By LARRY VAUGHT
larry@amnews.com

The Battle of the Bluegrass has become an annual affair and perhaps has lost some of the luster it had when Kentucky and Louisville finally renewed their basketball rivalry in 1984.
However, Saturday’s game will be the first matching the state rivals since John Calipari’s dramatic arrival at UK and pairs him with his former mentor and current rival Rick Pitino.
Yet Calipari wisely was in no mood Monday to talk about that game since his No. 3 Wildcats (13-0) host Hartford Tuesday night.
“We aren’t talking at all about that game. I will not watch any tape on the next game until this game is over,” said Calipari. “Until I watch Hartford, I will not watch (Louisville tape). I have seen no tape. I have seen clips or highlights, and I have not watched them play one game.
“ Wednesday morning, we’ll get started on that game. I have a methodical way of going about it. You methodically go through the season. No one game is bigger than the next. That’s how you do it. You don’t move on from one game until you are done with the last game. Will that game this weekend be a big game? If we win it will be huge.”
Senior walk-on Mark Krebs, one of three players available to the media Monday, says the players are trying to maintain their focus and not listen to the hype about Saturday’s game against Louisville.
“We have a game tomorrow and we have to go out and win that one and then prepare for Louisville. Once Louisville is done, win or lose, we go on. It’s a big game, but we’re not looking too much ahead at it,” Krebs said.
To prove his point, Krebs explained what the Cats expected against Hartford.
“They’re going to come out and usually play a lot of man, but against us they will probably play a lot of zone,” Krebs said.
Calipari said while Hartford has struggled at times, it has also had games where it shot the ball well.
“I’ve probably watched four tapes of them and I think they’ll play us with a lot of zone. If they are making 3’s and we are missing 3’s, we’re in for a game, and they can make 3’s,” the UK coach said.
This will be Kentucky’s first game in almost a week and first since the Cats had a three-day Christmas break.
Calipari said the additional practice time has been beneficial for his young team.
“You get a lot more work in and you can do more teaching. You aren’t pressed for time. I get in what I get in, and then we come back and we do whatever we need to get in,” Calipari said. “We spend a lot of time on areas that we need to improve and I didn’t have time to work on.
“We have played 13 games. We have played more games than any other team in the country. And we went to Cancun, New York and Indiana. We’ve been on CBS three times, and we played for 2000 games (wins). Now I have time so I don’t have to worry about anything else. I don’t have time limitations, I don’t have day limitations.”
His players have embraced the same attitude and the coach has actually cut practices shorter than he planned.
“They are getting it done and they are doing it with great enthusiasm,” Calipari said. “I’m breaking down the press, blitzing pick-and-rolls, the box-and-one, triangle-and-twos, and showing them how we’ll play it when we need to shut a guy down.”
Sophomore DeAndre Liggins said the practices have been tiring, but good.
“You just have to keep going. You have to keep that blood pumping and get ready for that game,” Liggins said.

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