SB Nation - Kevin Galloway

What Losing Jodie Meeks to the NBA Means

Truzenzuzex — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:01:57 -0000

Uh oh. 3-point shooting could FAIL next year ...

Jodie Meeks' decision to stay in the NBA draft is probably the best thing for him, but it is definitely not the best thing for the Kentucky Wildcats next year. This puts UK in a real pickle when it comes to outside shooting. Let's take a look at the leading 3-point shooters from last year:

Name	3pt Field Goals
Name	3pt Field Goals Made	3pt Field Goals Attempted	3pt Field Goal Percentage	% of 3 point shots made	Remaining
Jodie Meeks	117	288	40.60%	57.92%
Michael Porter	32	97	33.00%	15.84%
Darius Miller	18	55	32.70%	8.91%	8.91%
DeAndre Liggins	12	51	23.50%	5.94%	5.94%
Ramon Harris	6	25	24.00%	2.97%	2.97%
Josh Harrellson	5	15	33.30%	2.48%	2.48%
Landon Slone	4	15	26.70%	1.98%
Perry Stevenson	3	10	30.00%	1.49%	1.49%
A.J. Stewart	2	5	40.00%	0.99%
Mark Halsell	1	1	100.00%	0.50%
Mark Krebs	1	4	25.00%	0.50%	0.50%
Dwight Perry	1	2	50.00%	0.50%	0.50%
Jared Carter	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Kevin Galloway	0	4	0.00%	0.00%
Patrick Patterson	0	1	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
*Totals*	*202*			*100.00%*	*22.77%*

Now, just let that chart roll around in your mind for a few minutes.

If that doesn't cause you a moment of panic, I don't know what will. UK is losing 78% of the team's three-point scoring from last year, and bringing in only one player, Darnell Dodson, who is somewhat known for his shooting. Jon Hood is also a decent 3-point shooter, but he is much more like Michael Porter in that respect than Jodie Meeks. What does that say to every coach in college basketball? That's right, boys and girls -- we are going to get a lot of practice playing against zone defenses next year, or seriously sagging man-to-man from teams that eschew the zone. Why would you not force a team with a profile like next year's Wildcats to put up the three ball rather than pass it in to huge post studs or allow a lightning-quick Wall or Bledsoe to get to the rack by playing man-to-man?

So Calipari is now faced with an interesting challenge, and probably one that he does not relish. The Dribble Drive Motion Offense depends on good three-point shooting to function well. Without it, man-to-man defenses will be sagging into the middle like crazy, and zones will be as passive as they want to be. Heck, the perimeter players might even be touching fingertips with each other daring UK to shoot.

This really changes things, folks. Anyone who understands basketball knows that, too. With Meeks on the perimeter, other teams had real problems -- he could spread the floor by acting as a decoy, opening up driving lanes and making it hard on everybody, even if he never put up a shot that wasn't unopposed. Now, every 3-point shot is going to be largely unopposed, because that's what opponents will want UK to take, not slash to the rim for a layup or a dish to Patterson, Orton or Cousins.

The old Chinese curse comes back to the fore. We are living in interesting times, unless Dodson is better than I think he is, or Hood suddenly develops into Rex Chapman.

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- The Roster is Near Completion

Truzenzuzex — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:30:34 -0000

More photos » by April L. Brown - AP

Soon we will know if we'll be seeing this picture again next year.

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As the deadline for the NBA draft "in or out" grows near, UK's roster is getting very near completion. It has been an excruciating process this year, and frustrating for fans and no doubt players as well.

I said before I would comment on the Galloway situation, and I will now do so. I am on record has having opposed the forced departure of any of the players, but particularly the senior players. Many people, after it was revealed that Kevin Galloway would not be returning, pointed to a qualification allegedly in the record that Calipari agreed not to non-renew the scholarships of four-year seniors, not all seniors. If so, I consider those weasel-words -- there is no real difference between the two. It is almost impossible for a junior to transfer into a good situation for him. It does happen (Marvin Stone may have actually helped himself transferring from UK to Louisville), but it is extremely rare. That is the root of my objection.

Today, the Herald-Leader has an article about his departure that sheds about as much light on this situation as we can ever expect to actually see in the mainstream media. Kevin Galloway says that Calipari did not kick him off the team, but rather explained to him that staying on the UK bench with little playing time would not enhance his NBA dream. While I hate to see this happen, this could optimistically be classified as a "voluntary" departure, if Galloway is to be believed.

As far as Matthew Pilgrim is concerned, I am not nearly as troubled -- he has two years to go and UK not honoring its commitment to him should free him to have his year in residence here restored at his next destination, and an appeal for immediate playing time seems more likely than not to be granted, plus being that much closer to a college degree. It seems that he should easily be able to obtain significant playing time on the D-I level, perhaps enough to get some NBA interest, and should easily be able to obtain a college degree with at least two and possibly three additional years in school (though only two as an eligible player), depending on the NCAA. The worst thing is, he apparently had the rug pulled out from underneath him -- no pretension of a "voluntary" departure, this was just basically a "Sorry, we no longer have a need for your services."

Galloway's case is different -- he has at most one year of eligibility left. Not only that, the difficulty of actually obtaining a college degree after shuffling around to what could be four different schools seems unreasonably difficult, and even though we may in reality be playing a game of make believe when it comes to "student athletes," Galloway's departure has the additional effect of making it less likely he will ever obtain a degree against which he has already done significant work. I hate that, and it rubs me very much the wrong way. Sure, it is still possible it will happen -- but I fear it will be much harder now than it was, and therefore less likely.

I will pass no judgment on Galloway's professional ambitions, but I will point out that he has major holes in his game (no left hand, no jump shot, average basketball IQ) that will make his road to making a living off the dribble. That's not Calipari's problem, and in reality, I agree with the assessment that Galloway's chances of playing professionally will not be best served by sitting on the bench next year. The question is, is the hit to his graduation chances worth the trade-off? Apparently, Galloway thinks so, and in the end, his is the only vote that matters. We are left to guess what would have happened if Galloway had refused to transfer, but the jaded among us won't have any trouble reaching that conclusion.

In the final analysis, I am once again placed in the position of becoming a scold (and believe me, that is tempting) or accepting the reality of the situation and moving on. Once again, I will choose a compromise, accepting this as part of the whole unpleasant transition mess while remembering it against the possibility of future transgressions. In other words, Calipari gets less latitude from me than before, and if this becomes a pattern with him, he can expect to read all about it right here. But for now, as before, I am going to hold my nose and take the Alfred E. Neuman stance.

What, me worry? Nah. Now for the news.

UK Basketball News

John Calipari: Long way from Moon to the University of Kentucky
Why can't the local media do an article on Calipari this good? Are we that journalism-challenged in this state? If you have not read this, go read it right now.
True Blue Kentucky blogs about "the forgotten one."
I don't forget Jon Hood. The others may have a bigger name and more stars, but Jon is a dynamite player that will have a terrific career at UK.
Holy bang-bang, Batman!
Is being shot in the head and thumbing a ride in an ambulance tougher than breaking ribs and finishing a bike race at 67 years old? I don't know, but it has to be close.
How it all went down
Bluegrass State Basketball suggests that Pilgrim was the only player that got the rug pulled out from underneath him.
More signs point to Jodie Meeks return.
I am thinking it is pretty likely we will see Jodie in Blue and White again this year.
Meeks decision will impact entire country
Indeed it does. Meeks is the last piece in an amazing puzzle, on that could form a Yellow Brick Road straight to Indianapolis.

UK Football News

Team Speed Kills interviews me on the football Wildcats
You can Cocknfire's questions, and my answers, on the 2009 football Wildcats.
Newton and Mossakowski begin 7-on-7 drills.
Donte Rumph is still waiting on his eligibility, and given the loss of Jeremy Jarmon, we really need him to get qualified. The really bad news is the loss of E.J. Adams. That one is going to sting.
More on E.J. Adams' departure
What "personal reasons" would cause a player to depart and enter the supplemental draft? I guess we are left to puzzle that out.

Other UK Sports News

UK's Sorrillo second in NCAA 200 meters
Congrats to Rondel Sorillo. Maybe next year he can win the thing.

