John Clay's Sidelines

Pat Knight, son of Bob, coaches the Lamar Cardinals tonight against UK at Rupp Arena. That brings to mind Bob Knight’s annual on-the-floor battles with the Cats. A recap:

- As a young coach at Army, Knight’s team lost to Adolph Rupp and Kentucky 80-65 in the finals of the 1968 UKIT at Memorial Coliseum. After becoming coach at Indiana, Knight beat Rupp 90-89 in overtime in Louisville in 1971.

- Knight won his first four games against Joe B. Hall, but then ended up just 9-9 8-8 against the Kentucky coach. There was the infamous head-slap game in 1974 in which IU routed the Cats 98-74 and Knight either tapped or slapped Hall on the back of the head, depending on your interpretation of events. Kentucky got revenge later that same season by knocking off an undefeated IU 92-90 in the Mideast Region final in Dayton. Hall won five of the last seven meetings between the two coaches, which may have had something to do with their relationship going south.

Continue reading ‘A look at Bob Knight’s coaching record against Kentucky’

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Laurel Wilson of the Herald-Leader reports on death of Mark Krebs’ mother.

• UK hype can’t dull what was unforgettable, writes Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal.

• Daniel Orton uses his twitter account to apologize to Kentucky fans.

• Earl Cox of the Voice-Tribune writes that Adolph Rupp got to pick and choose, just like Calipari.

• Joker Phillips hopes to continue Kentucky’s surge, writes Ben Cook for the Randolph Leader.

• No truth to the Tony Wroten commitment rumors, reports Bluegrass State Basketball.

• Brett Dawson of the C-J reports on the death of Mark Krebs’ mother.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Orton explains himself; Rupp and Calipari alike’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Four UK baseball players are drafted in the first eight rounds, says a Herald-Leader staff report.
• That Alabama high school meeting over Eric Bledsoe has been postponed, blogs Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Daniel Orton has been unimpressive in workouts, says Hoops World.
• DeMarcus Cousins could drop out of the top four NBA picks, says the Detroit Free Press.
• Patrick Patterson is one of six to workout for the Utah Jazz, reports Chris Buckley of the Deseret News.
• John Calipari had nothing to do with those 7-foot twins ending up in Pennsylvania, says Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports.
• Ex-UK star Walter McCarty is about to join the Indiana Pacers’ staff, tweets Goodman.
• Tubby Smith’s name mentioned for Cavaliers post, or at least by Peter Vecsey of the New York Post.
• John Wooden and Adolph Rupp were a lot alike, reports Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun.
• Evan Daniels of Scout on Quincy Miller:

Continue reading ‘BBL: Daniel Orton’s NBA stock may be dropping’

(AP photo)

Update: Rich Copley’s excellent blog has Ashley Judd talking about her Cats on Jimmy Fallon.

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Dinner with Caliparis and Ashley Judd goes for $98,000.
• Geoff Calkins of Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that Memphis fails to break UK’s record.
• Jerry Tipton of the H-L writes that DeMarcus Cousins, like Tom Petty, won’t back down.
• Seth Davis of CBS and SI says John Calipari is easy choice for coach of the year.
• Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel writes on Eric Bledsoe and possibility of being one-and-done.
• Stewart Mandel of SI.com gives the Joker Phillips hire a B+ grade, and Charlie Strong an A+. (Hat tip to Tom Leach.)
• Brett Dawson of the C-J writes that Patrick Patterson isn’t certain he will leave school after this year.
• Terron Hampton of the Gaithersburg Gazette writes on Darnell Dodson’s long journey. (Hat tip to Wildcat World.)
• My column on UK women wanting to build on national ranking.
• Those women get first chance to defend ranking tonight.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Memphis fails to break UK’s record’

Here’s video of John Calipari talking about matching Adolph Rupp’s 10-0 start, and, yes, that is me answering his Rupp trivia question correctly. (It only means I’m getting old.)