John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes that SEC lead is at stake today in Nashville: “Vanderbilt, which has beaten Kentucky in Nashville the past four seasons, certainly qualifies as a team good enough to beat UK. Kentucky showed its good and bad sides in winning at Mississippi State in overtime on Tuesday. The bad Cats trailed 67-60 with three minutes left. Then the good Cats got the score tied by the end of regulation and won 81-75 in overtime.”

Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean says both teams have to plenty to play for: “Cate isn’t sure where today’s game between the No. 17 Commodores and No. 2 Kentucky ranks in the building’s history, but he knows the opponent makes it pretty high on the list. ‘The Kentucky game is and has always been the measuring stick as to where we are in the basketball world,’ Cate said. ‘The coaches may not look at it that way, but the fans do.’”

Lockridge writes that more physical play is expected: “Vanderbilt’s first encounter with Kentucky freshman forward DeMarcus Cousins wasn’t pretty. Or as Commodores center A.J. Ogilvy put it, ‘Last time we got a little bit punked inside.‘”

Brett Dawson of the C-J writes it’s a big game in a weird gym: “University of Kentucky forward Darius Miller admits that briefly, before his first game at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium, he considered the possibility that he might fall off the floor. Not down onto it, but off it. The Commodores’ court is elevated above the first few rows of stands. Along with the location of its benches underneath the baskets, that makes it among college hoops’ quirkiest venues.”

Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel on the Memorial Gym challenge: “The Commodores are 13-0 at home this season and 59-7 in the last four seasons combined at Memorial Gym. With the benches being on opposite ends of the floor, communication could be an issue. No need to worry however, the joking Calipari said the team has been practicing their mental telepathy but he’s not sure they’ll be able to go to it by Saturday’s game.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky hopes to snap Memorial Magic spell’

SEC links for Saturday:

• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger reports on the death of an Ole Miss football player during conditioning.
• More on the tragic death at Ole Miss from Parrish Alford of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun previews today’s Florida-Ole Miss matchup.
• Wayne Chism is an absolute warrior, Bruce Pearl tells Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Seth Emerson of The State previews today’s South Carolina-Tennessee game.
• Georgia assistant Philip Pearson will go up against his old team today, writes Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald.
• Mississippi State travels to struggling LSU, reports Gary Laney of The Advocate.
• David Climer of the Tennessean says shooting stole a light from all of Vanderbilt.
• Georgia football staff still being sorted out, blogs the AJC’s Tim Tucker.

Before practice today, Kentucky coach John Calipari says you are what your record says you are, until he’s reminded that earlier in the season he argued his 10-0 team was really 5-5. “That’s different,” said the coach, with a grin.

Before today’s practice, Kentucky coach John Calipari talked to the media about Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt. The UK coach says he has talked to one other coach in the SEC about the unique bench configuration at Memorial Gym. He said the gym “is what it is” and you just play. He also compliments Vandy center A.J. Ogilvy. “The big boy was really good last night,” said Calipari.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader reports on UK women’s win over Florida: “Watkins was one of two UK role players that came up huge. In the past six games, Watkins and sophomore Keyla Snowden had combined to score just 30 points total. Thursday night, the dynamic duo put up 40 points in the win over the Gators, who lost their third straight.”

Cat Scratches has some post-game video from UK’s win over the Florida women.

Matt Bracken of the Baltimore Sun reports that UK is one of four schools remaining for Josh Selby: “On the court, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior has guided the No. 5 Lakers to a 12-3 record. Off the court, Selby has kept busy with a high-profile recruitment. Selby, Rivals.com’s No. 4 player in the 2010 class, recently narrowed his list of schools to four. ‘His four schools are Arizona, Kansas, Connecticut and Kentucky,’ said Maeshon Witherspoon, Selby’s mother.

Nation of Blue on John Calipari’s favorite Hoosier: “Earlier this week, my wife told me about John Calipari visiting high school sophomore Kevin Massey who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. At first you may think this is just another story about a coach and/or player who is visiting a sick kid, but this time it’s a little different. There weren’t any film crews, photographers or university reporters along for the visit, it was just our coach making a difference in someone’s life.”

Bill Mayer of the Lawrence Journal-World on the reaction to his UK tainted wins column: “It was delightful to watch the two camps hollering at each other. First time in 60-plus years I’ve ever seen anything like that. Some of the jibes were so harsh and tacky that a network referee refused to let them run.” (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Jerry Tipton on Rick Stansbury’s jammed phone: “After the game, Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury said he got so many crank calls from the state of Kentucky that he disconnected his home and cell phones.”