NCAA Sports News

Jim "I don't have time to bleed" Calhoun bikes with five broken ribs.
Okay, I am either impressed at his toughness or shocked at his stupidity. An injury like that at his age could have easily been much more serious. I'm glad he's out of the hospital.
Cardinals predicted to be mid-pack in the Big East next year.
We'll be facing a couple of Big East teams early, UConn and Louisville.
Coaches UA didn't get have sticky situations.
A run down of some of the NCAA and personal difficulties of theoretical Arizona coaching candidates.

Other News of Interest

The new Lexington ABA team features some UK favorites.
Bobby Perry, Ravi Moss, Preston LeMaster and Ramel Bradley? Kyle Macy as coach? Very interesting.
Indiana 78, Kentucky 65 (Final)
Jon Hood had a very good game, indeed. But in a losing cause.
High school should set sights high for their next coach.
This is pretty funny. You should read it.
5 Things We Learned In The NBA This Week
"Look, we all know that NCAA players get paid under the table and have for years. It's not like this whole thing with Tim Floyd stepping down at USC and allegations that he paid O.J. Mayo was letting some big cat out of the bag, and it's not like Floyd or USC were the only ones who have ever engaged in this kind of behavior."

Heh. Talk about jaded.

The Daily Schadenfreude

Jurick not returning to Vols
Tennessee lost a scholarship, apparently over a low APR in men's basketball. Not only that, with Tyler Smith returning, they will also be over the limit. Heh.

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Calipari, Floyd and Victimhood

Truzenzuzex — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:32:45 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

That NBA is just sooo evil.

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I know most of you are wanting to talk about the still-unconfirmed reports (by UK, anyway) that Matthew Pilgrim and Kevin Galloway will not be back next year. I will comment on this at the appropriate time, but at this moment, I have little to say until the story has a chance to be fully confirmed and ripe for comment. So look for that later.

Today, I want to talk about the bizarre fact that people are coming out of the woodwork to defend Tim Floyd as a victim of "the system," and virtually none of this talk was going on when Memphis was questioned about the possibility of academic fraud during Calipari's time as head coach there.

First of all, the argument that either Floyd or Calipari might be "victims of the system" (the "system," of course, being the "one-and-done" rule) is not only absurd, it is irresponsible in the extreme. To the extent either of these men engaged in any wrongdoing, "the system" had nothing to do with that decision other than being part of the circumstances creating it. Nobody, and I mean nobody, held a gun to Tim Floyd's head and told him to give cash to a runner for an agent, as has been alleged. "But Floyd was under tremendous pressure," apologists for this argument will aver. "He had to win or lose his job."

Well, duh! Every coach in America (well, with the possible exception of Mike Krzyzewski) has that metaphorical Sword of Damocles hanging over their head. That's part of the job, and it happens all the time -- just ask former UK coach Billy Gillispie about that. That's why coaches demand, and receive, large contracts with all sorts of provisions for termination. When you lose enough games, you lose your job. Then you go get another job. That's how it works in America, and it does not justify violating the rules to make sure you don't have that happen to you. Tim Floyd is no exception to that, and I'm sure if you asked him, he would reject that excuse out of hand

So why are so many blaming the NBA for the alleged rule-breaking of a college coach? There is only one reason -- they hate the "one-and-done" rule so badly that they are willing to sacrifice their reputation for reasonableness (assuming they have one, which I often doubt) on the altar of the more noble task of creating a public outcry against the current NBA rule. Either that, or they have decided this whole "personal responsibility" thing is an evil plot by the people in black helicopters. I don't like the rule, either, and have said so many times, but I am not going to defend Floyd or Calipari or anyone else by saying "The NBA made them do it!"

If Tim Floyd did wrong (Doug Gottlieb argues that a presumption of innocence is in order, and I agree), then he should pay the piper, and I'm sure he will. The same holds true for John Calipari. But my question is this -- why the double standard? If Tim Floyd can be a "victim of the system" in a scenario where he allegedly handed money to a runner (and only $1000, to boot) for a one-and-doner, why can't John Calipari be a "victim of the system" for a situation that happened to a one-and-doner 400 miles away from Memphis?

I'll tell you why -- because Calipari is so successful, he just isn't sympathetic at all. Floyd came into a downtrodden USC basketball program and breathed some life into it. Calipari doesn't know what the word "downtrodden" means, even though he did the same thing at Memphis, and at UMass. But nobody wants to remember that, and when you go from downtrodden to the top of the world, nobody remembers when you were fired from your NBA job and looking for work, especially when you just inked a $31+ million-dollar deal with the winningest program in college basketball.

I suppose it's the nature of the beast. But I thought it was worth an observation. Now, for the news:

UK Basketball News

Martin Newton Newest Addition to Calipari Staff
Wow. I can imagine there are more than a few groans in the Big Blue Nation on this news. Not sure I get this hire, but I did like his daddy.
Galloway and Pilgrim Will Not Return Next Season - LEX18 - Lexington, KY
I am surprised and disappointed to see a senior be among those to leave. Apparently, the "seniors are off limits" rule was more rumor than fact. I'd be interested to hear the details of this, but I suspect I never will. We'll see.

UK Football News

ESPN Takes a Potshot at Kentucky, Ball State
Alan at OverThePylon defends Kentucky against an ESPN criticism of too weak an out of conference schedule. We have to listen to this every year.
Tim Couch and Craig Yeast on Ryan Mossakowski
The Mixed Bag of the Supplemental Draft
Arrowhead Pride, the SBNation Kansas City Chiefs blog, seems to be pretty excited at the prospect of Jeremy Jarmon entering the supplemental NFL draft.
2010 football prospect Tim Patterson
It sure would be nice if we could pick up another Louisville Central player. Hopefully that pipeline is becoming solid, and this kid looks like one we'd love to have.

Other UK Sports News

UK's Wade, Rusin drafted on second day of MLB draft
Two more UK baseball players get drafted.
Two UK discus throwers are among the NCAA favorites
Rashaud Scott and Chase Madison are trying to get it done in track and field.

NCAA Sports News

Can the SEC Rise to the Top, Again?
Track 'em Tigers says most of the East is trending down, and most of the West trending up. We'll see.
Juan Pattillo Going To Be A Hilltopper
Dismissed Oklahoma forward Juan Pattillo is headed to Western Kentucky to play for the Hilltoppers. Good news for Western fans -- Patillo is a very good player.
Ralph Willard leaves Holy Cross to assist Pitino.
Willard is a fine coach, and this is good news for Traitor Rick.
More detail about the Tim Floyd situation
Seth Davis has a pretty interesting article on the decline and fall of Tim Floyd at USC. I think everybody in the country knew O.J. Mayo was trouble. Turns out they were all right.
Ray Ratto's jaded comments.
Talk about apathy. Ratto is positively supine.
Oh my goodness. Red flag? Nah.
"O.J. doesn't give out his cell,'' Guillory said. "He'll call you.''

Other News of Interest

Amy Mickelson has breast cancer
Our prayers go out to Phil and Amy Mickelson. I hope everything turns out okay.
LPGA players concerned over loss of McDonald's sponsorship
McDonald's is no longer the sponsor for one of the LPGA's major events, the LPGA Championship. Tough times.

The Daily Schadenfreude

What’s Going On With Pitino?
Rush The Court is a bit ... perplexed at the Ralph Willard to Louisville situation, and puts on his tinfoil hat. I love this type of speculation about the Cardinals -- it makes Louisville fans wring their hands in angst. Ah, schadenfreude ...
Is Olympic Gold Leading to Duke Bronze?
Heh. Krzyzewski for Team USA! He's got my vote. Go K! Go USA!

UK Basketball: John Calipari Speaks -- My Take

Ken Howlett — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:07:40 -0000

More photos » by James Crisp - AP

John Calipari: A man unafraid.

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UK basketball coach John Calipari certainly isn't averse to public speaking. On the contrary, I think he rather enjoys the microphones on the table, and the cameras in the back of the room. And his seemingly candid style is a ... change.

Which is a good thing. On that we can all agree.

