Videos: John Calipari’s summer press conference

Posted on May 15, 2013 1:53 pm by John Clay

Part 1 of John Calipari’s summer press conference this morning at Memorial Coliseum.

Part 2 of John Calipari’s summer press conference this morning at Memorial Coliseum.

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Five-spot (plus one) from John Calipari’s press conference

Posted on May 15, 2013 11:59 am by John Clay

Calsummer1

A quick five-spot from the just-completed John Calipari summer press conference:

1. The coach looked tan and fit. This was the first time that the UK coach has met with the local media since his team lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT on March 18. In fact, Cal said he’s not sure he’s ever had a season end that early and that the team and coaches did a lot of “post-season stuff” that they had not done in previous years when they were playing at the end of the year. As for 2013-14, he said, “What we’re about to undertake has never been done before.”

2. The coach talked about all the incoming freshmen. He called Julius Randle “an alpha male that will drive the team.” He said Andrew Harrison should excel in the dribble drive and on pick-and-rolls. He said James Young “can flat-out shoot.” He said he took Dominique Hawkins because after what the team went through last season, he wanted “one more tough point guard.” He used the term “pogo stick” when talking about Marcus Lee. He said he was amazed at the progress Dakari Johnson made during his high school career. As for the one he didn’t get, Calipari said he was confident in his team “before and after” Andrew Wiggins picked Kansas.

3. Calipari said the 2012 national title team did not have a bad practice all year, while the 2013 team had “five good practices all year.” With 13 players on scholarship — and yes, Jon Hood and Jarrod Polson will return on scholarship next year — he envisions good, competitive practices. “Some people are going to play,” he said, “and some people aren’t going to play.” Practice and production in games will help determine which players fall into which category.

4. Calipari said that he hasn’t paid any attention to the ridiculous expectations for next year’s team, but he knows they are out there. “I’m sure they just want us to do well,” he deadpanned, but then said that the expectations and pressure are good things. “Pressure makes you get things done,” he said.

5. Deservedly so, Calipari talked up the team’s 3.4 GPA and made mention that, by his count, of the 25 players who have gone through the program — players who were at UK the entire time, didn’t transfer, etc. — all 25 have either gone into the professional ranks or earned their degrees. To that end this year, he said he has talked to five or six NBA teams on Archie Goodwin’s behalf, and he thought the guard would find a good spot next season.

6. A bonus spot: Calipari seemed skeptical at best about the rules committee directing game officials to clean up college basketball next season. The coach said he likes what he’s hearing about tweaking the block/charge call so it favors the offense, but he didn’t sound or look like someone who thinks that’s going to happen. In fact, Cal said that with his depth, his team can foul more because the way it is now, “The more you foul, the more free throws you end up taking.”

Videos to come.

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Reds decision: Mike Leake or Tony Cingrani?

Posted on May 15, 2013 9:44 am by John Clay
Mike Leake

(AP photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

With Johnny Cueto throwing five shutout innings last night in a rehab start at Dayton, Mike Leake faces a huge start tonight when the Reds put a four-game winning streak on the line at Miami.

Cueto threw 58 pitches in his second rehab start since going on the disabled list April 15 with a strained lat. He gave up a run in four innings in his first rehab outing for the Dragons. And after Tuesday, the Reds’ ace declared himself ready to return to the rotation. That should happen next Monday when the Reds are in New York to play the Mets.

That means GM Walt Jocketty and manager Dusty Baker have a decision to make. Do the Reds return rookie Tony Cingrani to the minors? Or do they switch Leake to the bullpen and keep Cingrani in the rotation? Here’s a look at the options:

Cingrani: The rookie left-hander is 2-0 with a 2.89 in five starts since being called up from Louisville to replace the injured Cueto in the rotation. The former Rice University star was 2-0 with a terrific 1.50 ERA after his first three starts, but has dipped a bit in his last two. He gave up four runs in six innings on May 4 at Chicago, then lasted just four innings, giving up two runs against Milwaukee last Saturday.

Cingrani experienced some shoulder soreness in that start, and his turn was pushed back to Friday at Philadelphia to give him some extra time to heal. He has a terrific fastball but the Reds would like Cingrani to develop a secondary pitch. There is the fear that opponents are starting to sit on that fastball. He has allowed four homers in last two starts, which covered just 10 innings. He has given up six home runs on the year, tied with Bronson Arroyo for most on the team.

