John Clay’s Sidelines

Several clips of UK coach John Calipari talking to the media before today’s practice.

There will be four five clips in all. Click the continue button to see the other clips. (One more to come, so check back.)

Here Calipari talks about his team’s defense against the 3-pointer.

Continue reading ‘Video: John Calipari before today’s practice’

Put together an Excel file of UK individual basketball stats through the first three games.

Here’s the link, using Google docs.

Or you can see the jpeg view by clicking to expand the thumbnail chart to the right. Keep clicking on it until it increases to full size.

Please feel free to point out any and all errors.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

John Calipari exclaimed last night that this may be his worst defensive team since 1988.

My statistical library doesn’t go back that far, but I do have the stats for his nine years at the helm at Memphis, where the Tigers were generally very good defensively. In fact, last year stats guru Ken Pomeory ranked Memphis best in the country in defensive efficiency.

Opponents managed to shoot better than 40 percent just three of Cal’s nine years there. And the 3-point percentage by opponents was normally around the 30-32 percent mark, which is certainly respectable.

Through three games, a very small sample, this year, opponents are shooting 42 percent from three-point range and averaging a mind-blowing 12.33 triples per game.

Continue reading ‘John Calipari’s defense at Memphis vs. this year’

What is it about Rupp Arena? The rims? The background? The atmosphere?

Go back over the past eight years and look up the top 10 three-point shooting performances by a Kentucky opponent. Eight of the 10 happened at Rupp, including Sam Houston State’s prolific 18-of-38 super-showing from three-point land last night. And that came on the heels of Miami of Ohio’s blistering 15-of-26 showing on Monday night. So in two games, the Cats have allowed 33 made three-pointers in 64 attempts, a statistic that has led to John Calipari fearing that his head just might leave his body.

Anyway, eight of the top performances happened by opponents at Rupp. One happened in last year’s season finale when Notre Dame hit 12 threes on the way to beating Kentucky in the NIT. (Billy Gillispie’s final game as the Kentucky coach, it turned out.) And one happened in Maui. That was the Gonzaga game when the Zags hit 12 of 27.

Here’s the chart (because you knew it was coming):

Here is UK freshman guard Eric Bledsoe talking about hitting five three-pointers, and how tough it is to play defense in college.

Here’s the WKYT sportscast from last night with a greatest hits of Calipari’s post-game clips, starting about 1:00 into the video.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes on UK’s 102-92 win over Sam Houston State, leading with, “Kentucky continued to show a record-breaking defense. Alas, for all the wrong reasons.”

• Mark Story of the H-L writes, “The performance on the substance side, however, left something to be desired. For the second straight game, the UK perimeter defense was defenseless.”

• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes that Saturday will be a homecoming for many UK players, “The 2009 Kentucky roster is nearly as much Peach as it is Bluegrass. UK has 22 native Kentuckians on scholarship, but Georgia ranks close behind with 15 scholarship Wildcats.”

• Matt May of the Cats Pause writes, “Corey Allmond must have been watching Miami’s Nick Winbush do his best Crispin brother impersonation Monday night the way he lit up UK’s perimeter defense.”

• Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal writes, “Three games into his career as the men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, and coach John Calipari is already shaking his head. And his team didn’t even lose.”

• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate Messenger writes, “Mississippi State assistant coach Phil Cunningham says Rider, the team Kentucky hosts Saturday, is the kind of team in NCAA Tournament play that ‘can give you fits’ if you are highly-seeded team.”

• The Herald-Leader slide show from last night’s basketball game.

Continue reading ‘BBL: What others said about the UK win (plus football)’

Kentucky sophomore Darius Miller talks to the media after last night’s game, giving his thoughts on what needs to be done to improve a defense that has allowed 33 made three-pointers the last two games. And that’s not a misprint.

SEC links for Friday:

• John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that Bruce Pearl is happy to welcome Tobias Harris to Tennessee.
• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes that Harris puts the Vols in real paradise.
• Chip Towers of the AJC reports on the sudden death of Georgia’s beloved mascot, UGA VII.
• Tim Gayle of the Montgomery Advertiser reports that Alabama players are critiquing Nick Saban’s action abilities.
• Edward Aschoff of the Gainesville Sun writes on Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, who could be in demand for head coaching spots.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Nabbing Tobias Harris puts Vols in paradise’

Here’s John Wall talking to the media about how the team must improve after Kentucky’s win over Sam Houston State.