John Clay's Sidelines

Daily Randoms for a Wednesday night:

Lang Wiseman

Full day today with family matters, etc., plus wrote a column, so now time to throw in some odds and ends. My new buddy is Lang Wiseman, the former Tennessee basketball player, who took a shot at Calipari, I linked to it, as probably did others, and now Lang is hearing it from the UK fans. He e-mailed me: “And just when I thought it might be impossible for UK fans to hate a UT guy any more than they might naturally already…. Haha. You proved me wrong.”

Kudos to the UK Hoopsters, though they did take it on the chin from Sherry Coale and her Oklahoma Lady Sooners last night, even it was without the Paris twins. Bad ending to a great, great season. The key now is for Matthew Mitchell and Company to keep the momentum going for next year. A lot of good to great talent will be back next year, and there are reinforcements on the way. Ah, but there will be expectations next year. That’s a whole different kettle of fish to deal with.

In case you haven’t heard, Daniel Orton’s father tells Jerry Tipton that his son will test the NBA waters. I expect him to go. Strike while the iron is hot. I know, Orton didn’t even start. I know, Orton is not much on the offensive end. But he has excellent defensive skills and looked like a terrific shot blocker. He would benefit from staying, and maybe he will. Hope he does. He’s bright, articulate, good fun for a media/player conversation, as those things go. But I’m betting he makes the jump. Just have that feeling.

Continue reading ‘Kentucky fans find new reasons to dislike an ex-Vol’

Josh Selby (Photo by Henry Ray Abrams)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader on Oklahoma eliminating UK women in NCAA Tournament:

Kentucky was one win away from making a special season even more special with a trip to the Final Four. But Oklahoma and its speedy guard duo of Nyeshia Stevenson and Danielle Robinson ran away with a 88-68 win over the Cats on Tuesday night in the Sprint Center.

Mark Story of the H-L writes that there is still plenty of hope for the UK women:

An enchanted women’s basketball season that began with Kentucky picked to finish 11th in the SEC ended in the Sprint Center with UK one victory short of making its first-ever trip to the women’s Final Four. In spite of 31 points and 13 rebounds from SEC Player of the Year Dunlap, UK suffered its worst loss of the season, 88-68, to Oklahoma.

H-L photo gallery from Kentucky-Oklahoma.

Jerry Tipton of the H-L talks to Josh Selby:

When asked about recruiting talk that he’s waiting for Knight to sign so he can go to another school, Selby said, “That’s not true at all. (Knight’s choice) is not going to stop me. If we go to the same school, we’ll just have to fight for playing time.” Selby said he watched how Wall and Bledsoe prospered for Kentucky this season.

David Harris of the Dallas Morning News reports on a North Carolina star who has UK in his final five:

Luke Cothron, a 6′ 8″ forward from North Carolina, has changed his commitment from North Carolina State and has narrowed down his choices to five schools: Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M.

(Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Kentucky Sports Network sent along this video of Doron Lamb and C.J. Leslie talking Cats:

Continue reading ‘BBL: Selby, Leslie, Lamb and Luke Cothron updates’

SEC links for Wednesday:

• The NCAA denies Renardo Sidney’s appeal, reports Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.

• Buddy Collings of the Orlando Sentinel reports that North Carolina has entered the battle for Florida commitment Austin Rivers.

• Dayton knocks off Ole Miss in the NIT semifinals, reports Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger.

• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun on ex-Florida assistant Donnie Jones being named the new head coach at Central Florida.

• Tommy Deas of the Tuscaloosa News reports that a deal to have Alabama and Texas Tech play in Cowboys Stadium is not done yet.

• New Tennessee defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox is eager to make  his mark, writes John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Sidney’s appeal denied; UNC after Rivers’

Updated: Spring practice schedule, with some open to the public, now at bottom of the post.

