John Clay's Sidelines

First UK coach John Calipari and then U of L coach Rick Pitino after Cal’s 78-63 win over Pitino.

The AP’s omnipresent Will Graves was at Rick Pitino’s press conference today previewing Cats-Cards. Here are highlights from his tweets:

• Pitino says Rakeem Buckles has spiral fracture in finger, miss a couple weeks.
• Pitino said injury came during a drill. He’ll have surgery soon.
• Van Treese called on to step up in that position
• Pitino on UK: “they’re a lot different because they shoot it so well.”
• Pitino on last year’s game: We weren’t chippy at all. I don’t think Swopshire was going to bully Cousins too much.

Continue reading ‘Tweets from the Rick Pitino press conference’

(AP photo)

In an interview with Dime Magazine, Rick Pitino says that the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry is more intense now because Kentucky has raised the bar.

An excerpt:

The rivalry will always be intense. I think it’s become more intense in a good way because they are doing such an unbelievable job recruiting that it’s picked up our level of recruiting. I mean, they get the top six or seven (high school) players in the country each year. Everybody loves that star quality – the fans love star quality – so it’s changed the dynamics of the way we recruit a little bit. They’ve raised the bar, so to speak.

Also, Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News reports that Pitino has not agreed to coach Puerto Rico national team.

Dime magazine assigned two writers to take different sides of the following question:

(AP photo/Ed Reinke)

Who’s better, John Calipari or Rick Pitino?

Excerpt from the case for Cal:

If there’s one thing that Calipari can do better than Pitino, it’s finding a way to bring in the best players, no matter what the cost. Not only was he able to convince John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Xavier Henry to commit to Memphis, but he also slapped clauses into their letters-of-intent so they could go somewhere else if he chose to coach at another school. When he accepted the UK job, Wall and Cousins followed. Those two then led the way as Coach Cal made the Elite Eight in his first season in Lexington.

Excerpt from the case for Ricky P:

With less talent and a tougher conference slate over the majority of the decade, however, Pitino still keeps pace. Calipari’s record over the last nine years includes seven NCAA Tournaments, four Elite Eights, one Final Four, and one NCAA title game loss. Pitino can match that, plus he has four other Final Four appearances on his resume from his tenures at Kentucky and Providence.

(H-L photo/David Perry)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Anthony Davis’ family plans to sue the Chicago Sun-Times next week, reports Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes that it’s been a long time coming for Donte Rumph and Mychal Bailey.
• Attorney representing Kentucky says Chicago Sun-Times is practicing unethical journalism, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Deadspin wants to know: “What it comes down to now is the paper’s sources words against the university’s. Who do you believe? A multiple-sourced story, or a university and coach, with separate histories of violations, who stand to suffer if the story is true?”
• A Sea of Blue thinks Chicago Sun-Times reporter will soon be saying, “Would you like fries with that?”
• My column on the brotherhood battle among the three UK quarterbacks.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal on the three-headed competition at quarterback for the Wildcats.
• It’s been a crazy week for the blog Nation of Blue.
• Sports Grid says that while the Sun-Times sticks by its story, the media sticks with ripping the Sun-Times.
• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger writes on the quarterback competition.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Anthony Davis’ family to sue Chicago Sun-Times’

PROGRAM NOTE: DON’T FORGET TO CHECK BACK AT 10 A.M. FOR LIVEBLOG FROM UK FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY.

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Michael O’Brien and the Chicago Sun-Times come right back with another Anthony Davis story, repeating earlier rumors, this time with UK’s response.
• Football Cats report and are itching for practice to start, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• APR numbers support John Calipari’s contention that he cares about academics, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader. (Remember, the story that won’t be written.)
• Kentucky will play Oklahoma in Maui opener, before a possible dream match-up with Washington. This being Washington’s dream.
• “I hope we look bad,” says Calipari about Canada trip, reports Tipton in the H-L.
• Kentucky football team takes plenty of questions into camp, starting at quarterback, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• A small team with big strides to make, basketball Cats prepare for its trip north of the border, eh, reports Dawson in the C-J.
• It’s always something with Calipari, says the Cincinnati Enqurier.
• Get ready Ashland, John Calipari is coming your way Sept. 6, reports the Ironton Tribune. (Hat tip to Bluegrass State Basketball.)
• Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News on UK basketball taking some media hits of late.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Sun-Times repeats rumors, acknowledges response’

SportsIllustrated.com features dueling columnists on the subject of Rick Pitino’s involvement in the Karen Sypher trial.

