Doron Lamb grew up grooming his game at the famed Rucker Park in New York City, but he long dreamed of making a name for himself at Madison Square Garden in the heart of Manhattan. It’s every New Yorker’s goal.

As Lamb climbed the basketball ladder and evolved into one of the game’s top high school talents, his dream came true his senior year at Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) when he was selected to play in the Jordan Brand Classic at the Garden.

On Tuesday against Kansas (9 p.m. tip on ESPN), Lamb will make his much-anticipated return to New York and play in front of his hometown followers. The Queens, N.Y. native, who has hasn’t been home since the summer, said he’s had this game circled on his calendar for a long time.

“I feel wonderful going back home finally,” Lamb said. “I haven’t been home since the summer, so it’ll be great to see my family and friends. Getting to play in front of them in Madison Square Garden against some of the top teams in the country is exciting.”

Lamb said he’s expecting about 15 friends and family members to be in attendance in the newly renovated Garden. As John Calipari routinely does when his players return home, he’s expected to give Lamb the start over senior Darius Miller.

“Almost everybody in my family is going to be there,” Lamb said.

Coach Cal is hoping Lamb makes the most of the start and uses the homecoming to light a fire. Calipari commended Lamb for successfully handling some of the point-guard duties, but he’d like to see more of a motor from the sophomore.

“Everybody that walks in the gym and watches my team, they say, ‘He needs more motor,’ ” Calipari said. “And he’s hearing it from us, staff, people, personnel, and that’s the key. When you start playing that way, it really makes you uncomfortable. You may not play as well because you’re not used to running that hard, cutting that hard, so he’s learning that. He’s still our most skilled basketball player in terms of feel and understanding.”

What better place for Lamb to develop some added intensity than the heart of where it all started?

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard grew up a New York Knicks fan. He vividly remembers cheering for the Knicks in the playoffs, pulling for his favorite player Latrell Spreewell and watching the crowd at the Garden “go crazy.” Lamb is expecting a similar crowd Tuesday night when two of the game’s premier programs square off in one of the early season’s biggest matchups.

“It’s going to be a big game,” said Lamb, who dished out a career-high eight assists in the season opener against Marist. “A lot of celebrities are going to be there, sold out, so I just can’t wait.”

Freshman guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist didn’t grow up in New York, but he lived just a short drive away in Somerdale, N.J. Like Lamb, he’s been to the Garden so many times that he’s treating it just like any other game.

“It’s not a big deal for me, but for us it definitely is,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “It’s Kansas in the Garden.”

And as both players know, it doesn’t get much bigger than that. Instead of focusing on their returns home, Lamb and Kidd-Gilchrist had a different tone on Monday.

Doron Lamb scored 15 points and dished out eight assists last week's season opener. (photo by Chad Hobson)

“This game right here is like a statement game because everybody knows how good we are,” Lamb said. “This is going to prove to everybody that we’re the best team in the country.”

If Lamb intended to describe the enormity and hype of Tuesday’s matchup, he didn’t need to explain himself. Kentucky and Kansas enter the game as the NCAA’s two winningest programs, and the Cats (No. 2) and Jayhawks (No. 12/11) are again expected to compete for a Final Four berth.

But as far as making a statement, Calipari didn’t agree with Lamb.

“It may be a statement game but I’m hoping it’s the one they think it will be,” Calipari said. “It could be another statement. Kansas, in the same sense, is going to make it a statement game.”

In trying to temper the expectations and hype for Tuesday night, Calipari pointed out the date on the calendar.

“Let’s just be the best we can be for Nov. 14 or 15,” Calipari said. “If that’s not good enough, we’ll come back and regroup and keep going.”

Kansas has had to do a great deal of reloading with the graduation of the Morris twins (Marcus and Markieff), but the Jayhawks have more than enough muscle to hang with Kentucky.

“Kansas is kind of like our team a year ago where everybody kind of thought they’re not that good and I kept telling you all, ‘I like my team and there is no one else out there that scares me. We’ve just got to get it together by the end of the year.’ I said it probably 500 times,” Calipari said. “I imagine right now with (Thomas) Robinson and the big kid and the guard play they have, (Bill Self is) saying the same thing. Now you may say they’re not deep, but I played six guys last year. I will tell you he’s got a veteran team of good players and they’re trying to make a statement too.”

The aforementioned Robinson, along with returning senior Tyshawn Taylor, headline this Kansas team. Robinson scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the season opener and Taylor pitched in with 12 points.

“(Robinson) really does a great job of creating space for himself in transition,” Calipari said. “He’ll throw himself in pick and rolls and create space for himself to get the ball back. Now he’s playing out on the floor some, so he’ll bring it up the court on rebounds, shoot the 15 footer. He’s really good. He’s going to be a hard matchup for us. With Terrence Jones, how much do you really want to put him on Robinson? And he’s probably too physical for a bunch of our guys.”

As Calipari described it, the Jayhawks love to post up on offense and “jam it in” with their physical big men.

“They post it, post it, post it and shoot 3s,” Coach Cal said.

Before leaving for New York, Caliapri gave his team a message that he shared with the media on Monday.

“We’re not here to compete with each other,” Calipari said. “You push each other, you challenge each other, (but) you compete with the opponent. What you do is you complete each other not; not compete with each other.”

In other words, Calipari wants the players focusing on what they do well and not try to do anything outside those abilities.

“Play to your strengths,” Calipari said.

That might be great advice for Lamb as he makes his highly-anticipated return home.