John Clay's Sidelines

Before Monday’s practice, Kentucky center Josh Harrellson was asked if he finds it hard to live up to expectations after posting better-than-expected numbers early in the season.

Shannon Spake

College hoops on the tube tonight:

• Tennessee at Georgia (7:00, ESPNU): Vols are coming off a come-from-behind 67-64 win over Vanderbilt, but this will be a tough task at Georgia. Mark Fox’s Bulldogs battered Ole Miss 98-76 in Oxford last Saturday. This will mark the halfway-point of Bruce Pearl’s eight-game SEC suspension.
• Michigan State at Illinois (7:00, ESPN): Two teams who have been a bit disappointing to this point. Both have five losses. State has one Big Ten loss; Illinois has two. The Illini are on a two-game losing streak, dropping road games at Penn State and Wisconsin.
• Colorado at Nebraska (7:00, ESPN2): Colorado has been the surprise team of the Big 12, winning seven straight games overall and racing to a 3-0 record in league play. Nebraska is just 1-2 in the Big 12, but the Huskers did play Kansas to the wire before losing 63-60 in Lawrence over the weekend.
• Kentucky at Alabama (9:00, ESPN): The evening’s featured attraction, at least in these parts. Anthony Grant’s team is tough at home, but does the Crimson Tide have the firepower to hang with John Calipari’s Cats? Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes form the broadcast team, with Shannon Spake reporting from the sideline.

Continue reading ‘UK-Bama local highlight of college hoops TV schedule’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Twany Beckham is transferring from Mississippi State to UK, reports Evan Daniels of Scout.com.
• Next Cats has a Twany Beckham page.
• Kentucky gets a history lesson on Martin Luther King Day, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Calipari tells Terrence Jones to pass the ball, writes Tipton.
• Mark Story of the Herald-Leader gives out his Orange Globe Awards.
• Jarrod Polson has grown a little weary of “Shoooooot!”, reports Aaron Smith of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Kentucky one of seven schools in the hunt for Andre Drummond, reports Zagsblog.
• Alabama puts its home win streak on the line against Kentucky, reports Tommy Deas of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Kentucky’s firepower will test Alabama’s stingy defense, writes Don Kausler, Jr. of the Birmingham News.
• Kentucky relying on youth; Bama not so much, writes Michael Casagrande of the Anniston Star.
• Bama’s defense hopes to slow Kentucky’s offense, reports Ken Rogers of the Dothan Eagle.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Twany Beckham says he will be a Wildcat’

SEC links for Friday:

• Steve Kragthorpe on LSU offensive coordinator search list, reports Randy Rosetta of The Advocate.
• Tennessee wants a new streak at Georgia, writes Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Can Georgia repeat last year’s win over the Vols? asks Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Two-sport failure is rare for Tennessee, writes John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Andy Kennedy to pay attention to Ole Miss’ defense, reports Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal writes that Jalen Steele is stepping up for Mississippi State.
• Auburn guard Frankie Sullivan will be shut down for the rest of the season, reports Evan Woodbery of the Birmingham News.
• Auburn wide out Darvin Adams entering NFL draft, reports Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News.
• Auburn basketball no match for football, reports David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Jemal Farmer’s status uncertain at Arkansas, reports Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.

A brief clip here of Terrence Jones talking before practice about what John Caliapri wants him to be doing now.

Video here of John Calipari working with Jarrod Polson, Stacey Poole and Jon Hood before today’s practice. Included in this one-minute clip is Calipari doing his impression of an errrant Hood shot during Saturday’s game against LSU.

In his meeting with the media before practice today, UK coach John Calipari was asked about the reaction to his appearance on ESPN’s Martin Luther King, Jr. special last Friday. The coach said he was stopped quite a bit on a recruiting trip by people saying nice things. He also said he received a nice call from his daughter.

The second video is after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Video: Calipari talks about ESPN’s Dr. King special’

Twany Beckham

A few notes from UK’s basketball media opp in advance of Tuesday’s game at Alabama:

• Former Mississippi State player Twany Beckham was at practice today. The former Ballard star has his release to transfer from MSU and is looking at possible schools.
• John Calipari talked a lot about the reaction to his appearance on ESPN’s Martin Luther King, Jr. special on Friday. Said he received a nice call from his daughter, who told him what an honor it was for him to be asked to be on the show.
• Calipari said he has not decided whether to continue bringing Terrence Jones off the bench. He did say they are trying to get Jones to pass the ball more.
• Cal praised Alabama’s defense, and he also talked about going to see his signees play over the weekend.
• Video to come.

ESPN has a terrific Martin Luther King Day, Jr. schedule of college hoops.

• Villanova at Connecticut (3:30, ESPN) – Villanova takes a 16-1 record and 4-0 Big East mark into Connecticut to face the Huskies. UConn is 3-2 in the league, 14-2 overall, and got 31 points from Kemba Walker last time out, an 82-62 win over DePaul on Saturday.
• Kansas State at Missouri (5:30, ESPN) -- Two Big 12 teams with high hopes, but 1-2 conference records. Missouri will try to shake off Saturday’s overtime loss to Texas A&M. After losses to Oklahoma State and Colorado, Kansas State whipped Texas Tech 94-60 to get its first conference win.
• Syracuse at Pittsburgh (7:30, ESPN) – An 18-0 Syracuse versus a 17-1 Pittsburgh. Pitt’s only loss was to Tennessee. Syracuse is ranked 4th by the AP, while Pittsburgh is 5th. The home-court advantage goes to the Panthers, plus Syracuse could be without Kris Joseph, who may miss the game because of a head injury.
• Norfolk State at Howard (9:00, ESPNU) – Not much to recommend here. Norfolk State is 2-13. Howard is 2-14. Norfolk does have a MEAC win, however.
• Kansas at Baylor (9:30, ESPN): The final game of ESPN’s quadruple-header. Kansas is a perfect 17-0, though the Jayhawks had to scrape past visiting Nebraska 63-60 on Saturday. Baylor was blitzed 72-57 at surprising Iowa State. The Bears are 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the league. Should be a tough game for Bill Self’s club in Waco.