John Clay’s Sidelines

Here is UK freshman guard Eric Bledsoe talking about hitting five three-pointers, and how tough it is to play defense in college.

Here’s the WKYT sportscast from last night with a greatest hits of Calipari’s post-game clips, starting about 1:00 into the video.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes on UK’s 102-92 win over Sam Houston State, leading with, “Kentucky continued to show a record-breaking defense. Alas, for all the wrong reasons.”

• Mark Story of the H-L writes, “The performance on the substance side, however, left something to be desired. For the second straight game, the UK perimeter defense was defenseless.”

• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes that Saturday will be a homecoming for many UK players, “The 2009 Kentucky roster is nearly as much Peach as it is Bluegrass. UK has 22 native Kentuckians on scholarship, but Georgia ranks close behind with 15 scholarship Wildcats.”

• Matt May of the Cats Pause writes, “Corey Allmond must have been watching Miami’s Nick Winbush do his best Crispin brother impersonation Monday night the way he lit up UK’s perimeter defense.”

• Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal writes, “Three games into his career as the men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, and coach John Calipari is already shaking his head. And his team didn’t even lose.”

• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate Messenger writes, “Mississippi State assistant coach Phil Cunningham says Rider, the team Kentucky hosts Saturday, is the kind of team in NCAA Tournament play that ‘can give you fits’ if you are highly-seeded team.”

• The Herald-Leader slide show from last night’s basketball game.

Continue reading ‘BBL: What others said about the UK win (plus football)’

Kentucky sophomore Darius Miller talks to the media after last night’s game, giving his thoughts on what needs to be done to improve a defense that has allowed 33 made three-pointers the last two games. And that’s not a misprint.

SEC links for Friday:

• John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that Bruce Pearl is happy to welcome Tobias Harris to Tennessee.
• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes that Harris puts the Vols in real paradise.
• Chip Towers of the AJC reports on the sudden death of Georgia’s beloved mascot, UGA VII.
• Tim Gayle of the Montgomery Advertiser reports that Alabama players are critiquing Nick Saban’s action abilities.
• Edward Aschoff of the Gainesville Sun writes on Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, who could be in demand for head coaching spots.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Nabbing Tobias Harris puts Vols in paradise’

Here’s John Wall talking to the media about how the team must improve after Kentucky’s win over Sam Houston State.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Some quick notables after the Kentucky Colonels, er, Kentucky Wildcats 102-92 win over Sam Houston State.

• John Calipari is right. This is not a good defensive team. Not yet, anyway. And you though the ball-line defense had trouble against the three-pointer. UK’s last two opponents have made 33 of 54 64 three-point shots, for 61.1 51.6 percent. Miami of Ohio made 15 of 26 on Monday. Sam Houston State made 18 of 38 tonight. On his way to a ridiciculous 37 points, Corey Allmond made 11 of 16 triples. That had Calipari all but pulling his hair out in the post-game press conference, saying this was his worst team since 1988, that at time his head was about to “pop off,” that his team did some things he hadn’t seen in a long, long time.

• Communication breakdowns are the biggest problem on defense. The Cats left shooters open all night long. You’d think after Allmond made a couple someone might close-out on him. Don’t remember seeing that happen once. Although Darius Miller did pick up a foul for crashing into a 3-point shooter, not Allmond. Sam Houston had 23 assists on its 29 baskets. That’s good for Sam Houston, but bad for the Cats.

• “The young and the defenseless,” says loyal blog commenter Gary, and he’s right. This is a young team. And these freshmen made their reputations on offense, not defense. They aren’t used to playing lock-down defense. And they certainly aren’t used to playing lock-down defense with teammates. That’s the key. For all the pre-season talk about how this team will jell offensively, we overlooked the importance of it jelling defensively. The better Tubby Smith defensive teams played together on defense. They knew what their teammates were doing. They talked, helped, and got the job done. This team has a long way to go in that respect.

Continue reading ‘Notes and thoughts on UK’s win over Sam Houston State’

Kentucky freshman DeMarcus Cousins talks about his 27-point, 18-rebound night, which the Cats needed all of beat to Sam Houston State 102-92.

Here’s John Calipari’s post-game press conference. It’s 14:41 of entertainment, with Cal lamenting his team’s poor defense, the 3-point shooting of Sam Houston State, and several other issues that went into the 102-92 Kentucky victory.

• The Kentucky coach said that this is his worst defensive team since 1988. Among other things.