Calipari's Wednesday press conference gave us yet another glimpse into the mind of UK's basketball coach. And I for one appreciate Calipari's eagerness to share this thoughts ...

But, when a fan base is blessed with a coach who is apt to be fiercely verbose, well, that gives guys like me an opportunity to examine, critique, and opine ourselves, on what the coach has to say.

It all begins with:

Calipari on expectations:

"We will calm them down, don't worry, it is not that time yet, but we will calm them down. You are going to have people that will say that we are going to be the national champion and they are No. 1 or No. 2 ..."

He continues to beat down expectations, but does he?:

"Half of the team is going to be new players that have never played college basketball, and the other half has never played this style. What you are going to be finding out is that in September and November balls are going to be playing everywhere, and they (the fans) will be questioning how we are playing. All of a sudden it will hit January and we will have a couple of breakout games and they will say, 'Oh my goodness.' Then it hits February and we aren't turning the ball over as much and we are shooting better, and still running people into the ground and that is how you are playing. Then by March you are playing your best basketball."

I don't care which coach it is, or how long he's been at UK, but if someone brings in the type of talent that Calipari has, coupled with the return of Patterson (and the probable return of Meeks), my fourth grade sociology book tells me that equals UK fans expecting ... a lot of "W's." Great players equates to great expectations. No amount of spin will ever change that fact.

Calipari knows that.

He's purposely speaking the typical UK fans language with his comments about his expectations for the teams performance in January through March. He knows what the UK faithful want to hear, and he's confident enough to say it.

I don't know that his statement would qualify as tempering enthusiasm (laughing as he types), rather the opposite seems true, but I like it. I think he knows this team should be good. He knows it in his bones.

Calipari on Patrick Patterson coming back to UK:

"I told his mother and father that I wanted them to understand that he and I had two conversations with him and Jodie together, and not once did I tell him that he needed to come back. I told him that he needed to explore and do what he needed to do and that I would be here for him. I did not coach him to come back, because if he came back I wanted him to know that he is coming back for himself, and to help the university."

We get it coach. You didn't talk Patrick into coming back.

Calipari on who performed well in practice:

"Darius (Miller) has played well, and Josh (Harrellson) has played well. Perry (Stevenson) has done some things that we had to stop practice and the whole team clapped for him, because he did some things that they haven't seen him do."

This is twice now that Calipari has mentioned Josh Harrellson's name when asked who's playing well. Although I don't see Harrellson taking too many defenders off the dribble, he is a capable outside shooter. Which could make him dangerous in this type of offense. Plus, his size would dictate the opponent pulling another defensive big man away from the basket to cover Harrellson.

I'm sure Cal can figure out a way to use a good shooting big man. I'm rootin' for you Josh.

As far as Perry Stevenson -- I have run the gamut of emotions with him: I've praised him, I've bemoaned him, I've been content with him, and most recently, I've buried him as thoroughly as Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito buried Billy Batts.

In my view, Perry's improvement needs to be spectacular in order for him to see much floor time this year. He does bring the element of experience, but I'm afraid his talent deficiencies will, in the end, be exposed.

Coach Cal talks about who might not be coming back:

"I don't know. There are some guys that we will sit down with and talk to, but I haven't really sat down with any of the players that way."

Well, the time is getting near, coach.

My thought is that as soon as Wall makes his announcement, Calipari will start downsizing. Based on Wall's decision, he will have to take away either one, or two scholarships from current players.

Regardless of how it's spun, Calipari is left with no choice but to convey to at least one kid that he's not good enough to merit a scholarship. I don't like it. But, unfortunately it's a part of college athletics.

The player[s] will be left with options, though: A grant-in-aid is always a possibility, but the players family would have to qualify; a player paying his own way, is another. In order to qualify for an academic schollie the player must be carrying a 3.3 GPA. To my knowledge, although good students, none of the the current players can boast a GPA that lofty.

I'm not going to get into which player I think will be "let go." I'll only say that I hate to see it happen, if that is indeed the scenario that plays out.

Calipari feels our pain when talking about DeAndre Liggins and Kevin Galloway:

"Kevin and DeAndre are completely out of control. Your feet have to move really fast in this offense, like really fast. Like a duck where your feet are moving really fast under water, but above the water, it is really smooth. But, when their feet move really fast, their minds move fast as well. That is all about being coached and drilled."

Is it a coincidence that the only two UK players that Calipari has said anything negative about (that I recall) are the two point guards?

Liggins and Galloway played fast last year. Sometimes it was good, sometimes not so good. But, I can imagine how anxious they are to please their new coach, especially with one, maybe two stud points on the way. That can only add fuel to their already frenetic style of play.

And they know that as the point guard, especially in the DDMO, their decision-making sets the tone for the possession. And unless they are delusional, they realize that turning the ball over at the same rate as last season is not an option.

So, they're pressing. They're probably trying too hard.

But, I think Cal is right. It's all about repetition, it's all about being coached in his style. But, will that be enough to secure a spot in the rotation for the two returning guards? We'll know sooner, rather than later.

And as a bit of friendly motivation for you guys (Liggins and Galloway), take a look below at Cal's quotes about incoming freshman Eric Bledsoe.

Calipari's thoughts on the high number of walk-ons:

"We had a football team when I first got here. My focus is going to be on the 10, 11, or 12 that are really going to play. We will have walk-ons, but I am not going to keep seven walk-ons, I will tell you that. ... there are guys out there that have always dreamed of playing for Kentucky and hopefully you can help a couple of kids accomplish those dreams, just not seven."

Okay, it appears as if he's keeping two. The smart money is on Landon Slone and Mark Krebs. They're both from Kentucky, and they can both shoot the ball.

Actually, I can see Slone becoming a "Cameron Mills"-type player, if he stays all four years. Although he's a good shooter, he made a living at Paintsville taking his man to the rim, which could make him viable and valuable.

His intense passion for playing for Kentucky was clearly on display last year. And I think he has the right blend of talent (plus his incredible desire to wear the Blue and White), which may enable him to make the leap from human victory cigar to game-time contributor.

Calipari on Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins:

"Daniel Orton is going to be terrific, because he has great size, really long arms and he's skilled. You can play him inside or outside and he's a terrific passer. He also has the skills that if you want to play two big guys you can. There is DeMarcus that you can play with him and together. You have the opportunity to play two guys that are big, because they are really fast, aggressive, and skilled."

Uh, coach, is that still you tamping down expectations?

He continues with Eric Bledsoe:

"He reminds me of the point guard I had at Memphis, Antonio Burks. He is fast and very physically strong and tough. He has great vision on the court, and in this offense you have to be able to react. Everything that we do in the drills and teach is trying to get them to react better, and to keep their heads up and recognize what is happening to them. Some guys never get it ... but he is one that gets it. He just gets it."

Obviously, all three of these freshman are going to have a huge impact on the success or failure of next seasons team. Their collective importance cannot be underestimated, but ...

I hope coach Cal realizes fans are going to remember these words ... for a long time. Previously questionable memories are suddenly strengthened to the point of extreme durability, when optimistic words such as these flow from the lips of a UK head coach.

Calipari on the schedule:

"I have some stuff going on that will be unbelievable if we can get it done. We are trying to move one game in Louisville and play at another neutral site. Texas has called and wants to play a neutral site game in Houston. We are thinking about Cincinnati, but you really want to protect your home fans in Lexington, and make sure they have games. You may have to shove a game into Nashville at some point. It may not be bad as a neutral site."

"I like neutral site games for all of you to understand, because what I like to do is split tickets. You get half the tickets, and we get half the tickets. The reason is, that is an NCAA venue, which is what the NCAA is. You are not playing a road game in the NCAA tournament. It will be half and half."

"I would love to get a team that would agree to play us in Louisville every year, and split the tickets."

In my perfect world UK would rotate playing Indiana in Louisville, and in Indianapolis. And in the years that UK is playing in Indy, Kansas would be UK's Freedom Hall opponent. I know I would be giving up a home game for a neutral site game, but check UK's record in Freedom Hall. They win at nearly same rate as they do in Rupp -- Rupp Arena record - 427-60 (87.7%), Freedom Hall record (in neutral site games) - 50-12 (80.6%).

