Friday, February 28, 2014
Kentucky Frosh aren't world beaters in college basketball durinig this highly competitive season- Sam Kat from Kentuckysportsradio.com 2-28-2014
Last night was a huge step back for the team, and once again this team showed it has a bunch of weaknesses that can be exposed. Normally, I would be the guy who would highlight these weaknesses, how they have been there all year, and how hope this team can make a run would be foolish to have. But I am going to go in the opposite direction, and give you some hope. Despite what appears to be a team with holes all over, this UK team is in fact in a group of 10 teams that are top 40 in both offensive and defensive efficeincy, according to kenpom.com.
But what does this mean for any hopes for a Final Four run? Below are each of the teams who have gone to the Final Four since 2010 and where they finished in adjusted offense and defense going into the NCAA Tournament.
Adjusted Offense (National Ranking)
2013 Michigan (1st)
2010 Duke (1st)
2012 Kentucky (2nd)
2013 Louisville (4th)
2012 Ohio State (5th)
2011 Kentucky (10th)
2010 W.Virginia (11th)
2011 UCONN (18th)
2011 VCU (25th)
2012 Kansas (28th)
2013 Syracuse (29th)
2013 Wichita St (30th)
2010 Michigan St (36th)
2011 Butler (48th)
2010 Butler (57th)
2012 Louisville (116th)
2014 KENTUCKY (18TH)
Adjusted Defense
2012 Louisville (1st)
2010 Butler (2nd)
2013 Louisville (3rd)
2012 Kansas (3rd)
2012 Ohio State (7th)
2013 Syracuse (8th)
2012 Kentucky (8th)
2010 Duke (8th)
2011 UCONN (13th)
2011 Kentucky (15th)
2010 W.Virginia (23rd)
2013 Wichita St (25th)
2010 Michigan St (27th)
2011 Butler (44th)
2013 Michigan (48th)
2011 VCU (84th)
2014 KENTUCKY (31ST)
There is no doubt you find a couple outliers in that grouping. Louisville 2 years ago was outside the top 100 in offense, the only Final Four team of this decade to be outside the Top 100 in either category. But they balanced that out by being the top ranked defense that season. What you really find is Final Four teams excel in one thing or another. Only Butler in 2011 finished outside the Top 40 in both offense and defense in the KenPom rankings.
Kentucky currently ranks inside the Top 40 in both categories. In the last 4 years, a total of 49 teams have entered the NCAA Tournament inside the Top 40 in both offense and defense. Of those 49 teams, 11 of them made the Final Four. That is a 22.4% success rate for those teams.
If I told you that Kentucky had a 22.4% chance to make it to the Final Four, would you consider that a good thing or a bad thing?
By the way, the teams currently ranked inside the Top 40 in both offense and defense are: Arizona, Louisville, Florida, Wichita State, Kansas, Villanova, Syracuse, UCLA, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, and Iowa State. And Kentucky.
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
No way to spin it–that one hurt. With confidence riding high after an overtime win against LSU, the Cats retraced their footsteps tonight and gave Arkansas a much-needed win, losing 71-67. Let’s go over it and then get over it.
Disappointing doesn’t cover it
After the game, John Calipari was clearly disappointed in his team’s performance. If you couldn’t tell that by his slumped shoulders and flat tone, you could tell by the number of times he used the word “disappointing” (a lot). Cal said that he really didn’t expect his team to come out as flat as they did, and that it was “two steps back” for a group that seemed to have turned the corner after the LSU game. Over and over, Cal said that this was supposed to be “the fun game” for Kentucky, telling Tom Leach that because of Arkansas’ up-and-down style of play, “this should be the game you have fun in. You should look at it, and say, ‘Let’s score 90.’”
Free throws, free throws, free throws
The most telling stat of the game? Kentucky was 12-22 from the free throw line, whereas Arkansas was a perfect 16-16. After shooting above 75% from the line in the past two games, UK’s free throw shooting percentage fell to a paltry 55% tonight. Arkansas’ Coty Clarke said he thinks fatigue played a factor: “They got tired, and you could tell. They were going up there and missing.”