Attended Joker Phillips spring practice preview luncheon this afternoon. Well, food at 11:20. Joker at 12. Big difference right off the top. Rich Brooks stood at a podium for his press conferences. Joker sat at a table, talking about drills that open Wednesday. One thing didn’t change. Rich always started with an injury report. Today, Joker started with an injury report.

There may not be big differences between the two head coaches, Brooks the former, and now Phillips, the present coach. But there will be differences. Phillips said he has always had a fascination with the miliary military. Perhaps that has to do with growing up in Franklin, Kentucky, not far from Ft. Campbell. So there will be no more special teams at Kentucky. There will be “special forces,” said Phillips. I know, the cynics among you will say that maybe Steve Ortmayer can do a better job coaching “special forces” than he did coaching special teams.

Continue reading ‘On the eve of spring football drills with Joker Phillips’

(H-L photo)

Daily randoms for a Tuesday:

Promised yesterday we’d get into this week, so here goes. Can you win a national championship with one-and-done players? Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News thinks not. Kevin knows his hoops. He wrote this morning that he’s given up on John Calipari every winning a title, saying:

This marks the third straight year and fourth time in the last five years that Cal has given me a reason to believe during the regular season, only to leave me with a broken bracket.

OK. Finally, I get it. He’s probably not going to win it all. He just may be Guy Lewis with nicer suits and better hair.

I’m not willing to go that far. The game has changed since the Guy Lewis days. History shows it takes great players to win championships. To get great players, you have to take chances on players who may end up being one-and-done players. If you’re John Calipari, do you really not go after John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe? Who knew that all three would have seasons in which they would position themselves to be high picks. Wall, yes. Cousins, probably. Bledsoe, not so much. Some thought Patrick Patterson might be a one-and-done player. He just finished his third year in a Kentucky uniform. So, you never know. It’s easy to take the approach that you want guys who will develop for four years. But you never know if that will work out. Circumstances change. That’s life. I say give me the talent first, ask questions later.

By the way, guess how many one-and-doners Calipari had in his nine years at Memphis? Answer: Four. DeJaun Wagner in 2002, Shawne Williams in 2006, Derrick Rose in 2008 and Tyreke Evans in 2009.

Continue reading ‘Can you win it all with one-and-dones?’

(H-L photo/David Perry)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader reports from Kansas City on UK’s defensive motivation:

Doing the same drills over and over again day in and day out would seem monotonous, but not to Smith and her UK teammates, who are one win away from playing in the program’s first Final Four. “We can’t get tired of something if it helps us get better,” Smith said. “It’s hard to complain when you see something working.”

Smith also reports on UK’s flock of Facebook fans:

In their news conference before their Kansas City Region championship game against Oklahoma, the players noted the frenzy of the past few weeks of winning at the NCAA Tournament. “When I checked my Facebook (Sunday) night, I had like 90 notifications,” guard Amber Smith said. “Just so many people congratulating me. We’re happy that we have so much support from back home.”

Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald on Brandon Knight:

A recruiting website reported last week that Knight’s decision to sign with Kentucky is all but a done deal. Knight refuted that speculation on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, telling Rivals.com that he isn’t favoring Kentucky or any other school. “All my schools are balanced,” said Knight, who plans on signing with either Florida, Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas or Connecticut in April. Basketball’s signing period begins April 14.

Brian Rickerd of the Frankfort State-Journal writes that happy days are here again:

Here’s the bottom line: As long as Calipari is the CEO of Kentucky basketball, the Wildcats will at least be in the discussion of potential national champions. Every year. Kentucky may not always be the favorite, as they arguably were this season, but opponents will know that Kentucky is on the short list of teams to be reckoned with.

B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel does a Q&A with Joker Phillips:

Q. What kind of changes do you think the players will see from previous seasons?
A. One thing that we’ve tried to stress in this off-season is that we’re trying to take it to the next level. Our goal is to take the next step. It’s being able to consistently beat the Floridas and the South Carolinas and the Tennessees. So we’ve upped the intensity, there’s no doubt about that. The intensity level is up, the accountability is up. We’re holding them accountable to get to where they’re supposed to be, meaning class on time, meaning workouts on time. We’re definitely holding them accountable and we’re also making it a more intense atmosphere and a more competitive atmosphere.

