Kentucky Sports Radio 1/3/2016

Print all In new window KSR PM 1-3-16 Sam Kegley 6:00 PM (4 minutes ago) to Jim, Judi, Kary, Central, Linda, Matt, Ralph, Rosa, J, Diane, Jill, Rick, Gary, Beth, David, Elmer, Walter, Kelli, Stan You young Whipper-snappers, and that is all receiving this email besides Jeanie and me, and including the originator of Kentucky Sports Radio, Mr. Matt Jones, must hear this! Judi Cole drove Jeanie and me and her sister, Sarah Jane to Rupp for Kentucky's win over Mississippi Saturday. Judi had Matt's post game 630 radio where he pointed out that one of the few past Wildcats who had a ten assist game like Tyler Ulis did vs. Ole Miss, was Stan Key, a Wilcdat Matt didn't remember. Please Matt and friends read my forward to my interview story of Stan Key in my little-read "Acquaintances with Integrity" book in 2002: "I, like many University of Kentucky alumni am fortunate to have met and become friends with Stan Key. He and Tom Parker were co-captains on Coach Rupp's last UK team in 1971-1972. He is now Director of Alumni Affairs for the University. Stan is a redhead who claims a temper that I don't ever recall him displaying. He was a steady starter and remained calm in all situations I have witnessed him to be in. He, like his predecessors, Jay Blumfield and Bob Whitaker, handles the alumni affairs in a quiet and efficient manner." Stan is a most modest of past UK basketball stars, who rarely mentions that he played for our Wildcats. It has neither been a simple nor an easy task to be sufficiently recognized and recruited and go on to be a starter and a vital cog on a University of Kentucky basketball team. I highly respect Matt Jones and the sought for inside information the Kentucky Sports Radio Creator brings us info-hungry Wildcat fans. I was happy to learn of Stan's ten assist stat as Tyler Ulis displayed Saturday with Mr. Ulis' twenty points and lock-down defense of Stefan Moody. Moody got most of his 23 points very late in the game when the points mattered little. SamKat aka Sam Kegley skegley.kegley@gmail.com Who Guards Ben Simmons? By Andrew Cassady on ©January 03rd, 2016 @ 2:00pm Tuesday’s game against LSU will be an odd role reversal of sorts for Kentucky. In three of John Calipari’s first six years at Kentucky the Cats have featured the eventual number one draft pick. In the other three years, UK never faced off against the player who would go to to be selected first. In most games Coach Cal was the one with the most talented player on the court if not the top three but that won’t be the case on Tuesday night. No, that honor will belong to freshman superstar Ben Simmons. Containing Ben Simmons is the key to taking down LSU. In five Tiger losses, Simmons has averaged 14.8 points. In 8 LSU wins (against bad teams) that stat jumps to 24 points. Clearly, Simmons’ is the key to LSU’s fortunes so who will be the player tasked with stopping him. Here are my three candidates: Marcus Lee Kentucky’s defensive specialist is an ideal match-up for Ben Simmons. Both players are long, lean, and super athletic which should make for a great offense/defense showdown. While I think Marcus can hang with Simmons on the inside it will be an interesting test to see how he does as Simmons spaces the floor and plays in transition. Last year when Marcus would sub in for Willie Cauley-Stein he showed an ability to switch and cover multiple positions that he hasn’t been asked to do this year. That could come in handy against Ben’s skillset. Skal Labissiere This is the match-up everyone was waiting to see in the preseason but one that I doubt we will see much of. Bottom line, Skal just isn’t ready to play college defense against a guy like Ben Simmons. Against Ole Miss last night he picked up 5 fouls in just 14 minutes of gametime. Against Duke and Arizona State he fouled out in 13 minutes. Could Skal provide some good minutes against Simmons? Yes, but he has to keep the foul situation under control and that may not be a risk Cal wants to take early in the game. Alex Poythress So who backs up Lee in this game? The answer is Alex Poythress. Poythress has the size, bulk, and athleticism that is capable of giving Simmons fits. Alex has shown capability in going up against players with a height advantage like Montrezl Harrell or an ability to slash like Sam Dekker. Those players combine in Simmons but I think Alex will be