I've been to three UK versus IU games: One in Louisville, one in Indy, and one in Rupp. For my money, the best atmosphere is when the arena is half blue, and half red. There truly is an NCAA tournament aura within the arena.

How about a neutral site game between UK and Memphis, held in Nashville? Somebody get Pastner on the phone!

I think Calipari makes a good point when he talks of the need to "protect the home fans." I know for years fans have been complaining about the level of competition being brought into Rupp Arena. Although North Carolina and Louisville make bi-yearly visits (and Kansas recently ended a home/home with UK), that still leaves eight or nine other OOC home games that have been mostly filled with low-Division I teams.

I don't think its unreasonable to expect UK to play five or six top-30 teams in Rupp Arena on a yearly basis (out of 10 or 11 OOC home games). I don't know, maybe I'm being an overly optimistic schedule-maker, otherwise known as a "coach killer."

But, Calipari's tenor has leaned toward toughening, not deflating, the strength of UK's schedule. I agree with that, as do most UK fans.

Man, he gets another thing right.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

UK Basketball: The Forgotten Duo

Ken Howlett — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:48:08 -0000

With what seems like the entire Big Blue Nation salivating over the possibility of UK signing uber-talented point guard prospect John Wall, Kentucky fans have relegated two current 'Cats to "back-burner" status. Point guards DeAndre Liggins and Kevin Galloway, once the center of Kentucky fans future-talk, have all but been forgotten when evaluating the possibilities of the 2009-2010 Wildcats.

The excitement generated by the potential inking of a top-5 recruit is certainly understandable. But, if the highly touted Wall decides to cast his lot with Duke, Florida, or North Carolina, this fan believes that in '09, Kentucky's point-guard position will still be manned by exceptional talent.

The reasoning behind my positive point guard outlook (regardless of Wall's decision) is three-fold:

1. UK's coaching change -- One of the maddening aspects of Billy Gillispie's tenure at Kentucky was his predilection of playing his players wildly varying minutes from game to game. Liggins and Galloway both suffered through this characteristic of Gillispie's coaching.

Example: Liggins -- 8, 16, DNP, 23, 12, 23, 34, 16, 19, 7, 9, 25, 8, 29, 3, 1, DNP, 1, DNP, 10, 12, 3 -- These numbers represent Liggins' playing time from the U of L game, until the end of the season. Galloway's minutes from the same time-frame -- 4, DNP, 10,10, 3, 1, DNP, 6, 2, 25, 3, 30, 6, DNP, 20, 18, 20, 8, 13, 12, 6, 19.

Whether the reason for the uneven playing time was because the player was yanked for missing a defensive assignment, taking a bad shot, making an inadvisable pass, or practicing poorly, the negative effect created by not knowing whether, or how much playing time one is going to receive from game-to-game, can play havoc with a player's psyche. It also reduces the chances that the player is going to play "free." In other words, playing tight, or afraid to make a mistake, is not conducive to a player performing at peak capacity.

One of the positives that have come out of John Calipari's early practice sessions have been that the players have been told to play through their mistakes. If Calipari continues to coach with that attitude, I believe we will see a more reasonable representation of Liggin's and Galloway's talents.

2. The system -- Calipari's Dribble-Drive Motion Offense is tailor-made for UK's two returning point guards: Both players are excellent ball-handlers, proficient penetrators, as well as good distributors of the basketball.

Physically, they both possess the size (Liggins - 6'6", Galloway - 6'7") and talents needed to become good-to-great points within the DDMO system. One only needs to take a look at the two guards respective assist to turnover ratio from last season -- Liggins recorded 92 assists to 74 turnovers (1.24 A/TO), Galloway dished out 51 assists to 40 turnovers (1.37 A/TO).

Not bad numbers when one considers that the players were performing in a system designed to FORCE the ball into the post, regardless of how many enemy jersey's were surrounding Patrick Patterson. Conversely, in the DDMO, Liggins and Galloway will be driving, and either dishing to an open teammate on the perimeter, or taking the ball to the rim. With a third option of passing to a post player who will be positioned on the weak-side.

As I noted, many of Liggins' and Galloway's turnovers last year were due to them forcing the ball into traffic -- Next year in the DDMO, the floor will be spread, resulting in their teammates being covered one-on-one a much higher percentage of the time. That fact should result in an even better A/TO ratio for the two points, which in turn will give UK fans a much more pleasurable viewing experience.

While neither player is a high-percentage three-point threat (Liggins was 12-51, and Galloway missed all four of his trey attempts), Liggins did make five of is last 11 attempts (45.5%). But, in the DDMO it is not incumbent for the point to take a lot of threes. The point, though, must finish around the basket, and both players did an acceptable job in that area -- Liggins made 44.7% of his two-point attempts, Galloway 48.9%.

Last year, many of their two-point attempts were taken in traffic, but in '09 they will be taking their man one-on-one on a spread floor, which should increase their respective two-point percentages. And if the post defender collapses off his man, the easy pass will be available to the big man.

3. A years experience -- As pointed out above, both players' weakness last season was their proclivity to force the pass into traffic, or to over-penetrate, i.e. their decision-making was not always competent. They at times played as if they thought they were still playing low-level competition.

But, as with nearly every freshman and junior college transfer, there exists a growth arc. Some players adjust to the level of competition more quickly than others, and in the case of UK's two returning points (and despite their up-and-down playing time), they both performed better late in the season, than they did early on -- In his last 56 minutes of action (over the course of seven games) Liggins recorded 10 assists to only five turnovers, and in Galloways final 37 minutes of action he dished-out 11 assists.

What we need to remember as a fan base is that college basketball followers have become spoiled in many ways by the phenom: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and a few others have tilted the scale of anticipation for freshman to a great degree. What fans need to remember is players of that ilk are the exception, not the rule. And comparing Liggins' game to the absolute upper-crust, elite of college basketball, is simply unfair to the young man. After-all, there was a time not so long ago, when a freshman (especially a point guard) receiving serious playing time was a major development.

Finally, whether the uneasiness apparent in Liggins' relationship with Gillispie last season was the fault of the player or the coach is irrelevant at this point, but my bet is that Liggins blossoms under Calipari and his system (for reasons stated above). If not, Kevin Galloway will be provided the opportunity to prove his worth by leading what should be an immensely improved Wildcat squad.

So, if John Wall opts for another shade of blue, or decides to partly-plug the sieve that is the Florida roster, rest easy Nation; the UK point guard position will be manned by two players capable of taking Kentucky back to it's rightful spot among the college basketball elite.

Heart Walk

The Central Kentucky Heart Walk and Tailgate Party will take place Saturday, April 25th at Commonwealth Stadium. Registration for the event will take place at 9:00 am, with the walk following at 10:00 am.

Mike Pratt has set-up a #34 Mike Casey Memorial Team. To donate, or find more information, follow this link.

Happy Birthday

I want to wish a happy birthday to my brother Chris, and his daughter Chloe!! Chloe is celebrating her Sweet Sixteen, so motorists in and around Lexington -- You have been warned.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

A year in the life ...

Ken Howlett — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:11:25 -0000

When Tru first approached me to become a front page author here at A Sea of Blue, I didn't hesitate. I've never told him this, but I had been waiting ... and waiting ... ever so patiently for him to ask me just that question -- "Would you like to join me on the front page?"

Well, Sunday April 12th, was the one-year anniversary of my first front page post here, at what I consider, the ultimate UK fan-based web-site: But boy, did I ever NOT know what I was getting into, or how much I would enjoy doing what I do. Nor did I realize the multitude of events that would transpire over my first year, eliciting opinions, analysis, and commentary over a range of topics that even the most seasoned, experienced, professional sports journalist would be envious of writing about.

