John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Some afternoon notes from the great state of New Jersey, where I have yet to run into Snookie, however.

- Charles Pierce’s blog in the Boston Globe picks up on Zagsblog report that people from New Jersey were not crazy about John Calipari and the Cats. This may or may not go back to Cal’s brief 2-and-a-half year reign as coach of the Nets, where some still hold it against him for not drafting Kobe Bryant.

- Cal’s record as Nets coach was 26-56 in 1996-97, 43-39 in ’97-98, then 3-17 before being fired in ’98-99.

- After Calipari was fired, Larry Brown hired him as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers. Cal had been on Brown’s staff at Kansas.

- Some UK player notes to digest as you wait for tipoff

• Josh Harrellson is 14 of 18 from the floor in the tournament, but just two of nine from the free throw line.
• Josh is averaging 12.2 points and 8.6 rebounds in the post-season.
• Jon Hood has played eight minutes in the post-season.
• Kentucky is 8-0 when Terrence Jones has three-or-more assists.
• Brandon Knight has 26 assists and 13 turnovers in the post-season.
• Since spraining his ankle in the SEC Tournament semifinal against Alabama, Doron Lamb has scored 19 points in three games. He’s one-of-six from three-point land in those games.
• DeAndre Liggins is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game in the post-season.
• Darius Miller’s seven field goal attempts against West Virginia, in which he made just one, was his fewest attempts since the Tennessee game in Rupp on Feb. 8.
• Eloy Vargas has nine rebounds in 25 post-season minutes.

- The great Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer has a good column on the problem for Cincinnati and Xavier fans. Do they hate Kentucky more, or Ohio State more?

- Doc does go a little overboard on Jared Sullinger, however, writing, “Sullinger has Charles Barkley’s center of gravity, Bill Walton’s ability to pass out of a double team and Bill Russell’s unselfishness.” Wow.

Continue reading ‘Some afternoon notes with no help from Snookie’

Click here for this video on YouTube.

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In the Cats-Buckeyes bash here in Newark, the big question appears to be how well will John Calipari’s young Kentucky team in defending big, bad Ohio State.

Well, if you look at the numbers closely, there is hope. That’s because Kentucky has been a pretty good defensive team this season.

For example, Ohio State is shooting a sterling 49.9 percent from the floor on the season. Only one Kentucky opponent has shot that well or better against the Cats all year. That was Kemba Walker and Connecticut way back in the Maui Invitational finals last November. The Huskies shot 57.7 percent on the way to crushing the Cats in the final. Since then, however, the best any team has shot against the Cats was Mississippi State’s 47.2 percent at Rupp in a Kentucky win on Feb. 15.

Continue reading ‘Will Kentucky’s defense be up to the task?’

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Zagsblog’s Adam Zagoria, who wore a Zags jersey to yesterday’s press conferences here in Newark, reports that the fans at the Prudential Center did not take to well to Kentucky’s abbreviated open practice.

An excerpt:

While the other teams – Marquette, North Carolina and Ohio State – put on extensive open practices for the fans Thursday, Kentucky held an extremely short workout which featured free throw shooting and a game of “Knockout.”

The performance inspired a smattering of boos.

“Thanks for giving me time for a nap,” one fan in a suit shouted at Calipari, who shot back a short glance.

“I did more in my eighth-grade gym class,” another fan shouted.

Ohio State’s workout by contrast?

“Excellent, well-organized and fun,” one prominent local high school coach said.

Adam also quotes someone as saying Kentucky didn’t do autographs afterward, but we at the H-L has a picture of John Calipari signing autographs.
Continue reading ‘Blog says Newark fans didn’t like Kentucky practice’

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Big Blue Links and notes from a sunny, but chilly Newark this morning:

- Some Herald-Leader links previewing tonight’s Kentucky-Ohio State game:

• Calipari’s freshman formula will be put to the test tonight, writes Jerry Tipton.
• Cats must crowd Buckeyes shooters to have a chance tonight, writes Mark Story.
• My column says Kentucky is not settling for the underdog role.
• Calipari and Matta have different game preparation ideas, writes Tipton, along with other notes.

- Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal writes that Kentucky faces a tall order tonight with the Buckeyes.