Whatever the problem was, John Calipari wasn’t willing to use poor free throw shooting as an excuse for the loss. After the game, Cal said that UK’s bad mark behind the arc was just one of many problems: ”We should have been up 18 at halftime. We had a couple of no-shows today.”
About those no-shows…
Cal didn’t hold back, calling out a few of his players for particularly bad play: “The thing that disappointed me today is even with the lead, we had two guys that gave up on the game. You know it because you watched and you saw. They gave up on the game.” Dakari Johnson may have been one of those players. Dakari had three points and three rebounds in eight minutes tonight, and missed three gimmes at the rim, which did not go unnoticed by Cal: “Dakari missed a bunch of one-footers.”
James was another offender. Aside from his clutch three in overtime, James was almost a liability, going 4-12 from the floor and turning it over four times. James, Aaron, and Andrew combined for a whopping 11 turnovers tonight, prompting Cal to call their play “horrendous.” In fact, Cal said some players played so poorly, he should have kept them on the bench instead of starting them in the second half. “You know what, at halftime I needed to take more guys out,” Cal said, “A couple guys shouldn’t have been in the game. They should have been backups and we should have played other people. I knew that.”
It’s okay to sub yourself, Julius
It’s a common pattern for this group: when things get bad, they revert to old habits. For Julius Randle, that’s trying to win the game all by himself. On Saturday, that worked, but tonight, Julius was just too tired. Cal said that Julius was gassed late, played too many minutes, and by now, should know to sub himself: “I’m trying to get guys to sub themselves. They just don’t get it. The longer you’re in there, you’re not going to play better, you’re going to play worse. If you’re in there for numbers, you end up missing free throws, missing shots, not getting the key rebounds. You don’t look good. You don’t only hurt yourself, you hurt your team. ”
For other players, they reverted to panic mode, and tried to make plays without thinking them through. “We had a lot of poor performances today, and a lot of it came back to ‘my emotion is tied to my performance.’”
Without Willie, it would have been even uglier
Amidst all the poor performances, Willie had one of his best games of the season, putting up 16 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal. Willie cleaned up and dunked around the rim, playing so well that even Bobby Knight was impressed. ”Willie tried,” Cal said. “He had a presence. This may have been a 15-18 point game if Willie wasn’t in there.” In the ten minute gap between his postgame presser and radio show comments, Cal upped that to 20 points. Well done, Willie.
We’ve gotta wash this game right out of our hair
This loss sucks, but it isn’t season-ending. It will hurt with seeding. Arkansas was a bubble team at best heading into this game, and after sweeping the Cats, they’ve got the quality wins they need to make it if they don’t fall flat. Kentucky will definitely slip, and can’t afford to make any more mistakes this season. A win over Florida would make up for tonight, but after watching this team lose in Rupp Arena tonight…well, it would be a nice surprise.
With a trip to Columbia right around the corner, Kentucky just has to get over it and move on. Right, Willie?
The guys are off on their roadtrip, and Matt’s interview with John Calipari was posted Thursday afternoon. It’s a bit difficult to read all of the optimism right now, but there’s some great stuff in there, including Cal talking about his future at Kentucky. Click and feel better.
The most frustrating part of tonight? After thinking that the Cats had made “the turn,” it turns out they’re just going in circles.
No way to spin it–that one hurt. With confidence riding high after an overtime win against LSU, the Cats retraced their footsteps tonight and gave Arkansas a much-needed win, losing 71-67. Let’s go over it and then get over it.
Disappointing doesn’t cover it
After the game, John Calipari was clearly disappointed in his team’s performance. If you couldn’t tell that by his slumped shoulders and flat tone, you could tell by the number of times he used the word “disappointing” (a lot). Cal said that he really didn’t expect his team to come out as flat as they did, and that it was “two steps back” for a group that seemed to have turned the corner after the LSU game. Over and over, Cal said that this was supposed to be “the fun game” for Kentucky, telling Tom Leach that because of Arkansas’ up-and-down style of play, “this should be the game you have fun in. You should look at it, and say, ‘Let’s score 90.’”