My column on my participation on the NCAA Mock Selection Committee: “In an effort to be fair, the system is sometimes unfair. For example, Big 12 associate commissioner John Underwood and I represented actual committee member Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe. Thus we could not choose any Big 12 teams on the consideration list. Nor could we participate in rankings if a Big 12 team was involved. Whenever a Big 12 team was discussed, we had to leave the room.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky is in Josh Selby’s final four’

(AP photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

SEC links for Friday:

• The AJC reports that Rajaan Bennett’s community mourns the death of the Vanderbilt signee.
• With loss to Vanderbilt, Ole Miss continues its late-season fade writes David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun reports on Florida’s must-win win over Auburn.
• The State has video of the wives of South Carolina coaches, who dressed up for a cause.
• It was a weird night for the Gators writes the Sun’s Pat Dooley.
• Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger writes that Rebels are now in a tough spot.
• Chris Talbott of the AP covers the Vandy win in Oxford.
• Dan Fleser of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Pat Summitt thought team “disrespected the game of basketball” in Lady Vols win at Alabama.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Community mourns death of Vandy signee’

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader reports that young Cats are getting better in tight situations.
• Jennifer Smith of the H-L reports that Matthew Mitchell wants UK women to take better shots.
• One media poll has Ohio State’s Evan Turner leading John Wall for Player of the Year.
• Bluegrass State Basketball has a report on ex-Cat Donald Williams.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes on the crowd that UK faced at Starkville.
• Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel on UK’s maturity.
• Nick Craddock of the Kernel reports that UK women are suffering a shooting slump.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Evan Turner overtakes John Wall in one POY poll’

SEC links for Thursday:

• Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports on Tennessee’s gut-check win over Georgia.
• Mike Strange of the News-Sentinel writes that Tennessee was all business the second half.
• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes that UT gave an orange payback.
• AP report says Georgia couldn’t hold halftime lead at Tennessee.
• AP report on South Carolina’s loss at Arkansas.
• Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean writes that Vandy men won’t feel sorry for Ole Miss tonight.
• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger writes on Ole Miss’ key stretch of the schedule.
• Evan Woodbery of the Mobile Press-Register previews Auburn-Florida clash tonight.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun writes that Florida has some long-range issues.
• Randy Rosetta of The Advocate writes that LSU is upbeat about baseball.

Greg Byrne

Mississippi State athletics director Greg Byrne has apologized to Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart and basketball coach John Calipari for the behavior of some Mississippi State fans, who threw water bottles and debris on the floor near the end and after State’s 81-75 overtime loss to second-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday night.

In his weekly letter on the Mississippi State athletics website, Byrne wrote:

ESPN color analyst Jimmy Dykes said the university received a ‘black eye’ last night, following our overtime loss to Kentucky. Because of the actions of a few, we embarrassed ourselves on national television and damaged the university’s name.

The post-game events, in which some of our fans threw items on the playing floor, were totally unacceptable. It is our goal – one of our five defining principles as an athletic department – that we will act in a first-class manner as we compete for championships. We will never truly be considered winners – or champions – no matter the outcome of a game, if we do not act with class and integrity.

In the post, Byrne gave his e-mail address and encouraged those State fans who could identify those throwing debris to contact him.

Byrne served as a an associate athletics director at Kentucky under Barnhart.

“From my time at Kentucky, I certainly understand the passion the fan base has for college basketball,” said Byrne on Wednesday via telephone. “It doesn’t matter which team comes in here to play, we want to represent the university in a first-class manner.”

Byrne said that by its standing in the league when it comes to basketball, Kentucky is going to get an opponent’s “best shot,” but that the behavior Tuesday night crossed the line.

Byrne said he called Calipari after the game to express his regret over what happened. Byrne said he caught up with Barnhart on Wednesday morning, “and that both were very gracious.”

In his post-game press conference, Calipari complimented the atmosphere, and said that the actions at the end represented only a few. A record crowd of 10,788 attended the game at the Humphrey Coliseum.

In Bryne’s letter, Mississippi State president Dr. Mark Keenum also voiced his displeasure:

“I was upset and disappointed that the ill-advised actions of just a few of our fans overshadowed a tremendous performance by our basketball team against the Kentucky Wildcats Tuesday night. This was an embarrassment for our university. That kind of behavior is totally unacceptable and far removed from the friendly and welcoming atmosphere that exists on the Mississippi State University campus. I have directed Athletic Director Greg Byrne to investigate the matter fully and to review security procedures to prevent this from ever happening again in Humphrey Coliseum. I have called University of Kentucky President Dr. Lee Todd to offer an official apology to the university, its basketball team and fans for this unfortunate incident.”

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader reports from Starkville on Cats closing out a close call over Bulldogs.
• My column from The Hump saying that the loss of Jarvis Varnado spelled doom for Mississippi State.
• Mark Cornelison’s Herald-Leader photo slide show from Kentucky-Mississippi State.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes from Mississippi that DeMarcus Cousins answered the call for the Cats.
• Also reporting from Starkville, Matt May of the Cats Pause writes that UK disconnected State.
• Metz Camfield of the Kernel made the trip to Starkville to report on the Kentucky comeback.
• James Pennington of the Kernel, who was also on hand, writes that getting over The Hump wasn’t easy.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky-Mississippi State morning-after links’