Continue reading →

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ML: More debate on Kentucky-Louisville football

Posted on May 15, 2013 8:09 am by John Clay

Morning Links for Wednesday:

My column on Andrew Wiggins, plus more Herald-Leader coverage can be found here.

Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star says Bill Self got just what he needed.

More debate on whether Kentucky should keep Louisville on its football schedule.

A Michigan State signee has decided to give up football to pursue his rap career.

Documents shed light on sex scandal inside Tennessee athletics department.

NCAA hopes on line, Kentucky baseball beats Indiana in home finale.

Alabama unveils its BCS title rings.

Florida basketball signee Kasey Hill has been compared to John Wall and Rajon Rondo.

UK’s athletic teams post a combined 3.14 GPA in spring semester.

 

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Posted in College football, College hoops, SEC, UK baseball, UK basketball |

Hopefully, Big 12/SEC Challenge will be improved

Posted on May 14, 2013 3:46 pm by John Clay

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Nearly lost in the Andrew Wiggins news this afternoon was the fact that the SEC released the lineup for the inaugural Big 12/SEC Basketball Challenge, matching teams from the two conferences against each other.

Have to say we’re disappointed. There is hope, however.

We’re not so much disappointed with the matchups. The Kentucky-Baylor game on Dec. 6 in Arlington, Texas, will be part of the Challenge. Kansas will play at Florida. Vanderbilt will play at Texas. Ole Miss and Marshall Henderson travel to Kansas. Not bad.

What’s disappointing is that the event will be spread out over five weeks. The first game in the challenge is Nov. 14. The final game is Dec. 21. Unlike the ACC/Big 10 Challenge or even the SEC/Big East Challenge last year, the series is not held over two or three nights. The 10 games are spaced out.

Unfortunately, there is too much space between the start and the finish to make the series interesting to the average college basketball fan. Instead of holding the sport’s attention, I doubt that the event as a whole will make much of an impact on the hoops landscape.

Continue reading →

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Posted in College hoops, SEC |

Pay no attention to the idiots

Posted on May 14, 2013 3:09 pm by John Clay

There are those making a big deal of the mean, nasty tweets from Kentucky fans directed at Andrew Wiggins after the nation’s No. 1 recruit picked Kansas this afternoon.

Pay no attention.

As the Internet proves day after day after day, idiots are everywhere.

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Video: Bill Self’s reaction to Andrew Wiggins’ signing

Posted on May 14, 2013 3:03 pm by John Clay

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My quick take on Andrew Wiggins to Kansas

Posted on May 14, 2013 12:28 pm by John Clay

wigginsmcdonalds275My quick take on Andrew Wiggins choosing Kansas: Good decision.

Then again, I’m not sure that Wiggins could have made a bad decision today when he finally chose among his four finalists. First of all, the nation’s No. 1 rated prospected is good enough that he would make any team much, much better. And No. 2, you could make a case for each of the four schools — Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky or North Carolina — as the best landing spot for the Huntington Prep star.

Kansas offers a program with great tradition, a championship coach in Bill Self and a terrific place to play in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks don’t have a Kentucky class coming in for 2013-14, but Self will have plenty of talent on campus. Adding Wiggins makes the Jayhawks a certain Final Four contender, if not a championship  contender, depending on how the season progresses.

As for Kentucky, no harm, no foul. The Cats are still likely to be preseason No. 1 this fall, and they’ll be listed with Louisville and Michigan State as preseason favorites for the national title. Adding Wiggins would have been nice, but it would have been one superstar talent among a freshman class of superstar talent. There’s only one ball, you know.

That’s a problem John Calipari would have loved to tackle, but it was not to be. The decision is done. Andrew Wiggins is a Jayhawk. He’ll be fun to watch, even if it’s from more of a distance than the Big Blue Nation hoped.

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Part II: What they are writing about Andrew Wiggins

Posted on May 14, 2013 10:00 am by John Clay

What they are writing about Andrew Wiggins, Part II:

Andrew Sharp of Grantland: “Is Kentucky involved here? Yes, obviously. When we last saw Kentucky fans, the best Kentucky fan ever was blaming liberal socialism for Kentucky’s NCAA tournament snub this year. So, whatever happens in the next 24 hours, an army of 100 million Big Blue fans will be going insane one way or another. And that’s always fun.”

