Kentucky has a practice open to the media for the first time since 1992

by Glenn Logan on Oct 30, 2008 6:54 PM EDT in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

UK had a practice today that was open to the media. I'm sure you will be hearing a lot about it from the guys who were there, but from what I have read so far, let me just tell you who I think did well and who did not:

First, Gillispie seems to have a very high-energy practice routine from the reports I have read, with very little time for rest. I don't think that surprises anyone but from reading the reports, the practices are extremely well-organized and precise, moving from one drill to the next with great speed and intensity.

So now to the players. Players doing particularly well at practice today were Porter, Patterson, Meeks, Liggins, Miller, and Stevenson.

Players who were said to have had the most criticism at practice today were Galloway and A.J. Stewart.

Everyone else is somewhere in between.

I want to point out, probably unnecessarily, that a second-hand report from an early practice means absolutely nothing, and it would truly be worthy of Miss Cleo if I tried to read anything season-wise into what was said to have happened today. But part of what we do here is speculate about all things Wildcat, so I think I can be forgiven for giving some impressions with the caveat that they are probably wrong. I won't talk about all the players, just a few that seem relevant right now.

My impression is that Carter is making headway. That is entirely unexpected, as I have gone from a Carter hopeful to a skeptic. This does little to change that, as he clearly didn't stand out, but that in itself is a positive since some of those who did stood out in a very negative way.

My impression is that DeAndre Liggins is everything he is supposed to be, and more. He will not be starting early in the season, I think, but he will be earning plenty of minutes. His intensity seems to be lower than it should be, but that is likely the transition to college basketball.

Patrick Patterson is still not back to 100% basketball-wise, nor from a conditioning standpoint. Meeks is much further along, which is no surprise, since his surgery had a much shorter recovery time.

A year in the system has done a lot of good for some players, and not as much as we would hope for others, especially A.J. Stewart. He still seems to be struggling to get in the right places, and that is somewhat discouraging. For Galloway, I am less concerned -- he is transitioning from a program that played a wildly different style than Gillispie, and he is just going through a transition. He'll get it soon enough, I expect.

Josh Harrellson may take a while to become effective. It is clear that this level of basketball is uncomfortable for him right now, but he should get better. He certainly seems to have the will and desire to compete, and that is always good.

So there we go -- my impressions based on second-hand reports of a practice. If you are a gambling man, I recommend you bet against me being right about any of this, since there is a bunch of between-the-lines reading going on, and I didn't see one second of the actual practice itself. Be that as it may, the season is closing in, and next week, it will be here.

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How about a little video...

http://kentucky.rivals.com/video.asp?sid=888&vidtype=publisher&vidid=7309

Subscription required.

Not a lot of sustained footage to work with (lots of cuts), but you really a get a sense of the speed of the practice. Endlessly fascinating stuff for a fan.

by BBallSophist on Oct 30, 2008 9:04 PM EDT reply actions

Intensity of Coach...

That was great stuff. Thanks

by kykat51 on Oct 30, 2008 9:44 PM EDT reply actions

rankings

okay i kno this doesent have anything to do with the article, but why the hell are we not in the preseason top 25. wtf! that is pure bull shit because they have effin saint marys ranked. who honestly thinks we cant beat saint marys? and louisville at number three.. give me an effin break damn it

by hummer11092 on Oct 30, 2008 10:11 PM EDT reply actions

Do what I do.

Ignore the fooz. :-)

A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan

by Glenn Logan on Oct 30, 2008 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

C'mon

A little more family friendly, please. I get it; you’re upset. Probably with good cause. But personally, I prefer PG-rated rants.

by Acdixon on Oct 30, 2008 11:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I personally love it that we are not highly regarded.

It will make the trip to number 8 that much more enjoyable! Don’t get me wrong. We are going to have some ups and downs this year. But if this team jells at the right time like I think they can, this has “came out of nowhere to win it all” written all over it. Can hardly wait.

Xbox Live Gamertag: hoopchi

by hoopchi on Oct 30, 2008 11:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Preseason Rankings

If I were to remove my blue colored glasses… I can certainly see how this plays out to the national media and lesser informed coaches.

We barely made the field of 64 and then lost in the first round. That squarely puts us somewhere between 32-64 in the nation at the end of last year. Then we lose the only two people who were able to score at all in our tourney loss. We lose the point guard that triggered our mid-season turnaround. Our two best players for this year are coming off of injury. We load our roster with a couple of freshmen and a ton of JUCO’s.

If a team like Maryland were going through something like that, you and I would be the first one to say they don’t deserve to be in the top 25.

All that said; yes, I agree that we could beat some of those teams in the lower ranks of the top 25. We just have to go out and prove it now.

Of course its difficult, its a shortcut... if it was easy it'd just be "the way."

by chirop1 on Oct 31, 2008 7:17 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah ...

… That’s pretty much how I see it. The poll voters are being justifiably cautious, although I think Florida is getting way more love than they deserve considering they lost their only proven inside scorer. Yeah, they added more big bodies, but they had some of those already.

But other than that, I think we should take away nothing but caution on the part of the voters, rather than disrespect.

A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan

by Glenn Logan on Oct 31, 2008 7:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Rankings

I understand why we are placed where we are but I get pissed about UF being ranked so high. They didnt even make the NCAA last season and they are ranked top 25. Im not buying it.

DEEETROIT BASKETBALLL!!!

by davw83 on Oct 31, 2008 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Completely agree with that

Of course its difficult, its a shortcut... if it was easy it'd just be "the way."

by chirop1 on Nov 1, 2008 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for the article...

I was nearly starved to death during the day yesterday for lack of UK Hoops news and opinions.
As for Louisville in the top four? Don’t let your hatred ruin your life. When I found out in June who was staying in the draft, and who was staying in school, I shared with family and friends that UNC, UCONN, UL, & UCLA would start out in as my top 4. The order wasn’t the same, but those were the teams that should be there pre-season, and likely be in the FF. I suffered my mental anguish when I found out that Vitale had picked the same ones a few months later. I started to question MY sanity, but decided that Dick had either come to his senses, or to use an old saying, “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then”.

by racercat98 on Oct 31, 2008 8:38 AM EDT reply actions

Big deal...

let the world think we are pitiful and entering year 2 of a 5 year rebuilding project. It matters not and might make an impression on our new stock of players that there is work to do. I’d rather go into the season able to exceed expectations than not live up to over-hyped expectations. (quiet excitement for basketball success is building)

by hoboat33 on Oct 31, 2008 11:04 PM EDT reply actions

I think there are two absolutes...

in our being on the outside looking in at the top 25.

1. Given what we lost (two solid seniors) and what we are counting on to lead our team (players coming off injuries and juco transfers) we absolutely should be just outside the top 25.

2. We are absloutely going to serve notice on the college basketball world that UK is back on track as the season progresses. There’s just no way that all the hard work these kids are putting in that it’s not going to pay off with a steady climb up the rankings.

Believe me, I as much as anyone I want to always see UK in big bright blue lights standing out on top of the rankings but I don’t want to be handed a top 25 spot because of the name on our jerseys.

We know where we are, we know a lot of people are going to doubt our talent level, now we’ve just got to go out and really drill a few teams to show all those A**holes (yeah i’m looking at you vitale, gotlieb and goodman) UK is returning to our rightful place at the top!

by wldcatsfreak on Nov 1, 2008 5:47 AM EDT reply actions