My year began with:

Kentucky guard Derrick Jasper transferring to UNLV despite the best efforts of Billy Gillispie to retain his top "lead" guard prospect for the 2008-2009 season. At first fans were led to believe by some media members that Jasper felt unappreciated by the UK fan base, but of course that turned out to be false. He was seeking asylum ... so to speak. But the negativity surrounding his departure was quickly replaced by ...
Billy Gillispie's recruiting prowess ... which earned several front page posts early in my tenure: I wrote about Nicola Kecman, Bobby Maze, Vinny Zollo, Matthew Avery, Matt Pilgrim, Kevin Galloway and Josh Harrellson in the summer of '08. Gillispie it seemed, would stop at nothing to secure what he thought was the top talent available, regardless of geography, or more pointedly, the recruits date of birth, which led to ...
"Forward thinking recruiting" became a hot topic of discussion among the Big Blue faithful, as well as sports writers, and those charged with maintaining ethics in recruiting. Gillispie and UK were lambasted in the national press for offering scholarships to players not yet in high school. The NABC even chimed in with a "we don't approve" edict. But of course, Dick Vitale offered up congratulations and praise to Florida's Golden Boy, Billy Donovan, for snagging a commitment from high school freshman Austin Rivers. Aah, I just had to write about the hypocrisy.
What is still one of my favorite stories of last year -- Tennessee guard, and Maysville native Chris Lofton, revealing that he played his entire senior year after being diagnosed and treated for cancer -- Fans of UT, as well as UK, were busy theorizing why Lofton didn't quite seem himself. Some thought the loss of Dane Bradshaw somehow made Lofton's job tougher, because defenses could concentrate on Lofton. Wrong; the kid battled through chemotherapy, and the hell that goes with it, alone. He persevered, played, and in the end taught us all a lesson in what it means to have desire, heart, and will. * I think my column on Lofton is still my father's favorite post, so here it is pops, you can read it again.
After the transfer of Jasper, the question on the minds of 'Cat fans from Katmandu to Catlanta was --"Who is going to be UK's "lead" guard? Big Blue Nation's concern was to be validated in a most unpleasant fashion, and in the end may have cost a head coach his job.
Kelvin Sampson and his serial breaking of NCAA regulations next hit the headlines. While I'm not an IU hater, I couldn't resist writing that Indiana AD Rick Greenspan got exactly what he deserved: A major headache, and an evisceration at the hands of Hoosier fans everywhere.
Next in line was Brigid DeVries and the KHSAA -- I was the lone, and lonely voice of caution concerning the Dakota Euton/Chad Jackson transfer from Rose Hill Academy in Ashland, to Scott County High School -- My knowledge of rampant, and long-standing cheating by high schools around the Commonwealth was enough to throw up a red flag in this particular case -- But, KHSAA commissioner DeVries was unable to back-up her contention with evidence that the players should be ineligible, so in the end (and rightfully so) the two athletes were deemed eligible for competition for the Cardinals.
Changing the culture of UK football followed on the front pages -- With UK coming off two consecutive bowl game victories, the 2008 season stood to be a hallmark in the long and sad history of UK's pigskin struggles. Would "old Kentucky" rear it's ugly head yet again and produce a losing season, or would head coach Rich Brooks put together a third straight bowl-worthy season, topped by a bowl game win? Three consecutive bowl game appearances ... it hadn't happened since 1951 when Bear Bryant was calling the plays in Lexington. And UK, in 117 years of football, had never won three straight bowl games. The talk of breaking that notorious embarrassment was fairly positive, until ...
UK's presumed starting quarterback, Curtis Pulley, was kicked off the team. The "Ghosts in the House" were haunting the Kentucky football faithful once again.
But, a dominating 27-2 victory in the opening game versus the ranked and hated Louisville Cardinals, in their house no less (capped by a rumbling, stumbling 72 yard scamper by UK D-lineman Myron Pryor), buoyed optimism among 'Cat fans -- "Now, if Kentucky can only get an offense" was a theme that was to be repeated to a nauseating degree.
After six games UK's football team, standing at 4-2, and coming off two straight losses (Alabama, and South Carolina - Will UK ever beat Spurrier?) was staring demoralizing loss number three-in-a-row squarely in the face. When, versus Arkansas (down 20-7 with five minutes remaining), "new Kentucky" proved with ferocity that these 'Cats were indeed in possession of multiple lives, and at least five good minutes -- A forced fumble led to a Michael Hartline 32 yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb, making the score 20-14 with 4:15 remaining; On Arkansas' next possession UK's defense held the Razorbacks to a four-and-out, UK capitalized with a Hartline 21 yard touchdown pass to Cobb, giving UK the lead at 21-20 with 2:21 remaining; And finally, with 1:07 left on the clock UK's Marcus McClinton intercepted a Casey Dick pass to complete the improbable comeback. The game epitomized grabbing victory from the brutal jaws of defeat -- Unfortunately, a series of SEC losses would follow, leaving a once promising Kentucky football team grasping for one last victory to gain bowl eligibility.
While Wildcat football fans are surely loyal to a fault, the Nations attention turns to the hardwood when November rolls around. But, a little three-point-happy team arrived at Rupp with arms cocked and victory on their minds, carrying with them the first sign of the trouble that awaited the loyal lovers of the Blue and White: It could be heard from Pike County to the Jackson Purchase ... "VMI, not again!!"
After losses to VMI, North Carolina,and at home to Miami, the frustration of Patrick Patterson not getting enough touches epitomizes my thoughts on the early season 'Cats.
It was around Christmas that many UK fans, including myself, began to realize that Billy Gillispie was most definitely NOT the type of basketball coach the we here in the Commonwealth have grown accustomed to watching -- His peculiar methods, highlighted by head-scratching substitution patterns, in-game decision-making, and media style, while not an indictment of his abilities, were certainly causing an inordinate amount of angst among many fans.
The New Year, though, began with a couple of events which heightened the spirits of UK supporters everywhere ...
Although I didn't write a post-Liberty Bowl victory piece, I reveled in the victory none-the-less. The 25-19 win over East Carolina ended the season just as it began: With a lineman, this time Ventrell Jenkins, scurrying into the end zone on a 56-yard fumble return to secure victory. A 7-6 season, and third straight bowl victory, despite all the team's injuries, made the UK win over ECU as sweet as any in recent memory.
My elation with the UK football bowl win was quickly followed by, at first heartbreak, and then a feeling of promise, after UK's close road basketball loss (73-70) to the Louisville Cardinals. The hard-court 'Cats, coming off a string of blowout wins over lesser opponents, seemed to be "coming together" as the SEC slate neared. And taking the highly ranked Cards to the brink of defeat only added to the optimism most UK fans felt.
But, who knew that only nine days later the 'Cats would reach the apex of their season behind an extraordinary 54-point performance by Jodie Meeks, resulting in a blowout win on the court of the Tennessee Vols. Meeks' unbelievable display of shooting was simply the best one-man, one-game accomplishment that I have ever witnessed at the high school or collegiate level of competition. But, oh, the end was near ...
In my view, the beginning of the end of the 'Cat's season began with UK's trip to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. Shorthanded, because of a string of decimating injuries to three starters, including their All-SEC caliber point guard Chris Warren, Andy Kennedy's club played like they wanted the win. Sadly, Kentucky responded with an incomplete performance; something we would all become much to familiar with.
Following the Ole Miss loss, UK would lose consecutive games at home to South Carolina and Mississippi State which "propelled" the 'Cats to a 3-8 finish in the SEC. The nadir of the season took place in UK's own hallowed Rupp Arena: A 90-85 loss to the SEC's worst team, the Georgia Bulldogs.
I didn't know it at the time, but the Georgia loss, coupled with some unfortunate comments by coach Billy Gillispie, probably sealed the fate of UK's head honcho. There was to come a symphony of "should he stay, or should he go" commentary from the keyboards of bloggers, and sports writers around the nation. And with UK's NIT quarterfinal loss to Notre Dame, Mitch Barnhart and Lee Todd began the task of saving their own jobs with ...
An at-bat that could only result in a four-bagger ... or the consequences would be grave.
But, we fans now enter into a new era. An era filled with optimism and hope for the future: The hiring of John Calipari has lifted the spirits of the Kentucky faithful to heights unmatched in a decade. So with the future bright, we continue the march ...

