John Clay's Sidelines

After the 24-17 loss to Louisville, Kentucky offensive line coach Mike Summers talks about his unit’s struggles. The Cats managed just 35 yards on 32 carries and quarterback Morgan Newton was sacked six times.

It’s been an interesting training camp for offensive line coach Mike Summers. His unit is expected to be the strength of the offense, yet four of the starters have missed a good part of camp because of injuries. Here, Summers talks about the return of Stuart Hines, who has missed time with an MCL sprain, and how the unit has done to this point.

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

More on the Elliott Porter saga from Glenn Guilbeau of the Opelousas Daily World: “Porter and his family say they did not learn of Miles wishes until just last week – two days before LSU’s players reported and after Porter had enrolled in summer courses and participated in the offseason conditioning program. Miles said Tuesday at Media Day he told Porter two months ago.” (Hat tip to Bleed Blue Kentucky.)

Quincy Miller tells High School Hoops he’s still interested in Kentucky: “HSH: Indeed. Let’s talk recruiting. What’s your list looking like? QM: Kentucky, Louisville, Oklahoma, Duke, Texas, Tennessee, Wake Forest and Baylor.” (Hat tip to Bluegrass State Basketball.)

UK women take big blow with possible loss of Amber Smith, reports Jennifer Smith of the H-L: “Senior point guard Amber Smith is out indefinitely after suffering a knee injury in a pickup game, the school announced Wednesday. Smith injured the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee on campus in late July. She is expected to have surgery this week.”

Michael Gilchrist is inspired his late father, writes Matthew Stanmyre of the Newark Star-Ledger: “But once a week, when Michael Gilchrist needs comfort, he watches ‘The Lion King.’ The DVD is already in the console, always ready. All he has to do is press play. He first watched the movie with his father when he was a baby, and they would watch it together nearly every day until he was almost 3.” (Hat tip to Tom Leach.)

Gary Laney of The Baton Rouge Advocate says that John Calipari takes advantage of a rule he doesn’t like: “Can’t say I blame him. Calipari has four million reasons (as in a $4 million salary) to do everything he can to win. When you have that salary, you’re at a place that expects you to win big. If that means capitalizing on a rule that might leave a bad taste in your mouth so you can get it done, so be it. Same thing applies to football and oversigning.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Elliott Porter saga continues; Quincy Miller and UK’

Joe Mansour (H-L photo/David Perry)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

My column with impressions from a pair of Kentucky basketball practices, as Cats get ready for Canada: “Ah, but he’s learning. At one point, Lamb drove the lane and missed a contested shot. Calipari blew his whistle for another teaching point.’You thought you were going to get bailed out,’ the coach told Lamb. ‘You’re at Kentucky now. The officials are not going to bail you out.’”

New kicker Joe Mansour has a big leg and lots of swagger, reports Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader: “Mansour’s résumé as a place-kicker isn’t too shabby, either. He was a three-time All-State selection and was named the place-kicker on Georgia’s All-Decade Team. He also made a 59-yard field goal his senior year, the third-longest in state history. With his team leading by 35 points late in the game, LaGrange Coach Steve Pardue took two penalties to move the kick back to 59 yards, and said if he had known at the time that the state record was 63 yards he’d have taken another penalty to give Mansour a shot at it.”

Brett Dawson of the C-J gives his observations from Kentucky’s basketball practices: “The first thing that struck me is that these practices aren’t entirely different from the ones we saw last April as Calipari first installed his dribble-drive motion offense for players returning from the 2008-09 team. True, there’s considerably more talent on the roster now than then (remember, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, etc., weren’t on campus yet at that time), but the talking points are much the same.”

Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches gives his observations from Kentucky’s basketball practices: “First of all, this won’t be last year’s team in any way shape or form – good or bad. This is simply a different team made up of different players. For one, this team isn’t as big. It’s not lacking on height by any means, but the team is thinner (that’s what happens when you lose two beasts like DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton). The team is also much quieter. There are not nearly as many eccentric personalities. Every guy, at least in the hour that I watched, seems to go about their business quietly. Again, don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.”