Free throws, free throws, free throws
The most telling stat of the game? Kentucky was 12-22 from the free throw line, whereas Arkansas was a perfect 16-16. After shooting above 75% from the line in the past two games, UK’s free throw shooting percentage fell to a paltry 55% tonight. Arkansas’ Coty Clarke said he thinks fatigue played a factor: “They got tired, and you could tell. They were going up there and missing.”
Whatever the problem was, John Calipari wasn’t willing to use poor free throw shooting as an excuse for the loss. After the game, Cal said that UK’s bad mark behind the arc was just one of many problems: ”We should have been up 18 at halftime. We had a couple of no-shows today.”
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Cal didn’t hold back, calling out a few of his players for particularly bad play: “The thing that disappointed me today is even with the lead, we had two guys that gave up on the game. You know it because you watched and you saw. They gave up on the game.” Dakari Johnson may have been one of those players. Dakari had three points and three rebounds in eight minutes tonight, and missed three gimmes at the rim, which did not go unnoticed by Cal: “Dakari missed a bunch of one-footers.”
James was another offender. Aside from his clutch three in overtime, James was almost a liability, going 4-12 from the floor and turning it over four times. James, Aaron, and Andrew combined for a whopping 11 turnovers tonight, prompting Cal to call their play “horrendous.” In fact, Cal said some players played so poorly, he should have kept them on the bench instead of starting them in the second half. “You know what, at halftime I needed to take more guys out,” Cal said, “A couple guys shouldn’t have been in the game. They should have been backups and we should have played other people. I knew that.”
It’s okay to sub yourself, Julius
It’s a common pattern for this group: when things get bad, they revert to old habits. For Julius Randle, that’s trying to win the game all by himself. On Saturday, that worked, but tonight, Julius was just too tired. Cal said that Julius was gassed late, played too many minutes, and by now, should know to sub himself: “I’m trying to get guys to sub themselves. They just don’t get it. The longer you’re in there, you’re not going to play better, you’re going to play worse. If you’re in there for numbers, you end up missing free throws, missing shots, not getting the key rebounds. You don’t look good. You don’t only hurt yourself, you hurt your team. ”
For other players, they reverted to panic mode, and tried to make plays without thinking them through. “We had a lot of poor performances today, and a lot of it came back to ‘my emotion is tied to my performance.’”
(AP Photo/James Crisp)
Amidst all the poor performances, Willie had one of his best games of the season, putting up 16 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal. Willie cleaned up and dunked around the rim, playing so well that even Bobby Knight was impressed. ”Willie tried,” Cal said. “He had a presence. This may have been a 15-18 point game if Willie wasn’t in there.” In the ten minute gap between his postgame presser and radio show comments, Cal upped that to 20 points. Well done, Willie.
We’ve gotta wash this game right out of our hair
This loss sucks, but it isn’t season-ending. It will hurt with seeding. Arkansas was a bubble team at best heading into this game, and after sweeping the Cats, they’ve got the quality wins they need to make it if they don’t fall flat. Kentucky will definitely slip, and can’t afford to make any more mistakes this season. A win over Florida would make up for tonight, but after watching this team lose in Rupp Arena tonight…well, it would be a nice surprise.
With a trip to Columbia right around the corner, Kentucky just has to get over it and move on. Right, Willie?
“Just forget it and move on. There’s not much you can do about it. There’s no reason to soak in it, just remember the feeling. It’s getting too close to crunch time. You can’t dwell on it and then do the same thing the next game because you’re thinking about the last one. Next thing you know, you’re way too far behind and there’s no return from that.”If you haven’t yet, go check out Matt’s interview with Cal on Fox Sports
The guys are off on their roadtrip, and Matt’s interview with John Calipari was posted Thursday afternoon. It’s a bit difficult to read all of the optimism right now, but there’s some great stuff in there, including Cal talking about his future at Kentucky. Click and feel better.
The most frustrating part of tonight? After thinking that the Cats had made “the turn,” it turns out they’re just going in circles.
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
He wasn’t done there. Cal said he really didn’t expect to lose tonight, and the thing that disappointed him the most was “we had two guys who gave up on the game.”
No time to pout. South Carolina in less than two days.
Mark Zerof, US Presswire
Free throws tell the story in this one. The Razorbacks were a perfect 16-for-16 from the line, while Kentucky hit 12 of its 22 attempts for 54.5 percent as a team. Make more of those and its a completely different story.