up to the task. Who do you see going head to head with Simmons and do we have a shot to shut him down? [comment 11] [Link] Tyler Ulis answered the challenge against Stefan Moody By Drew Franklin on ©January 03rd, 2016 @ 12:00pm ulis-moody For Ole Miss to win last night’s game, it was going to need a lot from point guard Stefan Moody. I knew that. You knew that. The kid licking the ice cream cone in Section 213 knew that. You know who else knew that? Tyler Ulis. And what did he do about it? He locked Moody down and kept the SEC’s leading scorer from impacting the game. Moody did manage to score 23 points, but most of those came in the second half when the game was out of reach. Ulis nearly matched him with 20 of his own, as well as 10 assists in his first career double-double. Defensively, Ulis forced Moody into five turnovers with only one assist, while recording a career-high six steals. After the game, Ulis said, “I understood that that’s my position and he is what makes their team go, so I had to lock in defensively and try to stop him.” “You can’t just let someone come out there and just kill you because you could be the reason you lose the game,” he continued. “When it’s a matchup you have to lock in, like I tried to do defensively, so you’re not the reason your team lost.” John Calipari knew Ulis wanted to be matched up with Moody, although the point guard didn’t come out and say it. Cal said Ulis was out to prove himself against one of the league’s best guards, and he wishes he had more players who will accept challenges the way Ulis did Saturday night. “I just want a team full of guys that way. I’m going to prove who I am as a player.” Someone else will have to step up Tuesday night in a matchup with LSU’s Ben Simmons, the best player in college basketball. Looking at you, Alex Poythress. [comment 4] [Link] Checking In On The Rest of The SEC By Andrew Cassady on ©January 03rd, 2016 @ 11:00am Kentucky kicked off SEC play last night with a nice win over Ole Miss but they weren’t the only team getting things underway. Here’s how some of the other teams fared starting with Tuesday’s opponent: LSU. LSU 90 – Vanderbilt 82 Ben Simmons went off for 36 points and 14 rebounds in Nashville to propel LSU past Vandy last night. So is LSU finally ready to live up to their preseason expectations? Probably not. Keep in mind they just lost to Wake Forest earlier in the week and the Commodores are reeling. Vanderbilt has lost 5 of their last 8 and they have not been the same team since losing Luke Kornet to an MCL injury. Despite the poor start to the season for the Tigers they will come into Tuesday’s game riding high and ready to play like the Golden State Warriors against Kentucky. Auburn 83 – Tennessee 77 Tennessee shot 3-28 from beyond the arc today and only lost by 6. The more I think about that statline the more baffling it becomes. Kentucky will make the same trip to Auburn in two weeks to take on Bruce Pearl and his Tigers but based on this game we shouldn’t have too much to worry about from UT or Auburn. Florida 77 – Georgia 63 Via GatorCountry.com Florida took care of business at home with a solid win over Georgia in the O’Connell center. While the Gators aren’t getting much respect on the national level they do have a top 25 rating in KenPom’s measurement which is second in the SEC behind Kentucky. KeVaughn Allen is legit and Florida is on track to return to the NCAA tournament. #20 Texas A&M 92 – Arkansas 69 TAMU continues to blow opponents out of the water as they begin SEC play. The Rick Stansbury effect has taken full hold in college station. #24 South Carolina 86 – Memphis 76 South Carolina didn’t start SEC play but they did earn some respect by finishing non-conference play unbeaten. The Gamecocks are now one of three teams left without a loss and could remain that way until late January or beyond. They also get to play Vandy, LSU, and Kentucky at home. Are they now a dark horse to win the SEC? [comment 0] [Link] Camp Cal pays off in 22-point rout of Ole Miss By Mrs. Tyler Thompson on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 10:30pm Photo by UK Athletics Photo by UK Athletics Last year, Ole Miss nearly dashed UK’s undefeated regular season dreams behind the hot hand of Stefan Moody, a fact John Calipari hung over his players’ head as they prepared for their conference opener. Thankfully, it was a much