Along the way I have had the great pleasure of interviewing some of the greatest players to ever don the Blue and White: Louie Dampier, Cotton Nash, Bob Burrow, Mike Pratt, Jeff Sheppard, and Dicky Lyons, Jr.. The late, great Kentucky Wildcat Mike Casey, while in a hospital bed undergoing tests and treatement, spent an-hour-and-fifteen-minutes out of his day to talk to me about his memories of his days playing for the 'Cats. It is a conversation that I will treasure until the day I meet my Maker.

For all of this I have one man to thank, and that is our fearless leader, Truzenzuzex. The opportunity to share my thoughts with you on UK, and all things Kentucky-related is due to the incredible generosity of Tru -- The fact that he deemed me worthy to share front page space with him on A Sea of Blue; the fact that he has been a sounding-board for ideas; the fact that he has always, without fail, given me solid advice and encouraging words leaves me indebted to him in a way that I will never be able to repay.

Finally, I must emphasize: I truly enjoy the discourse, debate, and discussion we partake in here at ASoB, and for that I must thank the readers and contributors. While we may not always agree with each other, we have been able to maintain quality conversations and dialog, which only enriches the "fan" experience. So, thank you readers. Without you, Tru, I, and BIgSky would be writing to the beat of sage brush blowing through the "Sea."

With all sincerety, and as always,

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

Kentucky 65 @ Creighton 63: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:05:28 -0000

First of all, a confession.

This week, with all the talk of replacing the UK men's basketball coach after only two years on the job and the long interregnum between games during which we were treated to lots and lots of that other tournament going on right now, my emotional stability has been seriously strained. In the mornings, I approach my own blog with reluctant trepidation, expecting to see some new apocalyptic revelation that is either upon us or just on the horizon.

Tonight, at the end of the game, I was completely drained, probably as much due to the hard day at work as to the nip-and-tuck nature of the contest. After it was over, I barely cheered, just numb with pressure and frustration and the fatigue of a long season gone horribly wrong -- until I realized that we won the game, that last shot didn't fall like so many others have, and the 'Cats will live to play one more game at least.

Second, congratulations to the Creighton Bluejays, a truly worthy foe and a blast from a distant past when so much was different. Dana Altman is a terrific coach, and Creighton came within maybe two inches on Booker Woodfox's jumper of sticking yet another dagger into a Kentucky team that already looks like a voodoo doll having a bad needle day. But the basketball gods decided, for whatever reason, to grant the Wildcats ten lives instead of the usual nine, and they prevailed in a defensive struggle with the #1 seeded Bluejays.

You would think I would be all smiles, and I am happy, but tightness of the game combined with all the rumormongering has just taken too much out for me to properly enjoy this victory, at least now. It is great knowing we beat a team that really should have received an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament. I must confess, being in the NIT has been a different and not nearly as unpleasant an experience as I expected. This year's NIT has been very competitive and very exciting, certainly rivaling that other tournament for drama, if not glamor and prestige.

As they have every single game recently, Kentucky played very hard and very determined basketball. Their execution varied from pretty good to downright poor, but a lot of that was due to a remarkable defensive effort by Creighton. The Bluejays, as have most teams recently, decided that they would try to let the rest of the team beat them rather than chance a defeat at the hands of Patterson and Meeks. For the most part, they shut Meeks down completely until midway through the second half, when the Bluejay defenders finally began to wear down and Meeks' superior athleticism and stamina took over. But it nearly was too little, too late.

Observations:

If UK had another quality post player, there would be no defending us.
If UK had one more serious perimeter threat, there would be no defending us.
Ramon Harris played what I consider to be one of his best overall games as a Wildcat. He was very aggressive when we needed someone to be and delivered big plays, as well as tough defense. 9 points and 8 assists to go with 4 rebounds.
Perry Stevenson wound up with a double-double, 13 points 10 rebounds, but it didn't feel like that good a game for some reason. Perry continues to hesitate when he should just shoot.
Patrick Patterson, hampered by fouls, did OK, but he just seemed to struggle to get into position to receive the ball.
DeAndre Liggins looked very good out there tonight, despite having only 3 points and one assist.
Jodie Meeks wore 'em down like he always does. It must be frustrating to be face-guarded all the time like that.
Michael Porter was as good tonight as he is ever likely to be.
Darius Miller wasn't as good as he has been lately, but he still chipped in with five points and two assists.
UK got outrebounded by a much smaller team. How does this keep happening?
Nice call by Gillispie on that last play. I think we should clear out for Meeks more often.
Kevin Galloway seemed really out of control and unfocused tonight.
A.J. Stewart tried too hard to make plays, and wound up not helping much, although he did get a couple of rebounds. Maybe Gillispie should have let him play more.
Harrellson missed 3 layups. That's not good.
Kentucky took fairly decent care of the ball tonight. I hope it's a trend.
The largest lead by UK was the final difference. The lead changed 13 times and was tied 9. That is the very definition of a close game.
Seems a tornado hit in the Omaha area while the game was going on. What is it about Kentucky and tornadoes? Is God trying to tell us something?
The Creighton fans were terrific. I was really impressed with them.

I am very pleased to beat a #1 seed, even in the NIT. To me, this is like some kind of throwback to the 1975-76 when UK won the NIT and I was off to my first year at Western. It was a lot more prestigious then than it is now, but it was beginning to lose its luster. Still, this year's NIT seems like a prize worth taking, if we can do it. Getting past this tough little team was definitely a step in the right direction.

Kentucky 70, UNLV 60: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:22:01 -0000

Kentucky refused to let Memorial lose it's magic, as they prevail against the game UNLV Runnin' Rebels, 70-60 in the first round of the NIT.

You have to give Lon Kruger and the Rebels credt -- they absolutely did not give up, even when Kentucky had them down by 20 points. The 'Cats apparently forgot how important it is to defend the three for a while, and before you could say "One-armed bandit," the Rebs had clawed back within three. Congrats to the Rebels for a game effort, and making the kind of dramatic comeback that has given UK fans nightmares all year long. But this time, the 'Cats woke up before their season died at the hands of "Freddie" Kruger and the Rebels.

Kentucky looked very good for about 50% of the game, and very much like they have all year for the other 50%. But thanks to some solid contributions from the non-scorers and a determined effort by Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks, the 'Cats were able to get the job done in the end with clutch free throw shooting and sound defense in the last 3 minutes.

This has been a great moment in many ways for Kentucky fans -- not because UK wound up in the NIT, but because it gave the 'Cats a chance to play again in the House that Rupp Built in front of 8000+ fans. In a strange way, this was a game that Kentucky fans will remember for years, not for the negatives of being the NIT, but for the memories found in that venerable old gym. Memorial Magic once again asserted itself, and it lead to a sweet moment that I will cherish.

Other observations:

DeAndre Liggins contributed early and often, logging the most minutes he has had in many games at ten. Nice to see the young man contributing again.
It's great to see the development of Darius Miller. Yes, he took some bad shots near the end, but he really helped add the points we needed in a game where both Meeks and Patterson were under their average.
Just another double-double for Patrick Patterson. 7-11 shooting isn't as good as what we have seen from Patterson earlier this year, but it was a marked improvement over recent games. Great rebounding, too.
Ramon Harris is simply indispensable. He does all the little things and gets none of the credit. Ten rebounds, six points and four assists. How good is that?
Jodie Meeks did OK, but he was once again very inefficient at 5-12 overall. But he made all his free throws, and that was huge. Jodie still makes a lot of sophomoric mistakes handling the ball, a consequence of missing last year. He is really not ready for the NBA.
Kevin Galloway just made mistake after mistake. Some of the passes he tried are simply inexplicable, just plain crazy. I just hope he figures it out. He did have four assists against four turnovers.
Michael Porter did fine. He played an appropriate amount of minutes for a change.
Perry Stevenson had 10 big points, but we sure need more than 4 rebounds out of him.
A. J. Stewart gave some valuable minutes today. Good for him.
Josh Harrellson saw not one second. Gillsipie effect, I suppose.
Only twelve turnovers tonight. If UK can manage no more than that every game, I like their chances.
The Rebels shot 44% from three in the second half. It almost doomed UK.
UK outscored UNLV in the paint by 30-16.
UK only outscored UNLV 10-8 on second chance points.
This game was remarkable for its slow pace. Only 47 total shots attempted.
UK only got one more offensive rebound than UNLV in spite of a big size advantage.