We’ll have more throughout the night. Discuss until we return.
Ugh.
…Anthony Jordan, Pat Adams, and Les Jones (not to be confused with KSR BFF Les Johns). The Cats are 33-10 in games officiated by Jordan; 30-11 in games by Adams; and 15-3 in games by Jones.
Interestingly, Jordan and Adams have both called technicals on Willie Cauley-Stein, Jordan twice for pushing a Lipscomb player back in 2012 and slapping a backboard during last year’s Vandy game; and Adams once for arguing with Mississippi State’s Roquez Johnson as part of a double technical.
Watch yourself, Willie.
Drew broke down exactly how the SEC tournament would look if it started today, but lucky for us it is probably going to get A LOT more interesting during the final week of the regular season. You’ve seen us post the cluster(blank) in the middle of the SEC standings for quite some time, but here’s something insane to consider…what if seven SEC teams finished 9-9 in league play? Stranger things have happened in college basketball this season (just ask UNC). Let the SEC explain how they will break a possibly insane tie for the No. 4 seed.
When three or more teams are tied, the following procedure will be used in the following order until the tie is broken. If two teams remain tied after a tiebreaker provision, the two-team tiebreaker formula will be used.A “Facts Optional” Translation
1. Best winning percentage of games played among the tied teams (Example: Team A is 3-1, Team B is 2-2 and Team C is 1-3 – - Team A would be seeded highest, Team B second-highest and Team C the lowest of the three).
2. Best winning percentage of the tied teams versus the No. 1 seed (and proceeding through the No. 12 seed if necessary).
3. If two teams remain, coin flip by the Commissioner.
4. If three or more teams remain, draw by the Commissioner.
I’m no expert, but there aren’t many entities that handle a tiebreaker like this. After combining winning percentages, (just thinking of all the math confuses me) it will come down to who has played UK the best this season (unless LSU beats Florida Saturday).
At the end of the day it could ultimately be decided by Mike Slive, but that’s too damn boring. Why not have a Royal Rumble between coaches in the SEC? There’s plenty of better ways to decide seeding, how do you think they should do it?
General
- Will look to play a very fast-paced game. High scoring offense and pressure defense.
- Aggressive defensive team; forced 17 turnovers against the ‘Cats.
- Very good shooting team: 44.6% FG, 36.1% 3’s, 70.9% FT.
- Overall talented team with a balanced attack. Likely will see 9 players play 10+ minutes.
PG #12 Fred Gulley III: 6’2’’ 182 RS SR
A cousin of former Razorback standout Ronnie Brewer, Gulley comes in averaging just 4.4 points per game. The 5th year senior point guard is not much of a threat offensively, he is attempting just 4 shots per game, but he is a great floor general who will not turn the ball over.
SG #00 Rashad Madden: 6’5’’ 180 JR
Madden is a very efficient offensive player; he is shooting 41.2% from 3-point range, 80% from the FT line, and over 45% from the field overall. We need to know where he is on the court at all times, he is very adept at cutting to the open area and operating inside. Madden scored a team high 18 points at Bud Walton Arena.
SF #24 Michael Qualls: 6’6’’ 210 SO
Qualls averages nearly 12 ppg; had game-winning tip-dunk in last game.
PF #4 Coty Clarke: 6’7’’ 232 SR
Undersized 4-man who averages 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He will step out and shoot a 3, he is currently taking 1 1/2 per game. Clarke is also a very good passer; he leads the Razorbacks in assists. Ended up fouling out of the game in Fayetteville and was never really a factor.
C #10 Bobby Portis: 6’10’’ 242 FR
Freshman Bobby Portis leads Arkansas w/ 13.1 ppg and 6.6 rpg.
______________________________________________________________
SF #2 Alandise Harris: 6’6’’ 237 RS JR
Alandise will come off of the bench, but he makes an impact when he comes in the game. He is a versatile offensive player that can play the 3 or the 4 depending on what type of lineup Arkansas wants to go with. Harris averages 8.9 points and 3.2 rebounds. He is an aggressive offensive player who will come off the bench and get his shots up. Harris scored 12 points off the bench earlier this year against the ‘Cats.