Seth Davis of SI.com in a tweet: “If he picks UK, I’d caution against calling it the best class of all time. Alcindor, Allen, Heitz and Shackelford lost 2 games in 3 years.”

Evan Daniels of Scout in a tweet: “If I had to put money on it, I’d go with Florida State for Andrew Wiggins. Think they have the best relationship with him.”

Andy Glockner of SI.com: “Florida State’s supporting cast around him is also better than people will perceive, but it’s certainly not the talent that Kentucky or North Carolina can offer, and probably doesn’t have the upside of Kansas’ offerings, either. Will it be good enough for Wiggins to survive an ACC gauntlet against loaded Duke, UNC and Syracuse teams, plus a number of second-level contenders? The Seminoles, even with Wiggins, would have work to do to contend in the ACC, and there are no guarantees about a deep NCAA tournament run, either.”

Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News: “The Wildcats’ roster would be deepened to the point it would include seven players who likely would be future first-round NBA draft choices. Coach John Calipari still would have to do a great deal of teaching, as all of those seven would be in either their first or second college seasons, but he will have better playmaking now that Ryan Harrow is gone and Andrew Harrison takes over. With the depth and size UK would have inside, Wiggins almost certainly would play at small forward, with his most important contributions coming as a scorer and creator for a team that might be talented enough to overwhelm the field.”

Rob Dauster of College Basketball Talk: “Few believe Wiggins will end up at North Carolina, but if he does, he would be the perfect piece to slide into Roy Williams’ system. Think about it like this: the guy is basically the same position as Reggie Bullock, only worlds better than Reggie Bullock. And when North Carolina made their late-season run in 2012-2013, it was when Bullock played in the front court alongside PJ Hairston and James Michael McAdoo. In that system, I’m not sure there is a player better suited to being an undersized four than Wiggins.”

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What they are writing about Andrew Wiggins

Posted on May 14, 2013 8:25 am by John Clay
(Charlotte Observer photo)

(Charlotte Observer photo)

What they are writing about Andrew Wiggins:

Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News and Observer: “In an era when the shenanigans surrounding recruits announcing where they’ll attend college has become the latest athletic arms race – Parker, a power forward from Georgia, declared he would attend UCLA last spring with an hourlong ceremony that shamed the unveiling of the Oscar nominations – Wiggins’ decision to keep his decision simple is a refreshing change. Especially because if there was ever a high school kid who was justified making a big deal about his college decision, it’s Wiggins.”

Scott Gleeson of USA Today: “With or without Wiggins, coach John Calipari’s recruiting class is already one of the best ever. Having seven McDonald’s All-Americans on one roster might create an offensive logjam, but Wiggins’ arrival would surely make Kentucky a national title favorite. “If Kentucky gets Wiggins, that team might as well sign up for an NBA application,” Vitale suggests. “Are you serious?”

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports: Between the two events is a 34-year span in which you can argue no sport changed as much as college basketball. The connective thread between those two announcements is Leonard Hamilton. In May 1979, Hamilton was the assistant coach at Kentucky who had his heart broken when the most celebrated prospect of his time, Ralph Sampson, stood behind a microphone in Harrisonburg and gave a half-hearted commitment to his home-state school.”

Gary Bedore of Lawrence Journal-World: “Wiggins, a soft-spoken 6-foot-7 senior forward, told his high school coach, Rob Fulford, he wanted no lavish news conference, just an announcement before family and classmates and the one member of the press who regularly covers the team for the local paper. Florida State opened the day Monday as the popular choice of various media members. As the day progressed, KU gained steam as perhaps being a front-runner for Wiggins, who has been called the most-hyped recruit since LeBron James.”

Rick Bozich of WDRB: “After checking with multiple basketball sources, I readjusted my forecast percentages at 5:45 p.m. Monday. When it comes to Andrew Wiggins, I’m being just as indecisive as Andrew Wiggins. I’ve changed my mind from Kentucky to Kansas to Florida State — in only six hours. None of the analysts and coaches that I interviewed Monday picked Kentucky or North Carolina. Florida State has emerged as a consensus pick, although one coach told me not to count out Kansas. Even ESPN’s Dick Vitale said that he thought that Florida State was the team to beat — and if Vitale thought John Calipari was the guy to beat, he would say so.”

 

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