Dan Shaugnessy of the Boston Globe argues that Rick has to go:

Pitino wins games. He’s the most famous person in Louisville. He’s taken the Cardinals to the Final Four and Louisville is getting ready to move into a new arena. College basketball is a very big deal in Kentucky.

And so Pitino survives.

This amazes me. Pitino holds a high position at a major public institution of learning. He makes millions of dollars and controls the lives of talented teenage ballplayers. He succeeds by going to the homes of high school ballplayers and telling parents that their sons will be in good hands in his basketball program.

Seth Davis of SI and CBS argues that Rick should stay:

Look, I am not here to defend Pitino’s behavior. Over the last 16 months, he was revealed to be to be a lot of things — a fool, a cad, a liar, an adulterer and an egotist. In other words, a sinner.

But allow me to remind you that he is something else as well: a victim.

That’s right, Rick Pitino is a victim, and of a potentially very serious crime. If Sypher — who after all is the real defendant here — is convicted of extortion and lying to federal investigators, she could be sent to prison for up to 10 years and pay a fine of $250,000. Pitino’s actions may have been immoral, but they weren’t criminal.

I side with Seth on this, by the way.

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Marquis Teague found leadership qualities in Germany, writes Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star.
• Joker Phillips is done schmoozing, and is ready to start coaching, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• My column on John Wall’s return to Lexington for the Calipari Pro Camp.
• Courier-Journal gives a slo-mo replay of Week 1 of the Karen Sypher trial.
• Optimism abounds for Kentucky football, writes Brett Dawson of the C-J.
• Wah Wah Jones is still going strong at 84, blogs Steve Moss of WKYT.
• John Wall says fans should not put too much pressure on Brandon Knight, reports WLEX’s Mary Jo Perino.
• Derrick Locke is tired of talking, and ready to put on the pads, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Rick Pitino trial means nothing in recruiting, but it should, blogs Ryan Clark of the Kentucky Enquirer.
• A Day in the life of DeMarcus Cousins:

(Hat tip to Bluegrass State Basketball.)

The current issue of Sports Illustrated — the “Where are they now” issue with Stan Musial gracing the cover — includes a story from Seth Davis on the battle between Kentucky and Louisville over hot hoops prospect Quincy Miller.

Davis gets into the whole scenario, of how Rick Pitino’s hiring of Tim Fuller got the Cardinals in on Miller, thanks to Fuller’s friendship with Brian Clifton.

He also talks about how Clifton’s protege John Wall played for John Calipari at Kentucky, but that Clifton and Calipari have no relationship.

Writes Davis: “The Cliftons and Calipari were never close to begin with, and one person involved in Miller’s recruiting says, ‘That relationship is over.’”

Meanwhile, Miller tells Davis that it’s great being recruited by Pitino and Calipari because, “they’re always going after each other.”

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports has been following the Karen Sypher trail from afar and writes a piece on how it might affect Rick Pitino’s future at Louisville.

He believes that all things considered, despite the personal embarrassment, the Louisville coach has come out of it pretty well.

Jokes aside, I tend to agree.

A Parrish excerpt:

My point is that even if Pitino hauls in what would be a remarkable class all things considered, it’ll likely still be trumped by the class Calipari assembles at UK — a class that already includes Mike Gilchrist (ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com) and Marquis Teague (ranked No. 11 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com), and could ultimately feature at least two other consensus top 10 prospects.

Fair or not, that’s an issue for Pitino because he’ll forever be compared to Calipari. But who cares about that right now? All that’s important at the moment is that Pitino is finished testifying, and it seems like he’s going to, against all odds, come out of this mess OK. Most men would be divorced after such a public affair, but Pitino’s marriage remains intact. Most coaches would be fired after such a public embarrassment, but Pitino’s job is secure.