Continue reading ‘BBL: UK women face history; Knight stays undecided’

SEC links for Tuesday:

• LSU suspends Bo Spencer from basketball team, reports Gary Laney of The Advocate.

• Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser reports that an Auburn football signee is fighting leukemia.

• Paul Finebaum of the Mobile Press-Register writes that Urban Meyer’s outburst shows just how far beat writers have fallen.

• Tennessee basketball looking ahead to next season, reports Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

• John Adams of the News-Sentinel writes that UT got caught up in a high-speed chase.

• Mark Weidmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press thinks Tennessee has a bright basketball future.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: LSU suspends Bo Spencer from team’

(H-L photo)

Some daily random notes for Monday:

Lot of talk the past couple of days about whether John Calipari got outcoached by Bob Huggins on Saturday night, and whether Calipari is a good Xs and Os coach. Can a great recruiter also be a good Xs and Os coach? And can a great Xs and Os coach be a good recruiter. I didn’t think Billy Gillispie was as good an Xs and Os coach as Tubby Smith. And so far, I don’t thik Cal is as good a bench coach as Tubby. But then that’s a pretty high standard. And I don’t think Cal is a bad bench coach.

On the other hand, I do think Huggins got the best of Cal on Saturday. (Huggins is 8-1 against Calipari now.) I thought Huggins’ 1-3-1 zone was the perfect defense to combat John Wall’s ability to get the ball to the basket. Especially the physical way that West Virginia plays its zone. That’s another point in Huggins’ favor. He wasn’t a zone coach at Cincinnati. He loved the tough, rugged man-to-man. But his older WVU players had already learned the 1-3-1 principles under John Beilein, so Huggins decided to keep it in. And he made it work, with his own little tweaks.

Continue reading ‘Did Bob Huggins outcoach John Calipari?’

(H-L photo)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader on UK women upsetting top-seed Nebraska:

Kentucky gives the notion “quick like a Cat” a whole new meaning. Much like it did in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last week, undersized Kentucky used its quickness to speed past top-seeded Nebraska 76-67 in front of a partisan Cornhuskers crowd at the Sprint Center on Sunday night. It was just the second loss of the season for Nebraska.

Herald-Leader photo gallery from Kentucky women’s win over Nebraska.

Mechelle Vopel of espn.com on Kentucky’s win over Nebraska:

Let’s get this straight: This was the Kentucky team that was picked to finish 11th in the SEC? This was the Kentucky team that didn’t beat Tennessee when they met twice this season? Indeed, the Wildcats fell both times — at Knoxville and then in the SEC tournament in Duluth, Ga. — going against the mighty Orange Crush. Tennessee won the SEC regular-season and tournament titles, then got a No. 1 seed to the NCAA tournament. Kentucky took the runner-up mantle in the league and an NCAA No. 4 seed. But guess who’s still alive and kicking in the Big Dance?

Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star on UK knocking out the region’s top seed:

The way Kentucky played on Sunday night it wouldn’t have mattered had the teams played on a concrete playground or high school gym. The Wildcats outquicked the Cornhuskers, beating them to loose balls, creating turnovers and knocking down shots from all over the floor in front of a stunned crowd of 5,907, most of whom were wearing Nebraska red and Oklahoma crimson.

Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel on UK hoops’ huge win:

The first 10 minutes saw the game teeter back and forth with seven lead changes and seven ties. Both teams also shot extremely well from the floor in the first half as UK shot 56.7 percent and Nebraska shot 60 percent.

However, with 9:43 remaining in the first half, the Cats went on a 9-2 run to provide some separation from the Huskers. UK extended the lead to 13 with just over a minute left in the half, but the Huskers chipped the margin back to single digits before the intermission as they trailed 43-34.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky women haven’t hit speed limit yet’