John Clay's Sidelines

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Nashville hoops star Alex Poythress talks about offer he received from Kentucky
• Billy Gillispie one of several coaches who invested with man now found dead
• Sea of Blue is trying to choose the best UK small forward since 1977
• Ira Combs offers some sizzling summer storylines for Kentucky
• DeMarcus Cousins will hold a summer camp in Georgetown
• Micah Johnson wants to make Big Blue Nation proud
• Kentucky will be searching for depth at running back come fall
• Former UK player Ramon Harris suffers a knee injury overseas
• Mark Krebs says John Calipari the best coach you could have
• Joker Phillips says the best players don’t always win championships

(NBA.com)

Prediction: Antoine Wright won’t be exchanging Christmas cards with Boogie this year.

The former Sacramento King is apparently no fan of current Sacramento King center DeMarcus Cousins.

In a piece by SI.com’s Sam Amick, the outspoken Wright says he doesn’t want to throw any former teammates under the bus, then sticks a certain former Wildcat directly underneath a speeding 18-wheeler.

Excerpt from Amick story:

“I’m not going to throw any of their players under the bus, but one of the main players who was a big part of our team, his attitude was really, really bad — I’m pretty sure you can figure out who that guy is,” he said before confirming that he was speaking of then-rookie forward-center DeMarcus Cousins. “Tyreke [Evans] had a pretty good attitude. His work ethic wasn’t great, but he’s a good young player. I believed in him completely. I just don’t think the coaches did enough to prepare us to win games.”

A first-round pick in 2005 out of Texas A&M, where he played for that ol’ softy Billy Gillispie, Wright has pretty much played his way out of the league.

He’s not going quietly, apparently.

(Hat tip All Ky Hoops)

(AP photo/Kerry Smith)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Red-faced Mississippi State faces steep climb, reports Brandon Marcello of C-L.
• State’s will to be tested in Rupp Arena, writes Jim Mashek of Biloxi Sun-Herald.
• Calipari dismisses importance of meeting, reports Jerry Tipton of Herald-Leader.
• Ex-UK star Craig Yeast named coach at Bryan Station, reports Mike Fields of H-L.
• Steve Brown to UCLA picking up steam, reports Bleed Blue Kentucky.
• UK QB situation 10th-best in SEC, says Seth Emerson of the Ledger-Enqurier.
• Weaker bats fit Kentucky’s style, writes Ethan Levine of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Trevor Lacey scores 31 points in three quarters, says Next Cats.
• Kentucky could be looking at Braeden Anderson, says Kentucky Sports Radio.
• J.P. Tokoto narrows list to eight, reports Nation of Blue.
• Michael Gilchrist plays hard every night, reports Brian Nash of Fox Sports.
• Kings fine Cousins after altercation, reports Jason Jones of Sacramento Bee.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Steve Brown rumors, QB ranking, hoops recruits’

(H-L photo/Jonathan Palmer)

Click here for Herald-Leader photo gallery from UK-LSU women’s game.

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Kings say Cousins is not suspended and altercation is under review, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
• Without Cousins, Kings win at Phoenix, reports Jones.
• Brittany Henderson’s shot with 1.1 seconds left gives UK women 49-47 win over LSU, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader.
• My column off UK-LSU says UK women have endgame figured out.
• Women’s game featured more fouls, timeouts and turnovers than total points, reports T.J. Walker of the Kentucky Kernel.
• John Calipari makes a trip to see Michael Gilchrist, reports Zagsblog.
• Eric Crawford of the C-J writes that the road is a bridge of the Kentucky men’s basketball team.
• Liggins’ decision-making hurt Kentucky at Vandy, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• John Wall helps Wizards break 26-game road losing streak, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cousins not suspended yet; UK women pull out win’

(Sacramento Bee photo)

Ex-Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins has been disciplined by the Sacramento Kings after getting into an altercation with a teammate in the locker room after the Kings 99-97 loss to Oklahoma City.

Cousins didn’t accompany the team on its trip to Phoenix.

Sam Amick of NBA FanHouse is reporting that Cousins was taken off the team plane and suspended.

An excerpt:

Kings rookie forward DeMarcus Cousins was removed from team plane bound for Phoenix after an altercation with teammate Donte Greene, according to two sources close to the organization.

The incident, which was first reported by FanHouse, immediately followed a loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday night. Cousins, who had overcome early-season struggles of the performance and personality variety recently, is expected to be suspended for at least one game. Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie did not immediately return a call for comment.

According to the sources, Cousins (whose postgame interview can be seen here) was furious at the last play in which Tyreke Evans missed a three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation that would have won the game. Cousins, who had been calling for the ball in the post in the final possession, watched angrily as Greene inbounded the ball to Evans for the final shot.

(Sacramento Bee photo)

After a 27-point star-turn in Sacramento’s stunning win at Los Angeles over the Lakers on Friday, Big Cuz did it again last night for the Kings.

The rookie scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Sacramento stopped New Orleans’ 10-game win streak with a 102-96 win over the Hornets.

It marks Sacramento’s first two-game win streak since the third and fourth games of the season. And besides Cousins’ points-production and rebounds, he set the tone for the victory with a little run-in with the Hornets’ Chris Paul.

Wrote Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee:

With 31.4 seconds left in the game, Kings guard Beno Udrih hit the floor with a thud, and one of his teammates didn’t like it.

DeMarcus Cousins might be a rookie, but he won’t allow the Kings to be bullied.

So it didn’t matter that the player who dropped Udrih was New Orleans All-Star guard Chris Paul.

Cousins let Paul know how he felt. Paul had a few choice words of his own. But in the end, Cousins and the Kings would have another unlikely win to talk about.

The Kings ended the Hornets’ 10-game winning streak with a 102-96 win Saturday night at Arco Arena.

DeMarcus Cousins scored 27 points last night as Sacramento beat the Lakers 100-95 in Los Angeles.

(Sacramento Bee photo)

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee talked to Kings’ co-owner Joe Maloof about reports that the NBA team is considering moving its franchise.

Only, Maloff didn’t really want to talk about it.

Excerpt:

“I can’t give you a time table, but at some point, something has to get done. (Sacramento) mayor Kevin Johnson is working with four different groups, looking at four plans, and we’re hoping something comes out of this. We want to be right here in Sacramento. We’ve always said that. It’s been what? Eleven years? Rumors, rumors, rumors. I get tired of answering all these questions. Can’t we just talk about how much better DeMarcus Cousins is getting?“