John Clay's Sidelines

SEC links for Saturday:

• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun has Urban Meyer denying intrest in Notre Dame after Steve Spurrier’s comments about rumors the Florida coach was headed to Irish.
• David Climer of the Tennesseean writes that Meyer is lashing out at his critics instead of ignoring them.
• NEW: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes that nobody seems to be Meyer’s buddy.
• Tim Tucker of the AJC reports that ex-Georgia basketball coach turned down an offer to coach the Nigeria national team.
• Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Tennessee third baseman has left team after disagreement with coach.
• Tony Barnhart of the AJC gives his spring Top 25 for college football.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Meyer and Spurrier downplay comments’

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger writes that league volatility could offer tournament surprises.
• Clarion-Ledger columnist Rick Cleveland writes that the night the Georgia Dome shook is hard to forget.
• In the AJC, Chip Towers writes that Tampa is an odd venue for the SEC Tournament.
• Also in the AJC, Jeff Schultz goes looking for former Georgia coach Dennis Felton.
• Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley writes on Billy Donovan.
• Seth Emerson of The State writes that veterans have fueled South Carolina’s revival.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Expect the unexpected in tournament’

SEC links for Saturday:

• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun reports that Florida’s defense will face a tough test in Tennessee.
• In the AJC, Tim Tucker reports on Georgia’s preparations for its first game without Dennis Felton.
• Roger Clarkson of the Athens Banner-Herald blogs that erasing Felton’s memory is a bit premature.
• Tommy Deas of the Tuscaloosa News reports on the battle of the interim coaches.
• Bryan Mullen writes in the Tennessean that the home has not been sweet for Tennessee, of late.
• John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that SEC wars continue over coaches, recruits.
• Also in the News-Sentinel, Mike Strange writes that Tennessee is finally on the basketball map.
• Maurice Patton of the Tennessean writes that Vandy is keeping spirits up despite losing streak.
• Gary Laney of the Baton Rouge Advocate writes that LSU hopes to continue its good play.
• Also in The Advocate, Joseph Schiefelbein writes that Trent Johnson is already a big part of LSU’s history.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Florida puts defense to the test’

SEC links for Friday:

• Bob Holt of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writes that Arkansas broke the ice with its win over Bama.
• Gentry Estes of the Mobile Press-Register reports on Alabama’s loss at Arkansas in Philip Pearson’s debut.
• In the Tuscaloosa News, Cecil Hurt reports that Arkansas freshman ripped the Tide.
• Dan Fleser of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports on the nail-biter that was Pat Summitt’s 999th win at Tennessee.
• In the AJC, columnist Terence Moore writes that Georgia should give Tubby Smith a call about replacing Dennis Felton.
• Also in the AJC, Chip Towers gets the player reaction to Felton’s firing.
• In the Athens Banner-Herald, David Ching writes that Felton’s firing was a necessity.
• Now former Alabama basketball coach Mark Gottfried tells Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News that he still loves his alma mater.
• News columnist Ray Melick writes that AD Mal Moore has a chance to define expectations for Alabama basketball.
• Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that the chairs have been pulled from SEC hot seats.
• David Climer of the Tennessean checks in on the lack of security for SEC basketball coaches.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Arkansas breaks the ice’

The horn had barely sounded after Kentucky’s 68-45 win over Georgia before the debate sounded as to whether this could be it for Georgia coach Dennis Felton.

AJC columnist Mark Bradley asks exactly that in his post-game column.

In fact, Mark asks and answers that question.

Excerpt:

On Sunday, they fell to 9-9 by losing to an unranked Kentucky team so emphatically that it seemed worse than it was. “We shouldn’t be losing by 30 points,” said forward Terrance Woodbury, speaking of a game that ended 68-45.

Stegeman Coliseum was only three-quarters full, and 35 percent of those in attendance wore Kentucky blue. Afterward, Dennis Felton levied the same criticism at his team he had 51 weeks earlier after a 26-point loss at Tennessee — “We did not compete with the kind of toughness we needed; it was a very soft effort,” he said Sunday. And the question arises: Just what will it take to change these moribund dynamics?

The answer, sad to say, is a new coach.

Felton is off to Washington where he is attending to Barack Obama’s inaugural. As I joked to AJC beat writer Chip Towers, maybe Dennis can ask Obama for some stimulus funds for the Georgia offense.

Dennis Felton

Billy Gillispie is finished with his presser and he painted the picture of a Georgia basketball team that is just waiting to break out.

Billy G. said the Bulldogs are a “team waiting for something good to happen to them.”

Dennis Felton’s club is 9-8 overall and 0-2 in the league. The Dawgs lost by nine at home to Tennessee and by 10 on the road at Vanderbilt. They did hold a 10-point lead over the Vols before being outscored 13-3 over the final 3:07. They scored just 40 points, yet were down just four with 3:06 to go. But Felton’s club failed to score after that.

The Cats beat Georgia twice in the regular season last year, but did lose to the Dogs in the SEC Tournament. That was the Saturday morning game played at Georgia Tech after the tornado the night before hit the Georgia Dome. And Kentucky did not have Patrick Patterson in that SEC game.

Billy G. also used the term “desperate” to describe the Bulldogs.