John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader on Joker Phillips being named UK football coach: “Phillips cited recruiting as the key for UK turning the corner. Phillips cut his teeth as an ace recruiter during stints as an assistant coach at Kentucky, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina. And while he’ll now be the CEO of the program, he still plans on being an active presence on the recruiting trail.”

My column saying Joker Phillips won’t get much of a honeymoon: “His advantage is that, as a native of Franklin, a former UK receiver, and a longtime assistant at his alma mater, Phillips knows the lay of the land. He knows the state, the university, the program, its fans. But in a way, his disadvantage is that the fans know him, too. And this year, anyway, many of the fans thought they knew better. They criticized his scheme. They criticized his choice of personnel. Most of all, they criticized his play-calling.”

Bud Withers of the Seattle times on Kentucky basketball: “Well, here’s how: Kentucky has freshman point guard John Wall, already one of the front-runners for national player of the year. A superior athlete and deft penetrator, the 6-foot-4 Wall leads the Wildcats at 17 points a game and set a school assists record with 16 one night. And Calipari also has DeMarcus Cousins, a 6-11 freshman banger who averages 9.6 rebounds and combines with Patrick Patterson to help give Kentucky a rebounding margin of 11.5, second-best in the nation.” (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Jennifer Smith previews UK hoops SEC opener: “Adolph Rupp had his Runts. Maybe Matthew Mitchell can have his mighty mites. The Kentucky coach knows his team is undersized with no true post player taller than 6-foot-1 Victoria Dunlap, but he doesn’t think that will stop the Cats as they start Southeastern Conference play this week. Mitchell will find out if size really does matter at No. 8 Georgia on Thursday.”

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes that John Wall is earning opponents’ respect: “Of course, SEC veterans taking a wait-and-see attitude in October might be convinced now. In his first 14 games, Wall has made game-winning shots against Miami (Ohio) and Connecticut, hit two free throws in the final 2.5 seconds to send a game against Stanford into overtime, set a school freshman record with 14 assists against UNC-Asheville, set a school record for any player with 16 assists against Hartford (equalling the eighth-highest assist total ever for any SEC player) and shook off a sub-par (for him) game to make several clutch plays in a victory over Louisville.”

Tom Leach talks to Oscar Robertson about John Wall.

Kentucky Sports Network talks to Jodie Meeks about John Wall.

Bluegrass State Basketball reports that Landon Slone is headed to Pikeville.

Card Chronicle goes a little over the top on Cousins: “DeMarcus Cousins should have been tossed. The kid’s unstable, and he’s the biggest potential mass murderer in the history of the rivalry. (4.) That said, the referees allowed things to escalate by not T’ing up Bledsoe. You simply can’t let a player go off, be taken out of the game because he can’t stop going off, and then continue to go off from the sidelines without punishment.”

Aaron’s UK Football Blog makes a correction:On a more solemn note, a few days ago, I went with a couple of stories that at the time seemed to have legs. The 1st story dealt with how 2 young KY recruits were no longer a part of the future of the football program. I wrote the article because it was posted on a major recruiting site and the writer is/was a respectable journalist; however, it seems that that particular article has been pulled and that the writer no longer stands by it.”

(H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Kenny Colston of the Kentucky Kernel writes that the change from Brooks isn’t much change at all: “But while question upon question was asked, Phillips looked more and more like the man he is replacing, with just a little tingle of Joker included. He joked with the media, was serious when necessary and stayed humble. Which is good for everyone involved. But don’t be fooled, because all is not perfect.”

Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel reports on the Phillips hire: “Later in the news conference, Phillips indicated the best lesson he learned from Brooks was to “block out the noise.” Phillips alluded to Brooks’ ability to ignore what critics were saying, especially during the first years of Brooks’ tenure, and to focus on the goals he had set forth. The task at hand for Phillips is to continue building a program that has aspirations to reach the highest echelon in the Southeastern Conference.”

Michael Grant of the C-J reports on the Phillips’ hire: “Phillips, 46, becomes the 12th African-American head coach currently among the 120 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision programs and just the second in Southeastern Conference history, after former Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom. The news conference was attended by Rich Brooks, whose retirement Monday prompted Phillips’ ascension. Phillips became teary-eyed and sometimes speechless when talking about his former boss.”

Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches, UK’s blog, writes that the succession plan is right move: “Phillips faced some minor criticism the past two years – largely from a minute fraction of the fan base that was spoiled by the high-flying 2007 team – yet he still managed to finish in the top half of the SEC in scoring offense last year and transformed the Cats into an unstoppable run machine in 2009. And make no mistake about it, whether it’s been stellar recruiting classes or dynamic play calling, he’s been one of the most important people in the turnaround.”

Cat Scratches is having a liveblog with Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe today at 1.

A Sea of Blue on what could stop the basketball Cats: “”John Wall has been outstanding. He will be the best player on the floor in every game going forward and only matchups against Kansas and possibly Texas might alter that. But what happens if Wall isn’t on the floor? We’ve already had two games where he had to sit out with cramps and another with foul trouble. That could happen again and it is absolutely critical that UK have someone who can keep the offense going when Wall is on the bench for an extended duration.”

Kentucky Sports Radio on Phillips’ press conference: “The last few press conferences that introduced new UK football coaches had decidedly different moods. Rich Brooks’ inauguration was the base hit after the Parcells game-winning home run that went foul. Guy Morriss was the team-favorite assistant that was anointed amid a cloud of probation and bad karma. Hal Mumme’s intro had the “Who *is* this guy” vibe hanging all over it.”

Straitpinkie has an SEC East progress report: “Florida is not a very good statistical offensive team. Fantastic freshman Kenny Boynton leads the team in scoring, but shoots just 36.3%. As a team, the Gators just don’t shoot all that well, especially from three. They are 307th in the country in three point shooting at 29.3% and are among the worst in the nation at getting to the foul line. However, the Gators do chase their misses pretty well on the offensive glass. They also aren’t particularly deep, with six players playing at least 23 minutes.”

Wildcat Blue Blog on UK numbers: “A number can mean a lot of meanings, especially for the Big Blue Nation: 43 SEC Championships; 13 Final Fours; 25 SEC Tournament Championships; 2,003 all-time wins; and 8, the number of National Championships both fans and players alike strive to win this season. There are some numbers that the fans take for granted, but the players take them to heart. Not only do they take pride in the name “Kentucky” on the front of their jerseys, but also the number that each player represents in each game.”