This was a good win for the morale of the Big Blue Nation in a historical UK venue that will not be soon forgotten. UK played pretty well, but is still dealing with most of the inconsistencies that they faced all season. Kentucky badly needs more maturity and an infusion of fresh talent, and they will be getting that next year. But this year, the 'Cats still have a chance to go out on a high note -- if a lot lower than what they'd hoped. Tonight was a good first step.

Kentucky 71, Ole Miss 58: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:15:01 -0000

I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to write about a victory again, instead of a defeat. This four-game losing streak that just ended today has been among the most difficult times I have experienced as a Wildcat fan, and definitely the least fun stretch of blogging I have ever had to do.

Despite a determined effort from the Ole Miss Rebels today, a wounded David Huertas was just too tough an obstacle for the Rebels to overcome. Terrico White was terrific in defeat, and even though Huertas managed 15 points, he was only 4-14 from the field. Nice effort by the Rebels. They will be much tougher next year when they get their injured starters back.

For Kentucky, this was a game of stretches. For some stretches in the game, the Wildcats struggled like crazy to score. In others, they seemed to score effortlessly. But today, the Wildcats ran offense that looked like ... well, like offense, and defended very well in the second half. Despite a white-hot first half shooting, the Wildcats wore the Rebels down and eventually, their shooting returned to form.

It really is amazing to me the difference between the way the Wildcats attacked the zone defense today and they way they failed to attack it last weekend in Gainesville. For the first time in a long time, switching defenses did not seem to bother Kentucky. When the Rebels went zone, the 'Cats got the ball into the middle, forced rotation and Darius Miller was usually the guy that drove the ball into the paint and scored. When the Rebs were in man to man, Meeks made startling cuts and dribble dives to the basket, or repeatedly pounded the ball in to Patterson and Stevenson. The result was effective offense -- dare I say, "good" offense? Maybe.

But what really won this game for Kentucky to day was the outstanding board work by the 'Cats. 13 offensive and 22 defensive rebounds for a 7-rebound margin against the Rebels. Not a great margin, but when you look at the OR% of 37%, that is very solid, especially compared to Ole Miss' 15% effort on the offensive glass. Combined with one of our lowest turnover games in a long while (10), the 'Cats got up 12 more shots than the Rebels.

Some observations:

Patrick Patterson continues to struggle with shots he was making earlier this year. I wonder why? But he took a couple of face-up jumpers that were very nice. It was a solid game for Patterson, but we have come to expect better than 7-15 from him. But he was a beast on the boards, garnering 14 boards, 3 of them offensive.
Perry Stevenson had a whale of a game. I suppose we'll see him turn sideways and vanish into thin air tomorrow, but today he was large and in charge, with 13 points on 4-6 shooting with 8 rebounds including 4 offensive.
The things Ramon Harris does cannot be measured. He did a great defensive job on Terrico White, even though White was red hot in the first half. Almost every one of those shots was challenged, but White could not miss. It went the other way in the second half, though. Harris also managed 7 rebounds.
Neither team shot well from three, and only a late Jodie Meeks three saved UK's 3-pointer-in-a-game streak. 1-10 is loathsome shooting from the arc. Ole Miss was at least not horrible at 30%.
I loved the way Meeks played today. He made shot fakes instead of taking wild shots, he knifed to the basket with frightening abruptness and finished or got fouled. Despite only one 3, Meeks got his average. That is a scorer. That's why he'll get paid big bucks to play ball after next year.
What can I say about Darius Miller? The freshman was simply terrific offensively. The only real criticism I can make is that he got bupkis for rebounds. How do you manage that at the 3 spot?
Michael Porter was ... well, Michael Porter. He hustled, he defended to the best extent his limited athleticism would allow, he was tough and determined. But he was also so far off shooting that his seven missed shots barely threatened to touch the rim, let alone go through the hoop. He did make one very nice driving layup, had three assists and only one turnover. I suppose, on balance, that his negatives and positives were close.
Josh Harrelson had a positive impact in only 8 minutes, but a really dumb three limited his playing time.
Kevin Galloway tried, but he really struggled today defensively. His man beat him over and over, but he did make a couple of nice passes and did not turn the ball over.
DeAndre Liggins barely played, and came with one foul of making no mark at all on the game.

One thing I did notice was that UK stayed at home, and only one person went to block the shot. In my view, this was one of the reasons that Kentucky did so well on the glass today. I would also note that Ole Miss did not pressure Porter, which is likely why we did not see a bunch more turnovers. Another possible negative is that the 'Cats did not put away the game until fairly late, so Gillispie was not able to rest the starters a great deal. But for once, his substitutions made some semblance of sense, and both Patterson and Meeks got at least a few minutes of rest.

All in all, this was a solid effort from Kentucky, especially defensively in the second half, holding Ole Miss to only 20 points. Forcing turnovers was a big part of that, something UK has not done particularly well this year.

So now, the 'Cats move on for another shot at LSU, who will be rested and ready. If Kentucky brings the effort they had today, they should be competitive, but Jodie Meeks must be more effective from the perimeter. But for now, we can celebrate a victory for the first time in two weeks, and it feels really good.

Kentucky 53, Florida 60: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:39:29 -0000

I regret not being able to write this last night, but I had other matters to attend to. I want to thank everyone for doing such a good job of keeping the discussion civil in this difficult time.

First of all, a big, somewhat belated congratulations to the Florida Gators. Florida did not play a great game, but they played well enough to win. When you are at home facing a with a lot (at least, ostensibly) of motivation to win the game, it's easy to try too hard, and sometimes the Gators did. But they forced Kentucky into many turnovers and managed to exploit enough of them to get the W. Well done, Florida. Noble victory.

It doesn't take Yoda to intuit the fact that I am very fatigued, both mentally and emotionally, with writing losing postmortems. All sports bloggers have to do this, of course, but it gets much tougher when your team is far worse than expected in a season. But with that said, let's move along to the Wildcats.

First of all, I must say that the 'Cats played very hard. They played very poorly in the process, but I don't fault anyone's effort today, and if you are like me and try to search for positives in a dismal showing, that's something. Unfortunately, this team's effort today was largely directed, as it has been so often, in making plays that simply were not there to be made, with the predictable result of ridiculously difficult shots missing the mark and turnovers made all over the place.

The biggest problem with Kentucky today is that they had no 3-point shooting against the zone defense. One of the weaknesses of a zone is that it allows open 3-point shots with good ball movement. Kentucky's ball movement wasn't just poor, it was incomprehensible. Throwing the ball around the perimeter of the zone is exactly what the zone defense wants the offense to do. What you should do is get the ball into the high post, forcing the zone to react. It's as though that was against the rules today, because the 'Cats almost never tried to do that.

In addition, Meeks was again unable to get clean looks, and when he did, he missed the shot. A lot of that credit goes to Florida, particularly Walter Hodge and Nick Calathes, who split time guarding Jodie Meeks. Ray Shipman also did good work there.

Patrick Patterson shot 7-17, an incredibly inefficient outing that has lately become his trademark all too often. Patterson missed point-blank shot after point-blank shot, and even though he was under some pressure, it was nothing like what he faced last month in Columbia. I am at a loss to explain what looks like a sudden lack of confidence in his game.

Kevin Galloway, the hero of the last encounter with the Gators, had a very bad showing. He kept trying to make impossibly difficult passes, even when a simple pass was available. Four turnovers, three assists.

Michael Porter was his typical ineffective self, although he wasn't the turnover machine we have seen so often from him this year. That honor went to Darius Miller, who's stat line of 1 assist, 6 turnovers and one rebound in 15 minutes is surely represents the nadir of the young man's Wildcat career so far (and hopefully, forever). Porter did, however manage to allow Walter Hodge to torch him for 18 points on 7-12 shooting.