Tom Leach gives his observations from Kentucky’s basketball practices: “This looks to be a better perimeter shooting team; Lamb has a big-time rep for his stroke but I was impressed with Knight and Poole as perimeter shooters, too–and Liggins’ jumper looks better than ever. Terrence Jones has a high arc on his shot but can hit it from beyond the three-point line at times.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: B-ball practice reports, Joe Mansour, Ridge Wilson’

(H-L photo/Joseph Rey Au)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Ryan Meyer wants to know if Kentucky basketball is hated by America? (Hat tip to Danny Jett’s Inner Circle.)
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News writes that Kentucky basketball copycats Alabama football.
• Ray Melick of the Birmingham News writes that C-USA is haunted by the ghost of John Calipari.
• Jennifer Smith of the H-L on Kentucky women’s win over Auburn.
• Bluegrass State Basketball reports that Bowling Green’s Chane Behanan has UK third on his list.
• My column on guessing when UK’s first basketball loss comes, if it comes.
• Tom Luicci of the Newark Star-Ledger on whether UK can keep the top spot in the polls.
• Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel says UK is the story of the college basketball season.
• Tom Leach has a podcast with ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes.
• Robbie Nieswanger of the Arkansas News on new UK line coach Mike Summers.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Is Kentucky basketball hated by America?’

(H-L photo/David Perry)

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

Linda Blackford of the Herald-Leader on Kentucky coaching history: “That’s why Keith and other advocates are celebrating the increase to 15 football coaches of color this year. With Wednesday’s hiring of Joker Phillips, Kentucky becomes the first state in the country to have three black head football coaches. That means ALL of the state’s Bowl Subdivision football coaches are minorities.”

(H-L photo/David Perry)

In the H-L, Jerry Tipton’s game story on Kentucky’s win over Georgia: “Properly awakened, Cousins took charge. He scored seven of his 16 points in the final three minutes to help Kentucky outlast supposed pushover Georgia 76-68 in a Southeastern Conference opener Saturday. At 16-0, UK established its best start to a season since Rupp’s Runts opened with 23 straight victories in 1965-66.”

My column saying this was an SEC eye-opener for UK: “Talking is one thing. Playing is another. Kentucky started slow. For the second straight game, it made just two of 14 three-pointers. It was outrebounded 36-33. It was nip-and-tuck all game until Cousins scored seven of his team’s last 11 points as the hosts finally put a gritty Georgia away.”

(Note: I committed a turnover Saturday, as well. Wrote that Georgia lost by 28 to Pepperdine. It was Missouri, not Pepperdine. As a Georgia friend e-mailed me this morning, Pepperdine is horrible. Missouri is good.)

Jody Demling of the C-J on the Kentucky win: “Cousins and Wall combined to score UK’s final 11 points over the last 2:44, pushing UK over the edge in a game that had more ties (12) and lead changes (six) than any other Cats game this season. Cousins hit 5of6 free throws and had a basket in the run, while Wall hit two free throws and sealed it with a one-handed dunk in the closing seconds that UK super fan and actress Ashley Judd said ‘made my heart go pitter-patter.’”

Ashley Judd says she checks out the Cats Pause, so maybe you should read Matt May’s game story: “When John Calipari was asked what he liked most about his Kentucky basketball team on the eve of Southeastern Conference play he wasted no time lauding his young team’s will to win. That innate ability was on full display once again just 24 hours later.”

Herald-Leader photo slide show from the UK win.

Brian Rickerd of the State-Journal says UK still has work to do: “If the Kentucky Wildcats don’t come out of the fog they played through Saturday in a 76-68 win over the Georgia Bulldogs, UK won’t even make it through next week undefeated, let alone through the end of this season. And if the Wildcats don’t make significant improvements in their perimeter shooting and, to a lesser extent, their hustle on the boards and on defense, they won’t be playing any games this season in Indianapolis.”

Mike Summers

Chuck Jones of the News-Enterprise on UK’s will to win: “Pick the winner from the statistics given below. Team A shoots 47.2 percent from the field, including going 6-of-14 from behind the 3-point line. It makes 80 percent of its free throws. It also pulls down 36 rebounds. Team B connects on 43.3 percent of its attempts and goes a dreadful 2-of-14 from 3-point range. It manages to hit 66.7 percent of its foul shots. Team B also grabs just 33 boards.”

H-L report on hiring of Mike Summer as UK line coach: “‘Mike and I have had a great seven-year run together and I appreciate all his hard work and dedication through that time,’” Petrino said. ‘He’s got an opportunity to go home and be with his family, which is a priority I can understand. I want to thank him and wish Mike and his family the best.’”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cats’ win, Tomlin’s visit, Summers hire’