Two nonconference losses to Connecticut and North Carolina weren’t enough to sound the alarm of concern for the Kentucky men’s basketball team, but the loss to Georgia to start conference play was the first time since John Calipari has been head coach that you could argue the Cats were exposed.Talent level aside, questions arose about the individual toughness of the players, including from their head coach. Were they tough enough to win on the road? Are they too young? Is the team deep enough to make any type of run?Three weeks later, with the Georgia rematch looming Saturday, while some of the questions still reside, the Kentucky players feel like this is a tougher team now, and the South Carolina drubbing was a result of that.”I think we’re playing better than we were then,” junior guard/forward Darius Miller said. “In my opinion, we’ve got better throughout the whole year.”Miller is one player in particular that has seen significant improvement since the Georgia game. Since his 2-for-11 shooting performance in Athens, Ga., Miller has averaged 13.8 points. “We didn’t play the whole 40 minutes (at Georgia),” Miller said. “We had streaks where we played pretty good but we didn’t do it for the whole 40 minutes. We’re going to have play tougher (Saturday). They did a great job of keeping a body on us, especially during shots, which caused us to miss.”Playing more physical this time around would be a good start for Kentucky in its preparation against the Bulldogs. Although UK freshman forward Terrence Jones scored 24 points, Georgia forward and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year candidate Trey Thompkins had his way in the paint.Thompkins finished the game with 25 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Being more physical with Thompkins will be a key Saturday.”We kind of let him do whatever he wanted to do last game and let him have all the shots that he wanted to have,” Miller said. “We need to try to disrupt his game a little bit.”Georgia is coming off a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Florida earlier in the week, but Kentucky head coach John Calipari doesn’t expect Georgia to experience any residual effects from a big-game letdown.”Doesn’t matter,” Calipari said. “They had a chance to win that game. They had a chance to win the Tennessee game. They could easily be 5-0.”Asked if he and his team viewed the rematch as a chance at revenge, Calipari politely said no.”I just think you’re trying to win a league game and so are they,” Calipari said. “It’ll be a hard-fought game. They’re a good team. They already beat us and they beat us handily. They mashed us, really. We’ll see if we got better; that’s what it’ll be. It’ll be a test  of, have we gotten better, have we gotten tougher, can we play through bumps, and can we physically score in the post when they’re letting us shoot it, can we make a basket from two feet? Those things, those will be what we’ll see in this game.”Renovated or new, arena should be ‘gold standard:’ Following Mayor Jim Gray’s announcement Tuesday that a study would be set up to determine the feasibility of redesigning and  renovating Rupp Arena, all the talk in Lexington during the bye week has focused on the prospect of a new or renovated Rupp Arena.Message boards, Twitter, dinner-table discussion, you name it – the hot topic of debate this week has centered around two primary options for the future facility of the Kentucky men’s basketball team: Should the city/UK renovate Rupp Arena in the mold of an updated but historic arena, or should a new, state-of-the-art facility be the goal?Regardless of what is ultimately decided, Calipari said the objective should be for the arena to be the “gold standard” of college basketball arenas. “Is it the gold standard?” Calipari said. “That’s what this program should be about in everything we do or we shouldn’t do it.”Calipari didn’t show which hand he was playing, instead choosing to step out of the debate.”At this point, I’m not in the chase,” Calipari said. “It’s almost like when you guys come to terms with what we’re doing let me know so I can take a look at it. I’ll give you some ideas at that point. I’m worried about beating Georgia. That’s what I’m worried about. I haven’t spent any time (thinking about this) to be honest with you.”Brown mentoring Calipari: Before Coach Cal’s media opportunity started Friday, a reporter asked other media if he was seeing things. Standing in the basement of the Joe Craft Center, the reporter, a bit confused, swore he saw Hall of Fame basketball coach Larry Brown walk by with Calipari. His eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.Brown, whose legendary career includes a national title at both the NCAA and NBA level, is indeed at UK this week visiting with Calipari. As the head coach at Kansas when Calipari first broke into the coaching ranks, Brown has become a mentor and friend of Calipari’s.”He’s been unbelievable to me,” Calipari said.Brown was recently let go from the Charlotte Bobcats, his ninth career coaching job in the NBA. Calipari believes Brown, 70, isn’t done coaching yet, but in the meantime, Brown is in Lexington through Saturday’s Georgia game to help Calipari and give him “another set of eyes.””He’s here for me, mostly,” Calipari said. “I want him to watch and give me ideas and talk to me. He’s staying at the house, so we’re going to dinner together and talking basketball. But I did tell the team, ‘If you want to talk to him about your game and what you can do to improve, it’s not a bad deal. He’s a Hall of Famer.’ “Calipari said Brown has watched all of their practices this week and knows all the players. He believes three or four players have met with Brown.As for a possible return to coaching, Calipari would like to see Brown return to the college ranks for the first time since coaching Kansas in 1988.”He could coach NBA if he chooses to (but) he would be a heck of a college coach because he develops players,” Calipari said.Asked if he’d let Brown on his coaching bench, Calipari said he would move down for him.”I’d let him be the head coach and I’d be the assistant,” Calipari said. “I’d make the pay stay the way it is but …”
Polson relishes playing time: For those who thought Calipari was blowing smoke when he suggested that seldom-used reserve Jarrod Polson could see some action last week, they received a pleasant surprise when the freshman guard and former walk-on entered the game midway through the first half against South Carolina.The 6-foot-2, Nicholasville, Ky., native entered the game for a brief spurt with 9:44 remaining before halftime. Polson’s play didn’t last long, but he received two additional shots late in the first half.”It was definitely easier the second time I went in,” Polson said. “I wasn’t really that nervous then. I was more into the game than anything.”The decision to play Polson came after Polson won a couple one-on-one games with the reserves last week.”I’m comfortable playing Jarrod because he plays so hard,” Calipari said after the South Carolina win. “He won’t make mistakes. He’s out there playing.”Polson found himself in an unplanned situation late in the first half. Although he said he was out there with a mentality of not making a mistake, he found himself with the ball at midcourt with just precious seconds remaining.Rather than reverting to a mop-up mentality, Polson’s instincts took over and he drove the length of the court for an attempt at a contested layup.”How about the kid drove and tried to shoot a layup?” Calipari said. “I thought that was the greatest thing ever. It was like he belonged.”Polson missed the shot but the play helped squash any remaining nerves he may have had.”I picked (the ball) up and looked at the clock and there was like seven seconds left, so I knew I had to do something quick,” Polson said. “I just tried to do something. Unfortunately I missed it.”