different story this go around, as Kentucky’s hard work during “Camp Cal” paid off in an 83-61 rout over the Rebels. At one point, the Cats led by 29. “Next year I want to be invited to Camp Cal,” Andy Kennedy quipped. “There’s some pointers to be had there, so maybe next time he’ll invite the Rebels up, so hopefully we can get some of what they have going.” Let’s break it down, starting with the only bad news of the night… Dominique Hawkins injured his left ankle Hawkins collided with Ole Miss’ Anthony Perez six minutes into the second half, coming down awkwardly on his left ankle. Marcus Lee and Alex Poythress carried Dominique off the court and he was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair. Dominique did not return, but we’re hearing his X-rays were negative, very good news. “He hurt his ankle. They said he’s going to be fine,” Calipari said afterwards. Watching Hawkins go down was tough, but seeing his brothers pick him up and help him off the court was heartwarming: Video Player 00:00 01:01 Tyler Ulis once again stole the spotlight Ulis followed up a monster game vs. Louisville with another huge performance tonight, putting up 20 points and 10 assists, becoming only the fifth player in Kentucky basketball history to accomplish that feat and the first since John Wall in 2009. Ulis was completely in control on both sides of the ball tonight, calmly and confidently leading his team to the rout. John Calipari said Ulis rose to the challenge of shutting down Stefan Moody after hearing people talk about Moody’s big game in Rupp last season. “He’s a good player. He also took on a challenge, because everybody’s talking about their guard, he wanted [Stefan Moody],” Cal said. “I knew when I watched how he was playing and what he was doing that — you know, he’s out to prove who he is too, now. I just want a team full of guys that way.” Ulis’ ten assists are the most by a Kentucky player since Julius Mays in 2012 and his back-to-back 20-point games are the first since James Young. Sorry, Kris Dunn, Imma let you finish, but Andy Kennedy said Tyler Ulis is the best point guard in college basketball. “I think he’s the best point guard in college basketball. He has the ability to run that team — it’s as if he’s skating,” Kennedy said. “When he makes shots, he’s very, very difficult.” I like Kennedy’s skating reference, and during the game, I commented that it’s almost as if Ulis is dancing with his opponents, constantly steering them around the court. Whenever he has the ball, I feel good. Whenever he scores, I’m like this: tylerulis-YAAAS That first half defense was the best we’ve seen this season Kentucky held Ole Miss — a team averaging 77 points a game — to 22 in the first half. The Rebels only made 23% of their shots from the floor, and the Cats closed the half on a 27-5 run. Up 20+, the Cats slacked off on defense a little bit in the second half — much to Calipari’s chagrin — but that first half was the best defense we’ve seen all season. Andy Kennedy agreed. “I’ve done this long enough to realize that action is a lot faster than reaction,” Kennedy said. “And it seems as if we were constantly reacting to Kentucky, thereby getting destroyed on the glass and making poor decisions with the ball.” Skal was better When Skal Labissiere checked in and immediately got an offensive rebound and a dunk, 24,000+ at Rupp exhaled. Skal scored 9 points off 4-7 shooting, his best performance since scoring 10 vs. Eastern Kentucky almost a month ago. “The whole place went crazy,” Cal said of Skal’s dunk. “This whole state — I believe the whole country wants this kid to do well.” However, Calipari noted that while Skal’s making progress, he’s still got a ways to go. “It’s a first step,” Cal said. “It’s the first step. There’s still a lot of other stuff still there. But like, I want him to smile and have fun playing.” Interestingly, Calipari said on his postgame radio show that he’s not coaching Skal as though he’s going to leave after this season. “I’m not coaching Skal like I did with Karl Towns where I know he is going to leave,” Cal said. “Now I am coaching him like a normal player.” Hmm. Odd and ends… © Joshua Lindsey © Joshua Lindsey — Marcus Lee played with a protective mask on, which Calipari attributed to nose bleeds. “His nose has been bleeding and we don’t know if he’s getting hit and that’s why his nose is bleeding, so we