SB Nation - Kenny Gabriel

Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - End of Basketball Edition

Glenn Logan — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:47:48 -0000

Now that the Miami Heat have won the NBA Championship, basketball has officially ended for the summer -- except, of course for this big bonus: The Olympics!

Tweet of the Morning:

Had a blast last night w/ the 96' team! Wildcats forever! @tldelk00 @waltermccarty @thaburner @DerekLAnderson @rmercer33 @ukpearlgirl
— KimSoper.com (@KimSoper) June 23, 2012

Your Quickies follow the jump.

Jerry Sandusky verdict: Sandusky found guilty of 45 of 48 abuse charges // PennLive.com

A Centre County jury has found former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse.

Hopefully, justice will be done upon him. Yet another scar on the legacy of Penn St. and Joe Paterno.

Chicago big man calls UK a ‘dream school’ // Jody Demling – Recruiting

Last week, the the NBA Players Association top 100 camp, the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Alexander called Kentucky a "dream school" and said Indiana was "really recruiting me hard right now."

This seems like a likely target for Coach Cal very soon.

Kentucky point guard works out for 76ers

Marquis Teague, the point guard on Kentucky's national championship team, went through an exhaustive, solo workout for the team. The 6-foot-2 Teague, expected to go in the middle of the first round, left Kentucky after one season. He averaged 10.0 points and 4.8 assists for the Wildcats.

Whoever gets Teague will be getting their point guard of the future.

Tom Leach // Saturday Links

NBA Draft 2012: Pacers Complete Sixth And Final Workout Before Draft // Indy Cornrows

Today was the Indiana Pacers final predraft workout before Thursday's draft. They once again had in six prospects which included Quincy Miller (Baylor), Doron Lamb (Kentucky), Kim English (Missouri), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), Kenny Gabriel (Auburn), and Orlando Johnson (UCSB).

Billboards Are The New Butt-Dial // SBNation.com

The photo above is the billboard that went up all over Mississippi, including in Oxford, home of the rival Mississippi Rebels. It would've been fine had the billboard not been interpreted as recruiting -- "play" is the key word here.

One more of many stupid NCAA decisions.

Update with Florida Safety Jalen Battle // Bleed Blue Kentucky

Battle, who is being recruited by Defensive Backs Coach Mike Cassity stated that he has spoken to the UK coach several times and that they have a good relationship. He said that they talk often about life, football, basketball, etc. Besides Kentucky, Battle said that he also hears a lot from Illinois and Tulane. However, he currently claims Kentucky as his #1 school. "They are definitely out in front," he said. "They have great academics and are a big time school in the SEC."

It's good to see us so active in Florida. I think we have neglected that state for far too long.

Breaking down the draft: Who will be the lottery’s biggest bust? // CollegeBasketballTalk

You have to love the fact that no Kentucky players were mentioned. Would this have been the case if this were 2009? I think not.

SEC Weekly Five: 06.22.12 Edition // Rush The Court

NCAA's APR changes could cause uptick in fraud, more problems // Rob Dauster - SI.com

On the surface, the higher academic requirements seem like a good thing. Rare is the occasion that valuing education is bad. The problem is that, while well-intentioned, these rule changes are not perfect.

We'll start with the obvious: the incentive for academic fraud, as far down as the high school level, increases exponentially. Asking a kid to get a 2.5 GPA and a 1,000 on the SATs is not the same as asking that kid to get accepted into MIT, but it's also not exactly a cakewalk. Finding ways to get a player eligible have become a cottage industry at the high school level, and that is unlikely to change as more players are going to need the last minute help to get pushed through the NCAA's clearinghouse.

It will be interesting to see how this works out as far as academic fraud is concerned. Dauster is right that this will produce a strong motivation for more, and longer, fraudulent academic practices.

Breaking down the draft: Second round steals // CollegeBasketballTalk

Rob Dauster: Darius Miller. The odds of finding an all-star in the second round of the NBA Draft are more-or-less non-existent. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t players capable of playing a role. If there is anything we’ve learned from guys like Bruce Bowen, James Posey and now Danny Green, it’s that a 6-7 wing that can lock up defensively and knock down open threes, that there is a place for them in the NBA. That’s Miller.

I agree with this completely.

DraftExpress: Marquis Teague Video Scouting Report

Definitely worth your time. Teague will need a year or two before he's ready to contribute significant minutes, but his upside is off the charts.

NBA Draft 2012: Pacers Complete Sixth and Final Workout Before Draft

Evan Sidery — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 01:16:38 -0000

Today was the Indiana Pacers final predraft workout before Thursday's draft. They once again had in six prospects which included Quincy Miller (Baylor), Doron Lamb (Kentucky), Kim English (Missouri), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), Kenny Gabriel (Auburn), and Orlando Johnson (UCSB).

One interesting note from today's workout was that Orlando Johnson sprained his ankle early in the workout and was unable to return. Crushing blow for Johnson's chances of being drafted by the Pacers.

Check out after the jump what this means for what will happen come Thursday night when the Indiana Pacers go on the clock.

There's some interesting things to take away from this draft process for the Pacers. They didn't invite in prospects like Marquis Teague and Festus Ezeli in for a workout. This likely means that some of the prospects of interest to the Pacers or fans will likely be gone when Indiana picks on Thursday.

Indiana really was all over the board with all of the players they brought in. They worked out players at all positions. Jae Crowder let in slip in an interview what the Pacers were looking for, indicating they are in search of a role player who can come in and contribute big minutes for them right away. That certainly makes it interesting.

Be sure to check out Pacers.com for updates and interviews from today's predraft workout. Also, be sure to look for my Pacers draft big board with all of the 36 prospects they brought in tomorrow. Who else is ready for Thursday night?

Tigers Experience Déjà vu In Loss To Tide

aubtigerman — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:38:55 -0000

On February 23, 2011 Auburn lost a last second heartbreaker to Alabama 51-49 in Coleman Coliseum. The Tigers experienced deja-vu last night as they once again battled Alabama to the wire only to see another road game slip away. The Tigers fell in the final seconds to their biggest rival 55-49.

Despite playing without the services of five scholarship players Auburn (14-15) turned in another aggressive defensive performance, holding the Tide (20-9) to just 31 percent shooting from the floor and 27 percent from the 3-point range. However, as has so often been the case this season, the Tigers could not muster enough offense to eke out a win.

The Tigers only hit 4-of-21 from behind the arc and shot 41.7 percent from the floor. Kenny Gabriel led in points with 10 while Frankie Sullivan, Chris Denson, and Noel Johnson each had nine. Auburn also lost the free throw battle as Alabama out shot Auburn from the foul line 24-of-32 to 5-of-12.

Yet the Tigers were still within seconds of stealing the win when JaMychal Green tipped in a basket to give Bama a 51-47 lead. Then Kenny Gabriel missed a 3-pointer and the Tide finished off the scoring with free throws. Ironically it was a tip-in by Green with 3 seconds left, that won the game for the Tide in last year's contest in Tuscaloosa.

"I thought we guarded fairly well," said Auburn head coach Tony Barbee. "We just couldn't score. That has kind of been the story for this year."

Auburn's last chance to finish the regular season with a .500 record will come at home this Saturday when the Tigers play LSU at 1 pm CST on Senior Day. Fans that can't make it to the game can catch it on CBS.