John Clay's Sidelines

At today’s UK basketball media opp, we witnessed John Calipari doing his Allen Iverson impersonation, the coach saying that there are two other SEC teams who do not have Thursday night games, followed by, “The other thing I would say is we do play on Thursday night” and the coach give a long answer about Doron Lamb that had little to do with Doron Lamb. It’s all part of the fun.

Three things of note.

Alabama will be angry: Anthony Grant was certainly angry in the second half last night of the Tide’s 69-59 loss to visiting Vanderbilt, or at least angry to earn a technical and go after official Mike Stuart. Calipari claimed that Alabama did not play that poorly, Vandy just played well. That may be. But Tony Mitchell was 0-for-8 from the floor and didn’t score. The Tide shot a season-low 32.9 percent. They trailed by as many 23 points. They certainly did not play well.

Grant is too hard-nosed and has too much pride to let something like that happen back-to-back. True, as Kevin Stallings would note, Alabama has a quick turnaround from the Thursday night TV game to Saturday’s CBS noon start, but my guess is that it will be an intense 36 hours. Alabama will either really go in the tank Saturday, or it will fight. I lean toward fight.

The Thursday night controversy: Kevin Stallings should have other things to complain about, at least publicly.  And I agree with something I heard Larry Glover say last night. Stallings is missing a great opportunity. Considering Vandy’s recent NCAA Tournament failures, the coach could sell the circumstance as an advantage. Now, he’s put into the head of his players, and the fans, that Thursday night teams have a built-in excuse.

I will have to say that I don’t quite believe Calipari’s contention today that if he was in the same situation as those playing a lot of Thursday-Saturday combinations, “I wouldn’t say anything.”

The Cal theme of the day: As for the Calipari answer about Doron Lamb, it veered out into the UK coach saying that today’s players have too much handed to them. That kids today don’t get cut in the seventh grade, that everyone goes for a hamburger after the game, etc. It’s not that way. Not at this level. “You’re in a dogfight,” he said.

Highlights and video from the John Calipari media opportunity today.

- Video after the jump.

- At the end of the media opp, the UK coach was asked about his time in Frankfort on Thursday lobbying the state legislature for funds to rebuild the university’s infrastructure. Best line:

“Sixty-year old dorms, I hate to tell you, these days don’t cut it,” said Calipari. “The communal bath, the 30-person shower, dudes don’t like it anymore. The world is changing.

- Some questions about Terrence Jones, after we got to talk to the sophomore forward in the players’ portion of the media opp (video coming). Asked about how Jones had adapted to not scoring 15 to 20 points a game, Calipari said, “We want him to score 15 to 20 points a game.” The coach said that Jones needs to play harder and rougher and then the rebounds and baskets will come.

“I’d like to see him get 11 rebounds a game,” said the coaching, adding that the great thing about rebounding is “you can be as selfish as you want to be.”

Continue reading ‘Cal: “Communal baths — dudes don’t like it anymore”’

(H-L photo/Jonathan Palmer)

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Big Blue Links for Tuesday: Kentucky travels to Louisville tonight for it’s annual game at Freedom Hall. This year’s opponent is Arkansas-Little Rock, a mid-major that is not likely to boost attendance for the yearly affair. With UK’s schedule in flux, there are questions about whether the trip to the River City should continue.

As for the team, John Calipari is preaching togetherness and friendship. Shot selection, and who is taking those shots, has also come up in discussion.

• Coaches know home is still advantage, says TSN’s Mike Decourcy.
• Kyle Anderson wants Shabazz at UCLA, reports Zagsblog
• Cal gives Cats a kick in the Jorts, writes Jerry Tipton of H-L.
• Freedom Hall attendance has declined, reports Matt May of Cats Pause.
• Is Teague taking too many shots? asks Larry Vaught of A-M.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Check out the Herald-Leader photo gallery from the Kentucky-Louisville game.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone who reads this blog.

Thanks again.

Jared Sullinger (AP photo)

SEC links for Saturday:

• Jared Sullinger should be ready to go as Ohio State visits South Carolina, reports Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch.
• Kenny Boynton goes back home to Miami, but as a Gator, writes Walter Villa of the Miami Herald.
• Florida is set to test Texas A&M’s patience tonight in Orange Bowl Classic, reports Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.
• It’s homecoming for Trevor Releford as Alabama plays Kansas State tonight, reports Don Kausler of the Birmingham News.
• Arkansas looking for scoring as homestand begins, writes Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.
• Ole Miss’ Murphy Holloway has rare treat tonight, as his 2-year-old daughter will be in attendance when Rebels play Southern Miss, reports Hugh Kellenberger of Clarion-Ledger.

