. For the first time in his career, he was completely healthy and he proved how good he could be. His dream has always been to be in the NBA, so why not go now. In reality, with next season’s freshman class, plus with so few freshman going early this year, there is little doubt Henderson could improve his draft status by playing one more season of college basketball.

Obviously, I think he will be a solid pro, however, I still feel like he needed some work. He struggled to go to his left last year and he has not shown that he can hit the NBA three-point shot consistently. Worse yet, he’ll have to live with the fact his best friend, Wayne Ellington got an NCAA championship and he didn’t.

Word is, Henderson will end up in Charlotte, who is desperate for a two-g