SG #5 Anthlon Bell: 6’3’’ 188 SO
3-point shooter!!! 114 of his 165 shots come from beyond the arc, but Anthlon is only hitting them at a 28.1% clip on the season. The sophomore comes in averaging 6.2 points per game.
C #33 Moses Kingsley: 6’10’’ 230 FR
Moses, a native of Nigeria, was ranked #44 in the 247 Composite Rankings. The freshman has been a solid back up to Bobby Portis this season, averaging 4.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in just over 10 minutes.
SG #20 Kikko Hayder: 5’10’’ 170 SR
3-point shooter!!! Exclusively a 3-point shooter, Kikko has attempted 54 of his 64 shots from beyond the arc and is hitting 46.3% of them. He is also a very active defensive player that will work very hard in the minutes that he gets.
Arkansas Offense
- The primary thing to know about the Razorback’s offense is that they will play fast. They currently average 80.5 points per game. Also, they share the ball really well (420 assists) while making sure they take care of the ball (only 306 turnovers).
- In terms of what they will do offensively, Arkansas will run a motion offense that will generally lead to some sort of dribble drive (sometimes random and sometimes off a ball screen). When they drive they will look first to kick out to an open 3-point shooter. They will shoot a lot of 3’s!!!
- When you see a team like Arkansas that assists on 56% of their made buckets (that is a lot, for context, UK assists on just 45%), it generally means that they get a lot of open shots. We already touched on their ability to shoot the ball from beyond the arc, but they get open shots in others ways too. The Razorbacks have a number of long, athletic guys who are great at slashing to an open spot as a dribble drive is going on. Alandise Harris and Rashad Madden will do this a lot. Also, if the drive is able to get deep into the paint, then a dump off pass to Bobby Portis is more likely to occur.
- In the first matchup this season the Razorbacks were able to force 17 turnovers on the way to an upset win. Kentucky was able to shoot 48.2% from the field though, and shot 68.4% in the first half.
- Arkansas will play a switching man-to-man defense. Since Kentucky has such big guards I suspect that they will switch 1 through 4 quite a bit, meaning that on any ball screen or dribble handoff involving anyone besides Willie Cauley-Stein, the Arkansas players will simply “switch” who they are defending.
- Arkansas will also look to trap when given the opportunity. This may not always come in the form of a full-court press; the traps may happen at half court, when coming off a ball screen, or when the ball gets into the post.
- The Razorbacks are going to push the tempo and they are going to score points. However, the key for Kentucky will be to limit the big runs. Arkansas is a good enough shooting team that they are going to hit some 3’s, but the Wildcats need to ensure that they aren’t able to string 3 or 4 together in a row.
- Take care of the ball. Arkansas plays pressure defense and will aggressively go for the ball. UK turned it over 17 times in Fayetteville, that number will need to be closer to 10 or 12 tonight.
- Box out. This is an easy key to point to considering Arkansas won the first meeting thanks to a missed block out. However, beyond that single play the Razorbacks collected 14 offensive rebounds on the game.
- Another strong game from Julius Randle. The Razorbacks don’t really have anyone who can match up defensively with the strength and athleticism of Randle. He was able to go for 20 and 14 in the first meeting; he needs to dominate down low once again.
@BRamsey_KSR
Let’s be honest, UK and Arkansas have not been relevant rivals for almost 20 years now. Doesn’t mean they haven’t played big games. They have played 3 games where both teams were ranked, played in the SEC Tournament 5 times and for the SEC title game once. But on a yearly basis, this rivalry has been dead for almost 2 decades. But for UK fans over the age of 30, the 4 year stretch between 1992 and 1995 between UK and Arkansas was some of the best basketball in the country, and I would argue the best rivalry the SEC has ever seen. A total of 7 games were played in those 4 years, including 3 in the conference tournament. Just a quick refresher:
January 25th, 1992: #9 Arkansas 105, #8 Kentucky 88 (at Rupp Arena)
-Rick Pitino only lost 1 game at Rupp Arena by more than this 17-point drubbing by Arkansas. Jamal Mashburn only scored 4 points, the fewest he would ever score from that point on at Kentucky. While Arkansas had a couple Final Fours already to it’s resume, this was their first season in the SEC and Kentucky was top dog. This announced to the league that Arkansas would challenge the Cats for that throne. Six Razorbacks scored in double figures, led by Lee Mayberry’s 23.