- Here’s a stat for you, in the past five years, only one No. 4 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed in the Sweet 16. That was in 2006 when LSU knocked off Duke. The Tigers then beat Texas to reach the Final Four. Duke’s loss last night doesn’t count, as Arizona was a No. 5 seed. Arizona beat a No. 4 seed Texas to reach get the shot at the Blue Devils.

- Have to admit, having left the house at 4:40 a.m. to catch my flight on Thursday morning, I turned the Arizona-Duke game off at the half with Duke comfortably ahead. Big mistake. Would have loved to see the second half, not that I have anything against the Blue Devils. But apparently Derrick Williams was out of his mind.

- Some may be wondering why CBS’ Clark Kellogg is doing the analysis on the East Regional. After all, Kellogg is an Ohio State grade and is on the school’s board of trustees. And Clark has the Ohio State-Kentucky game tonight. As usual, he’s teaming with Jim Nantz. Personally, I like Clark and think he does a good job, but some will no doubt question the assignment.

Continue reading ‘Some morning notes from just off the Jersey shore’

During the open locker room session at Newark’s Prudential Center, Ohio State players David Lighty, Aaron Craft, William Buford and Jon Diebler talk about Friday night’s game with Kentucky.

Continue reading ‘Videos: Ohio State players on Friday night’s game’

Full transcript of Ohio State’s press conference today in Newark:

NCAA MEN’S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: NEWARK

March 24, 2011

Jon Diebler
Dallas Lauderdale
David Lighty
Thad Matta

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY

THE MODERATOR: We are joined right now by the Ohio State student-athletes David Lighty, Jon Diebler and Dallas Lauderdale.

Q. This is for David: Since you’re the elder statesman, you’ve seen, you have seen a lot of these big men, amazing big men that come through there. What makes Jared so special? How does he compare to over guys OSU had?

DAVID LIGHTY: I think every big man we had here has been special and different in their own unique way. But for Jared with his size and ability, you know, to just read the defense at the age coming in, being a freshman and not forcing things, letting the game come to him, is something that’s, you know, really helped him out. I think he plays beyond his years and that’s something that is special and pretty much separates yourself from others.

Q. Just overall thoughts on Kentucky and biggest concerns going into this one tomorrow.

DAVID LIGHTY: I mean, they are great team. I mean, they are athletic, they get out and run, they push the pace. They have bigs, they have wings, and they have a guard who can pretty much do it all. So if we don’t come ready to play, it’s going to be a long night for us.

JON DIEBLER: With what Dave said, we have to focus on rebounding. They have a lot of guys that are big inside, especially on the perimeter, they like to crash the glass. We just feel we have to really control the boards.

DALLAS LAUDERDALE: Just to echo off Jon and Dave. Rebounding and defense is important. They have threats at every position and I feel that it’s going to be a battle down there on the offensive and defensive end of the court.

Continue reading ‘Transcript from Ohio State’s press conference today’

Full transcript of Kentucky’s press conference today in Newark:

NCAA MEN’S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: NEWARK

March 24, 2011

John Calipari
Josh Harrellson
Deandre Liggins
Darius Miller

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY

THE MODERATOR: We are joined now by the University of Kentucky head coach, John Calipari. Coach Calipari will make an opening statement and then take questions.

COACH JOHN CALIPARI: We’re excited to be here and happy we’re still playing. And knowing we’re playing against a really good opponent. No. 1 team in the country, so we know we have a challenge ahead of us.

THE MODERATOR: If have you a question for Coach Calipari.

Q. John, would you talk about Brandon Knight and the way he progressed through this season? And what are you most happy with in facets of his game that improved as the year has gone on?

COACH JOHN CALIPARI: Probably the best thing that happened to Brandon was Hawaii. Where we played top-notch opponents and he — at that time we all know and he realized that he had a ways to go. Since that time it has been a steady climb. And he’s such a hard worker and so conscientious he has just gotten better and better.

The way we play, where you have the ability to create and do things, you’ve got to also balance that with running a team. So the point guards that I’ve had, that’s been the challenge. And they all catch it at different parts of the year, whether it was Derrick or Tyreke or John and now Brandon. And good for us, that they have been playing their best, all of those guys played their best toward the end of the season.

Continue reading ‘Transcript of UK’s press conference today in Newark’

Ohio State’s star freshman center, Jared Sullings, talks about the Friday’s Sweet 16 showdown with Kentucky.