[Stardust]

OK, I just finished watching up to the first TV timeout, the 15:15 mark. And after reading this entire thread and looking for things that were said, this is what I have found so far.

- Dick Vitale: UK HOMER. Everyone hates on him for being an ACC guy. All he has done if glorify the Cats. He has said they are hands down the most talented team in the nation and deserve to be the #1 team in the nation. As much as I completely disagree with him, he calls Calipari a "Great Coach". Any coach that can take this level of talent and gel them together is not just a great recruiter but a great coach. So, in the first five minutes, Vitale has been nothing but complimentary.

- Teague - I was impressed with him. He did an incredible job of breaking pressure, making good decisions, and an excellent Oop to Davis! One of the things that people miss in passing is the first pass and not the last pass. The guy who gets the assist is the guy who always gets the credit. I like Hockey where everyone involved gets a piece, because Teague on four occasions in the first five minutes found the open guy, who made the entry pass for the score.

- Jones - Playing HARD! What I saw was INCREDIBLE defensive effort by Watford. You can tell that IU's game plan early on was to eliminate Jones early touches to keep him from getting into a flow. Watford covered Jones like Stink on Poop! Watford had no energy on the offensive side because he expended so much effort on his D, and in the first five minutes it paid off.

- Refs - in the first five Minutes 3 IU fouls to 1 UK. Questionable out of bounds call on Hulls under the basket gave the ball to the Cats where they promptly scored. I saw no early officiating issues against the cats.

- Cats Defense: Two things jumped out at me. Transition D and peeling off screens. The Cats would score on the break, only to give easy baskets right back. And a flaw of the Cats for the past few years, no ability to roll off of screens. You get that playing against experienced teams with such a youthful team. But the cats were BAD. IU was getting easy looks in the first five minutes, too easy.

More observations to come.