February 9th, 1993: #14 Arkansas 101, #2 Kentucky 94 (in Fayetteville)
March 13th, 1993: #4 Kentucky 92, #14 Arkansas 81 (at Rupp Arena, SEC Tournament)
-Kentucky got it’s payback from the Fayetteville loss with this win in Rupp at the SEC Tourney. This was the final year the tournament was played at a team’s homecourt and UK took advantage. Travis Ford had 26 points and this time the Cats did a much better job keeping Williamson under control as Big Nasty only scored 8 points. This would be the first of 4 straight years the Cats and Hogs would meet in the SEC Tournament, in which UK went 4-0.
February 9th, 1994: #3 Arkansas 90, #4 Kentucky 82 (at Rupp Arena)
-Kentucky lost to Arkansas in 1992 at Rupp Arena, won 33 straight games at home, and then lost to Arkansas again in 1994. From December 1991 to February 5th, 1995, Kentucky went 53-2 in Rupp Arena. Both losses were to Arkansas. Of course, this UA team would go on to win the national title, and Richardson has often said they needed this win to prove to themselves they could do it. The Cats led by 15 in the first half but were controlled from there on out, with Scotty Thurman leading the way with 26 points.
March 12th, 1994: #10 Kentucky 90, #1 Arkansas 78 (in Memphis, SEC Tournament)
-More payback for the Cats over the then top ranked Hogs. A balanced scoring effort and 16-three pointers led the Cats, as well as a suffocating defense that saw the Razorbacks shoot under 33%. In fact, Arkansas played 11 guys in that game and NONE shot 50% or above. Of course, Arkansas would get the final laugh by winning the national title that year while Kentucky would lose in the 2nd round.
January 29th, 1995: #9 Arkansas 94, #5 Kentucky 92 (in Fayatteville)
March 12th, 1995: #3 Kentucky 95, #5 Arkansas 93 (OT, in Atlanta, SEC Championship)
After reading and watching that, would you agree that Kentucky-Arkansas from 1992-95 was the best stretch of rivalry that the SEC has ever seen?
(Via Sportingnews.com)
Let’s be clear before we go any further here… Petitions are the kind of thing middle schoolers get excited about when it comes to bringing a Gatorade machine to the cafeteria. Putting much stock in a petition is not a wise thing, but some Tennessee fans have apparently crafted a “Petition to Promote the Rehiring of Bruce Pearl” (currently has 27,000+ signatures). I’m not here to justify a petition, but I am here to beg someone in the SEC to please, please, please consider bring back Bruce Pearl. The SEC desperately needs a quick infusion of Bruce. The SEC is not only dangerously on the verge of putting on 2 teams in the NCAA tournament for the first time in decades, but the SEC has kind of become one of the running jokes of college basketball. With nearly half the teams currently sitting in a deadlock at 7-7, the SEC is the definition of mediocrity. Bruce Pearl is exciting. Bruce Pearl is a proven winner in the SEC, something that many of the recent coaching hires have failed to prove. Just ask Frank Martin.
Does it have to be Tennessee who hires Pearl? No, of course not. In fact, I would argue that while Tennessee is obviously a proven and seamless fit for Pearl, Tennessee is the one school that has considerable justification for not hiring him. The whole “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” mentality comes into play with Tennessee, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for not necessarily seeing the risk to go back down that road again as a worthwhile one. Although, the argument could also be made that with recent re-hirings such as Bobby Petrino at Louisville, the precedent has been set for that kind of thing to happen– and to potentially work. Sure, the first few weeks were dramatic and caused Louisville plenty of negative attention– but no one seems to be too concerned with it now that the dust has settled. In fairness though, Tennessee’s issues with Pearl involved NCAA infractions.