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• WHAS-TV in Louisville has video of John Calipari and Rick Pitino conversing at Louisville Butler High School, where they both were last night to watch Bullitt East’s Derek Willis.
• John Calipari has built Kentucky basketball to win, even now, writes David Jones of Florida Today.
• Kentucky women hope that the Big Blue Nation’s disdain for all things Duke will help fill Rupp Arena, writes Jen Smith of the Herald-Leader.
• ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla tells the Herald-Leader’s Jerry Tipton that Terrence Jones needs to make improvements if he is going to be a star in the NBA.
• UK will be the nation’s epicenter for volleyball this weekend, reports Guy Ramsey of Cat Scratches.
• Bloomington has a buzz thanks to Indiana’s 8-0 start, writes Matt Smith of the Indiana Daily Student.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• In the Herald-Leader, Jerry Tipton writes on seasoned-veteran Mike Dunlap, the St. John’s assistant who will be subbing for the missing Steve Lavin when the Red Storm play UK at Rupp Arena on Thursday night. Meanwhile, I rank the SEC football coaches on job performance for this season. Plus, Beverly Fortune writes on a task force report that says a renovated Rupp would meet UK’s needs and save the city money. Cats Stats looks at UK being No. 1.
• Kieran Darcy of ESPN New York writes that St. John’s is determined despite Lavin’s absence. Six of the seven players in St. John’s rotation are in their first year of college basketball. In fact, Dunlap said that he won’t even give his team much of a scouting report on the top-ranked Cats. He’s more worried about his own team knowing what to do.
• Steve Jones of Cats Illustrated visits UK signee Alex Poythress in Clarksville, Tennessee and finds that the 6-foot-8 forward works part-time at Wendy’s. He’s making $7.25 an hour.
• Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal reports on Louisville women’s easy 105-62 win over Murray State as the Lady Cardinals tune up for Sunday’s game at Kentucky. Louisville scored the game’s first 16 points and held Murry ato 17.9 percent shooting in the first half. The Kentucky-Louisville women’s game is a sell-out, by the way.
• Guy Ramsey of Cat Scratches writes that the UK volleyball team wants to bring fire to its trip to the NCAA Tournament. UK plays Dayton on Thursday in College Station, Texas in the first round. UK coach Craig Skinner and Dayton coach Kelly Sheffield are natives of Muncie, Ind. and Ball State graduates.

Sad to say, but ex-Kentucky wide receiver Stevie Johnson tried to have a little fun but ended up being the goat in Buffalo’s 28-24 loss to the New York Jets today.

Johnson caught a touchdown pass and then did a celebration mocking Jets’ receiver Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg. Then Johnson mocked the TD dance of Jets receiver Santo io Holmes, which earned Johnson a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration.

The penalty gave the Jets a short field and New York drove to what turned out to be the winning score with under a minute to play.

It was the winning score in part because Johnson dropped a wide open pass that could have been a TD on Buffalo’s final drive.

Johnson admitted after the game that he made a stupid decision.

The AP photo at top is Johnson’s second-quarter touchdown.

Click here for the video of Stevie’s touchdown and penalty.

As everyone knows, Kentucky has a 26-game losing streak in football against Tennessee, the longest streak in the sport between two teams that play on an annual basis. And the two teams meet Saturday at 12:21 p.m. (SEC Network) at Commonwealth Stadium.

Here a few recent trends, plus a chart on the streak:

• Last 2 games in Lexington have gone to overtime – UK lost 30-24 in OT in 2009; 52-50 in overtime(s) in 2007.
• Last five games in Lexington, UK lost by an average of 8.6 points. The last five games in Knoxville, UK lost by an average of 12.6 points.
• This is the first time UK has entered the game with a losing record since 2005. The Cats lost 27-8 at home that year.
• Kentucky outgained Tennessee 564-520 in 2007, yet still lost.
• Since the 2007 game, Kentucky has gained 193 yards (2008), 261 yards (2009) and 390 yards (2010) against the Vols.
• Tennessee has thrown at least one touchdown pass against Kentucky in each of the last 19 years.
• The Vols rushed for just 76 yards last year against UK and still won.