just put the thing on so we don’t have to deal with him walking off the court, going in the back saying his nose is not stopping and, so.” The mask didn’t stop Lee from having another big night. The junior turned in 13 points off 6-9 shooting and 8 rebounds. — Jamal Murray did good things and bad things. Calipari’s been pushing Murray to make the easy play instead of the hard play, and he did at times, but he’s still a work in progress. “He’s still — I’m trying to explain degree of difficulty does not get you more points. Like the harder shot you try to take, there’s no four-pointers, unless you get fouled on a three-pointer. So, that’s a hard one for him. I’m trying to get him to just make easy plays,” Cal said. — Alex and Derek disappointed. After a big game vs. Louisville, Alex Poythress only put up six points, although he had nine big rebounds. Calipari wasn’t exactly pleased with his performance. “Like Alex, you’re finally breaking through, you’re becoming that elite All-American that we all knew you could be and then you come out and kind of play like, well, what?” Derek Willis had eight points, including a huge dunk, but Calipari said he can’t keep Derek in because he’s a liability on defense and on the boards. “Derek just, you can’t — I couldn’t keep him in the game. So now I don’t know if I move Derek out of the rotation, maybe play Charles Matthews as a four man. Let him play some four. He’ll defend, he’ll rebound.” Yes, we’re nitpicking. Still, isn’t it nice to nitpick over a 22-point win? [comment 14] [Link] Enjoy these highlights from the game before bedtime By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 10:15pm skal-ole-miss Shout-out to the hard-working people at Kentucky Wildcats TV for providing us with a highlight reel from tonight’s game. Give it a look before you tuck yourself in for the night. [comment 3] [Link] Tune in to the KSR postgame show! By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 10:00pm Turn your radios and your radio streaming devices to 630 WLAP in Lexington or 840 WHAS in Louisville to hear what Matt Jones and the KSR callers have to say about tonight’s win. Or if you would like to be heard, give Matt a call at 1-800-444-8484 or 502-571-8484. Listen online here. Discuss below. [comment 1] [Link] Everything John Calipari said after the game By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 9:45pm calipari-olemiss Some late-night reading for your Saturday evening indoors… Q. Is it time we drop the disclaimer and just admit he’s as good as he is? COACH CALIPARI: He is a good player. He also took on a challenge because everybody is talking about their guard. And I knew did it, I laughed. After the game I said, I know what you did and in front team he smiled. But I don’t have enough other guys that want to do that. I don’t have enough other guys and I’ve had them in the past, like a team full of guys like that. We need more guys that look at the other guy and say, I’m going to show who is the better player here. We don’t have that right now. We’re just kind of playing basketball. First half was terrific. I thought great energy, we had one guy break down, give up nine points. Nine points. Other than that, they struggled scoring. And I thought we did a great job of rebounding, doing what we do. And then the second half — and again, I know it’s hard being up 29 or whatever and then finishing a game off. But I was disappointed for some of the guys. Like Alex, you’re finally breaking through, you’re becoming that elite All-American that we all knew you could be and then you come out and kind of play like, well, what? And Isaiah in the second half did the same. Kind of backed up. Well, wait a minute. You’re playing as well — don’t do that. And that’s us individually. I thought the start of the first half, or second half, we did it and then we kind of let go of the rope. Which I guess when you have a lead like that, that happens. Q. You said you’ve seen it in practice, but to see Skal have some good things happen to him in a game as his coach — COACH CALIPARI: It’s a first step. It’s the first step. There’s still a lot of other stuff still there. But like, I want him to smile and have fun playing. But I’m telling you, when you get in the ring, and you start, and the guy hits you in the head five times, it’s hard to smile. If you hit him in the head five times, and you’re