Take Tennessee out of the equation if you will. To any other school in the SEC drowning in mediocrity right now though– I beg the question: Why not? (Mark Stoops voice). Seriously, why not? Most of the schools in the SEC right now are struggling to fill seats. Winning non-conference games is not even #1 on the list of problems. Not only are the arenas half-empty on many nights, but the passion among the fan bases across the SEC pales in comparison to SEC football, or more importantly– other basketball teams.
When Pearl was at Tennessee, things were exciting. Tennessee basketball fans cared, and Pearl gave them something to be excited about. Pearl may not have taken Tennessee to any Final Fours, but he packed the arena on most nights and ignited a passion among the fan base that hadn’t been seen in a while before him, and hasn’t been existent since his departure.
For the Alabamas, Auburns, Texas A&Ms, South Carolinas, etc… Why not take a chance on Pearl? The SEC is so down right now, that it wouldn’t take much to catapult into the level of teams right below Florida and Kentucky. Heck, Georgia managed to do it this year with average talent. Pearl can recruit. Pearl can put fans in the seats. Pearl can win games in the SEC. The risk seems well worth the potential reward, and you can’t convince me that Pearl wouldn’t be a better option than some of the current coaching hires at these schools.
As great as it is to know that Kentucky won’t be challenged for the #2 spot in the SEC this season, the conference lacks intrigue and excitement. Someone, anyone… Please…. Bring back Bruce.
Well, it can’t be good news all the time for the former Cats in the NBA. On the same day that John Wall had a nasty behind-the-back assist, and Deandre Liggins signed a 10-day contract with the Miami Heat, DeMarcus Cousins got ejected from the Kings’ game against the Rockets after earning his league-leading 15th technical foul.
Watch the footage:
First thing’s first, it looked like a bad call. There was reason to be upset with the ref for seemingly “protecting” superstar Dwight Howard from almost no contact at all.
However, there’s no way the bad call justified that reaction from Cousins. There’s just no excuse for it. We love him, and we don’t just suspect that there’s a lot of goodness in him, we know it. But that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize poor behavior when we see it.
Thankfully, DeMarcus recognized it as well, issuing an apology on Twitter.
Disappointed with the way
I acted out on the court tonight. I want to apologize and say sorry to
my team and the fans for letting them down
— demarcus cousins (@boogiecousins) February 26, 2014
Maybe some folks will point at the Jim Boeheim ejection from over the
weekend to rationalize Boogie’s outburst, but this wasn’t exactly an
isolated incident, and it certainly wasn’t in a close or important game.Sorry to see DeMarcus continually showcase his temper. He’s better than that, and the immediate apology is a step in the right direction.
Hopefully, with effort, he can become to the NBA what he is to us:
The goofball.
Orlando Antigua met with the media to discuss tomorrow’s game against Arkansas. Here are the three things that stood out to me:
The staff hung the LSU celebration picture to remind the players “what it’s supposed to be about.”
At this point, the picture of the team celebrating the OT win over LSU might as well be the “mural heard ’round the Bluegrass,” but Coach O said that the staff hung it to remind players ”that’s what it feels like, that’s what it’s supposed to be about.” Antigua said that he was glad to see the players having fun, which is “very important” right now: “You want them to enjoy the reward of their hard work.”
Everyone likes the clapping and slapping of the floor
When asked about the team’s new trend of clapping and slapping the floor in recent games, Coach O said it was a welcome sight for the staff, and another sign the team’s bonding:
“They know they can ignite each other in that way. If they see one does it, it leads to another doing it and clapping, getting engaged, and for a staff, that’s fun. For the fans, it’s fun, because you know they’re out there and competing.”Julius taking it upon himself to guard O’Bryant was a big step
Near the end of the LSU game, Julius Randle took it upon himself to guard Johnny O’Bryant, and instead of going to the coaches to ask for permission, he just worked it out with his teammates. Antigua said that was a big step towards this team being player-driven rather than coach-driven.
“When they get to the point that they’re empowered that way when they can communicate with one other, that’s what we try to get. When Coach Cal is talking about this being ‘their team,’ those are moments that it becomes their team, and not a coach-driven team.”Is it tomorrow night yet??
If the SEC started today, the bracket would look like the one above. Here are the standings and pairings, which were sent out by the league this morning:
The winner of LSU/Missouri? Nooooooooooo…
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