Champions To Play On Big Stage In New York
The biggest story of the Tuesday night might be in the first game of the Champions Classic when Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski trys to pass Bobby Knight on the all-time wins list as he goes for win 903. The Duke Blue Devils play Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans at 7:00pm. The best game of the night on paper just might be the second game of the evening when John Calipari's #2 Kentucky Wildcats take on Bill Self's #12 Kansas Jayhawks.
John Calipari is the only coach out of the four at the Champions Classic that does not have a national championship on his resume. Calipari will secretly be looking to revenge the 2008 national championship game loss his Memphis Tigers suffered to BIll Self's Kansas Jayhawks. Every season since 2008, Coach Cal has spoke out about how close his Memphis Tigers were to winning it all. Missed free throws were the catalyst for that loss. Coach Cal will have his young but talented Wildcats ready for this game.
Both UK and KU started their season this past Friday. Each team scored over 100 and won by 46+. Now it gets tougher for each team as they collide in the Big Apple. Kentucky and Kansas have met in some pretty big games over the years. Kentucky has dominated the overall series but not the recent UK-KU games. KU has won the last 3 matchups. March 18, 2007 was the last UK-KU game; it was Tubby Smith's last game as coach at UK.
Kansas was stunned in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament last year as VCU shocked the basketball world by making it to the Final Four. Kansas would lose two of their top 2 players (The Morris Twins) to the 2011 NBA draft. The Jayhawks do return two very key players in Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson. These upperclassmen will need to have their A game at the Garden for the Jayhawks to have a chance to take down the #2 team in the nation.
Kentucky's freshmen are the best basketball freshmen class in the country. This is the 3rd year in a row that UK has had the best freshmen class. Calipari knows that playing under the lights of Madison Square Garden could really scare a teenager..... Not the teenagers that Coach Cal recruits. John Wall was the talk of college basketball after he beat Kemba Walker and the UConn Huskies in 2009. Dickie V said Wall was better than advertised. What will these freshmen prove against Kansas?
PREDICTIONS
BONUS: Duke will play their hearts out for Coach K. Austin Rivers will make his Dad (Doc Rivers) proud as
he watches in MSG. The Blue Devils will be too deep for Michigan State. Duke Beats Michigan State, 72-65.
The first half of the Kentucky-Kansas game will be the most exciting half of this young college basketball season. The world will get to know these young UK stars named Kyle Wiltjer, Anthony Davis, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. The New York native, Doron Lamb, will be the difference as he returns to the building where he annouced to the world he was attending the University of Kentucky. Kentucky will have the most fans in attendance as well. Kentucky Plays Like Champions In Classic, Kentucky 81 - Kansas 71.
Eric Gay/AP
JOIN US VIA TWITTER FOR UPDATES FROM CHAMPIONS CLASSIC -NEW YORK - MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
John Calipari is the only coach out of the four at the Champions Classic that does not have a national championship on his resume. Calipari will secretly be looking to revenge the 2008 national championship game loss his Memphis Tigers suffered to BIll Self's Kansas Jayhawks. Every season since 2008, Coach Cal has spoke out about how close his Memphis Tigers were to winning it all. Missed free throws were the catalyst for that loss. Coach Cal will have his young but talented Wildcats ready for this game.
Both UK and KU started their season this past Friday. Each team scored over 100 and won by 46+. Now it gets tougher for each team as they collide in the Big Apple. Kentucky and Kansas have met in some pretty big games over the years. Kentucky has dominated the overall series but not the recent UK-KU games. KU has won the last 3 matchups. March 18, 2007 was the last UK-KU game; it was Tubby Smith's last game as coach at UK.
Kansas was stunned in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament last year as VCU shocked the basketball world by making it to the Final Four. Kansas would lose two of their top 2 players (The Morris Twins) to the 2011 NBA draft. The Jayhawks do return two very key players in Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson. These upperclassmen will need to have their A game at the Garden for the Jayhawks to have a chance to take down the #2 team in the nation.
Kentucky's freshmen are the best basketball freshmen class in the country. This is the 3rd year in a row that UK has had the best freshmen class. Calipari knows that playing under the lights of Madison Square Garden could really scare a teenager..... Not the teenagers that Coach Cal recruits. John Wall was the talk of college basketball after he beat Kemba Walker and the UConn Huskies in 2009. Dickie V said Wall was better than advertised. What will these freshmen prove against Kansas?
PREDICTIONS
BONUS: Duke will play their hearts out for Coach K. Austin Rivers will make his Dad (Doc Rivers) proud as
he watches in MSG. The Blue Devils will be too deep for Michigan State. Duke Beats Michigan State, 72-65.
The first half of the Kentucky-Kansas game will be the most exciting half of this young college basketball season. The world will get to know these young UK stars named Kyle Wiltjer, Anthony Davis, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. The New York native, Doron Lamb, will be the difference as he returns to the building where he annouced to the world he was attending the University of Kentucky. Kentucky will have the most fans in attendance as well. Kentucky Plays Like Champions In Classic, Kentucky 81 - Kansas 71.
Eric Gay/AP
JOIN US VIA TWITTER FOR UPDATES FROM CHAMPIONS CLASSIC -NEW YORK - MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
Posted by Justin Gillespie at 11/15/2011 1:18 AM 
Categories: Basketball
Tags: John Calipari Mike Krzyzewski Tom Izzo Bill Self Big Apple Champions Classic Coach Cal Madison Square Garden Doc Rivers Austin Rivers Doron Lamb Kyle Wiltjer Anthony Davis Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Categories: Basketball
Tags: John Calipari Mike Krzyzewski Tom Izzo Bill Self Big Apple Champions Classic Coach Cal Madison Square Garden Doc Rivers Austin Rivers Doron Lamb Kyle Wiltjer Anthony Davis Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
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