The only player to really play well was Ramon Harris, the much-maligned small forward who defended Calathes like a maniac, holding him to only 5 points. Harris scored 14 points on 6-8 shooting and had only two turnovers and five rebounds, four of them offensive. Jodie Meeks managed 15 points on 6-18 shooting, with three rebounds as well as turnovers. As far as Perry Stevenson is concerned, I see by the box score that he did play 26 minutes, although I can scarcely remember anything he actually did.

So much for the recap.

So where does this latest debacle leave us? Well, I think it is safe to say that absent an SEC tournament championship, Kentucky has no chance whatever to get an at large bid in the NCAA tournament. That hope technically died earlier this week when Georgia handled us in Rupp Arena, but the reality is that the season was murdered in Columbia, South Carolina back on February 25th. The Gamecocks, in my estimation, crushed the fragile psyche of of this team to fine powder, rolled it up and smoked it.

I know many people will want to take Gillispie before the firing squad, but the truth of the matter is that he is no longer in control of the fortunes of this team. As anyone who has ever led a group of men or women will tell you, once their confidence in the direction of the team fails, it is usually (although not always) unrecoverable in the near term. What it often takes is a quiet period for people to evaluate themselves and their priorities, digest and assimilate what happened that contributed to the disaster and come back with a plan to succeed after the pain and recriminations of the failures have subsided. Only in cases of extreme maturity and determination, as we saw last year from Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley, can the rescue of a team be effected in-season once it's confidence has failed. Unfortunately, this team has no such maturity or determination.

What this means is that the post season for this group, absent something rather extraordinary, is going to be much like the last few weeks. I can never say never, but I don't expect Kentucky to do well in the SEC tournament and I do expect them to play in the NIT. They may win a game or two in that tournament, but ultimately, the weight of this season will doom them much as it has seven of the last ten games. A slow start is all it takes to bury this team, and every start these days is a slow start. These young men have neither the maturity nor the mental toughness to bail out all the water the USS Wildcats is taking on this year.

Coach Gillispie will suffer most of the recriminations, and that is right because that's what he is paid to do. My opinion is that Gillispie's "stay tough" style simply didn't work with this particular group of kids. I expect he also tried a kinder, gentler approach at times in the season hoping to get a response, but really, he was operating from a position of weakness. Gillispie is Gillispie, and this team needed a different type of approach which is apparently beyond his ken. We have seen this happen before with coaches at Kentucky and elsewhere.

Gillispie could not get this team to execute or understand his offensive schemes. Defensively, the Wildcats were fairly consistent and generally pretty good this year, but it was the inability to value the basketball or execute precision offense when it was needed that cost us most games. Yesterday, it was a return of the unwillingness (I can't really call it anything else, the proper method to attack zone defenses are well-known by anyone who closely follows college basketball) of the team to properly attack the zone and move the ball. It was as though flashing to the free throw line was so risky that nobody would attempt it, so Kentucky simply threw the ball around the perimeter fecklessly in hopes of getting it to Patterson.

I do not believe those who say Gillispie is over his head, at least when it comes to actual coaching. In the sense that he has done a very poor job with media and fan relations this year, yes, I think he is in over his head -- he has taken a huge reservoir of goodwill and drained it completely dry with almost nothing to show for it. He now finds himself actually embattled at Kentucky after only two years, a feat that I thought impossible without an actual losing season. Yet Gillispie has managed this with two potential NBA draft picks and several other top 50 players coming out of high school on the team.

I personally believed that Gillispie should get four years at the head job almost as a default. However, after this season he will be under tremendous pressure to perform next year, and that concerns me -- coaches under that much pressure can become unpredictable and can be a threat to the program's integrity. I trust that Barnhart and the compliance staff will work very closely with him under these circumstances. I think Coach Gillispie is a man of integrity who would never do anything wrong, but there is no way he has ever been under this much pressure in his life. Pressure this intense can break the will of even the best human being, and while it may seem unfair, it is simply a fact at Kentucky that must be dealt with. That unfortunate fact may (and probably is) a big part of the reason why Kentucky has had so much difficulty with coaching searches.

Unfortunately for those who want to see Gillispie fired immediately, doing so would magnify the pressure of this job to the point that I can't imagine any right-minded human being who would want it. I'm sure somebody would be willing to try, but if you think we could euthanize the Gillispie era today and hire the next Rick Pitino tomorrow, you are simply nuts. The psychology of the situation would be unprecedented in all of college basketball history, and we would most likely have to settle for a coach with Kentucky ties. I would point out that the only coaches with Kentucky ties of the stature that most fans want are Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan and Tubby Smith.

Of course, it is always possible we could go to the NBA and get lucky like we did with Pitino. NBA coaches are familiar with pressure that is at least somewhat similar to what a coach faces at Kentucky, and that is certainly a good thing. Most of them are fairly adept at handling the media, so that would also be a plus. But could we find any that would be a good fit and have the necessary experience to take over this program? I don't know.

In the final analysis, firing a coach who had committed no NCAA violations or other issues of moral turpitude after two winning seasons would be unprecedented, for a program of Kentucky's stature to take such an action would put our program at risk for years to come. But does that mean that we should just take this season in stride and look forward to next year, throw up our hands and say, "Oh, well, better luck next year?" Not in my book.

There are several actions that the Athletics Department should take after this season is finally dead and buried, something I expect to happen sooner rather than later. They are:

Inform Gillispie that he has one month after the NCAA championship game to finalize and sign a contract with UK. Failure to do so will result in dismissal, and litigation over the MOU. Enough is enough.
Require Gillsipie to provide a detailed explanation to the Athletics Director, either verbally or in writing, about what went right and what went wrong with this season. This analysis should include a detailed explanation of the failures that caused this season to go south, along with a detailed plan for corrective action addressing each of the failures. Once the coach and AD agree on all the points at issue and their corrective action, Gillispie and the AD should agree on what an acceptable outcome to next season will be complete with objectives and performance criteria.

As much as the fans would want to be part of this, it is unreasonable that they should be privy to or have a say in this agreement. We hired Barnhart to handle this. Let him do his job.
The agreement should be specific as to what success and failure next season look like. For example, success could be defined as a winning percentage of 70% +0-5%, an SEC championship or co-championship, and an NCAA tournament bid of 8 or better. I really don't care what the agreement is, it could require an NCAA sweet 16 or better, whatever.

What would the consequences of failure to meet objectives be? A presumption of dismissal, I would expect, absent extraordinary mitigating circumstances. Coach Gillispie was hired to coach Kentucky into Kentucky-like performances, not performances that would satisfy Georgia or Ole Miss. He has now had two full years to deal with the issues that the program had before he came, and three of his recruiting classes will be in place by next fall. We should begin to see progress from the 2006-07 years, not a continuation or regression from them.

I have advocated four years for Gillispie, and I still feel that way if he can show substantial progress next year. If not, I'm not sure that Barnhart will be able to protect him for another year. Many people have compared the situation to Coach Brooks, but we all know that basketball and football are worlds apart in the minds of Kentucky fans. Barnhart could afford to go to bat for Brooks, but Gillispie has burned up a ton of goodwill that Brooks did not by still having an unsigned contract and various media faux pas along with an intractable attitude toward the game that has not yielded good results. Intractable, eccentric behavior are fine when you win, but poison when you don't. In the final analysis, I don't think Gillispie can survive another year with more than ten losses unless he has a deep run in the NCAA's. I'm not sure he could survive another first-round loss in the NCAA's, or another VMI or Gardener-Webb type loss.

In summary of this lenghty commentary, Kentucky's season is effectively over. Although an SEC Tournament championship or even an NIT championship might somewhat change the dynamic of this season, it wouldn't be by much. Opinion has largely calcified that this year was a failure, and primarily a failure of coaching. Not only that, but the Kentucky coach has managed to create an unfortunate impression of his time at Kentucky by some very questionable decisions in the media. The result of this is that after only 22 months on the job, Gillispie has completely exhausted the reservoir of good will that the Big Blue Nation had for him when he was hired. He is now viewed almost as negatively (and perhaps just as negatively) by the fan base as Tubby Smith was two years ago, and that is very bad news. Gillispie, in my judgment, cannot survive another year like this, no matter what chance I personally think he should have.