moving around, now all of a sudden you’re doing the walk, yeah. But when you get hit five times, you’re not smiling. That’s part of it. Second thing, just got to come up with balls and react and do it. I thought that we had a couple guys look tired in that second half and he was one of them. He looked tired. He shouldn’t have been, he didn’t play that many minutes, but I’m just happy he took that first step. He’s been better in practice, he’s got a bunch of guys cheering for him on this team. And we do need him to play. We need his size, his ability to block shots. But I thought Marcus Lee and Alex are playing off of each other really well right now. (more…) [comment 5] [Link] Watch John Calipari’s postgame comments By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 9:37pm Screen Shot 2016-01-02 at 9.35.01 PM Following his team’s SEC opening win, John Calipari discussed Tyler Ulis’ big night, Jamal Murray, Skal Labissiere’s improvement, the new rotation, some disappointing aspects, and much, much more. [comment 0] [Link] Dominique Hawkins is going to be fine By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 9:31pm @JenNimePalumbo Dominique Hawkins had to be carried off the court by his teammates after suffering what appeared to be a very serious injury. Hawkins went down holding his left ankle and was in very serious pain, but the injury isn’t as severe as it seemed, according to Calipari. “He hurt his ankle. They said he’s going to be fine,” Coach Cal said. “I didn’t see it, they told me it looked ugly, but he is such a tough kid.” Whew. [comment 8] [Link] Andy Kennedy thinks highly of Tyler Ulis By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 9:23pm Screen Shot 2016-01-02 at 9.14.55 PM Tyler Ulis picked Ole Miss apart on his way to his first career double-double with 20 points and 10 assists, as well as six steals and three rebounds. Soon after, Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy called Ulis the best point guard in the country. “I watch a lot of basketball and I don’t want to misspeak, but I think he is the best point guard in college basketball is what I think. He has the ability to run that team.” Kennedy likened Ulis to an ice skater on the court, saying, “He just kind of skates through.” [comment 2] [Link] John Calipari’s postgame interview with ESPN By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 9:08pm Screen Shot 2016-01-02 at 9.07.08 PM John Calipari chatted briefly with ESPN’s Jill Montgomery as he exited the Rupp Arena floor. You can hear what he had to say about the game in the video below. [comment 1] [Link] Box Score: Kentucky 83, Ole Miss 61 By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 9:00pm miss-box [comment 1] [Link] Ulis shines in win over Ole Miss By Drew Franklin on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 8:58pm After nearly losing this game last year, Kentucky got the job done against Ole Miss in Rupp Arena. The Cats took an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Rebels, 83-61. The star for Kentucky was Tyler Ulis, again. He recorded his first career double-double with 20 points and a career-high 10 assists. We also saw signs of progress with Skal Labissiere. He scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds before fouling out of the game. 1-0 in the SEC! [comment 5] [Link] Dominique Hawkins injures ankle, helped off court By Mrs. Tyler Thompson on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 8:33pm Screen Shot 2016-01-02 at 7.29.31 PM Bad news from Rupp Arena: Dominique Hawkins just left the game after injuring his ankle under the basket. Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee helped him off the court and he was taken to the locker room in a wheelchair: Video Player 00:00 01:01 No word from UK on his return. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it looked. UPDATE: UK has confirmed the injury is to Dom’s ankle and he will be out the rest of the game. [comment 1] [Link] I think Calipari wants Jamal Murray to go get the ball By Mrs. Tyler Thompson on ©January 02nd, 2016 @ 8:06pm John-Calipari-600x400 It was a fun first half, and my favorite moment may have been when John Calipari screamed at Jamal Murray to “GO GET THE BALL” to give it back to the ref after he knocked it out of bounds: That was enough to earn a laugh from Skal Labissiere and 24,000+ at Rupp. [comment 0] [Link]