There are even more direct quotes to support this that I’ve seen.

And I really do think a big contributing factor to the “mutiny” is all the negativity towards the coach on the message boards – all the “far gillispie” nonsense, especially. This just gives the players (and they do read these boards) the justification to defy their coach, because they have tons of people in the commonwealth that agree with them, right?

I’m not saying fans don’t have a right to moan and vent on the message boards, but you reap what you sow. Negativity breeds negativity, I’m not at all surprised.

You lay out a compelling case, and one that I believe may be very close to, if not exactly, the truth. If it is, then things very possibly get better next year. I believe Liggins and Stewart will both leave before next year. It’s clear Liggins isn’t going to get the PT he needs to become the star he thinks he is. (And he may well be a star, but he won’t be until/unless he gets on the same page with his coach, whoever that may be.) Stewart has got to know that he wasn’t getting much playing time this year, and next year he has to compete with all the same guys plus Pilgrim and Orton for PT. So, either he slides over to the Jared Carter section of the bench, or goes somewhere where he can actually play basketball.

On KSR, much has been made of the debate about whether Meeks and Patterson will stay if Coach G leaves. Perhaps the better question is, will they leave if Liggins/Stewart stay. (At this point, I’m assuming they’re at least part of the problem, given that they are the two making headlines. That might not be fair, and I acknowledge that. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say, if the “dissenting party or parties leave”.) Clearly, Meeks and Patterson know how to win. Patterson has never been anything but responsive to coaching, as far as I can tell, and for Meeks to give it his best shot under duress last year says all we need to know about the effort he’s willing to give for this coach. I suspect that if you’re is right, these two are frustrated by playing with players who aren’t willing to do the same. If the dissenters leave, Pat and Jodie ought to be much happier and in a better position to lead.

This may also explain Miller’s lack of development. At the beginning of the year, he seemed to have the fundamentals down and looked more ready to step into his role on this team sooner than any other newcomer. If the rest of the newcomers weren’t ready to accept their roles, that would make it difficult for Darius to play his; hence, he hasn’t been as good as we thought he’d be.

I’m interested to see if there’s any dissent to your post here, Tru, but I think you’re onto something.

that I’m in the minority when I say that I believe the players are as much to blame for this as the coach. As you stated Tru, the things that these players aren’t doing are just simple things. You know BG has to be telling these guys to do them, or maybe he hasn’t because he figured a lot of the things should be common sense. Does anyone remember the guy that played for Duke a few years back, Wojohowski(sp?)? He was one of the toughest, scrappiest players I’ve ever seen. It just seems as if most of our players are all the way on the other end of that spectrum. You don’t teach that. You can’t. NYCats stated in another thread that he believed that there would be a major turnover for this roster and I really hope that he is correct. I’m not going to get into he needs to stay and who needs to go. This team, BG and players included, has been extremely dissapointing. No one gets the blame more than the other in my eyes.

Great piece Tru.

Players that can’t make basic plays shouldn’t be playing SEC basketball. Billy G is the scapegoat because he’s making the money and to be honest, I know a lot of fans who couldn’t stand him from day one. Ironically, I’ve observed many of them to be white, middle aged males, which my psychology background tells me lends itself to jealousy but that’s another subject.

Back to the column. I’m not sure the Liggins thing was as big of a deal as the fact that our players just aren’t that bright. i’ve heard from a Lexington busy body that the real strife is between Billy G and some of the Tubbyovers, but like most stuff you read on the internet and hear from so and so who heard it from so and so, it’s just talk. I’m not sure that the players aren’t listening as much as they just don’t have it in them. I really feel like Porter and Harris are playing to the best of their abilities, but they shouldn’t have been recruited to UK. Sorry guys, but that’s the truth.

On the fans, heck yes the negativity affects the players. It’s not self serving, it’s a small state and a big program.

was that patterson saying they ignored the film and game plan for the ole miss game – but then played better when they looked at the play for their next game. something like that.

BCG needs to figure out what motivates players. still believe recruiting is a bit of a crap shoot. it took billy d time to get to his back to back NC (yes i know he went to FF early in his career).

although your article rings true – it still adds up to frustration and the need for patience

I agree that at least on the offensive side of the ball the Cats are not executing what they have been taught. As far as I can tell they are not executing any kind of offense at all. Since I refuse to believe that Gillespie has not taught any offense, then by default the players must not be executing the offensive scheme. That being said, I disagree with you on the reasons why and further disagree that there is not at least some failure of coaching, at least on the defensive part of the ball.

I don’t think that internal dissent is the proximate cause of this team’s problems this year. That is not to say there is no internal dissention, because at this point in the season it seems clear that the players are unhappy. But such end of season dissention is basically a normal reaction when a team does significantly poorer than expected. And clearly there were problems with Liggins and possibly others earlier in the year. However, during several points in the season Gillespie commented that this was the best practicing team that he ever had. I don’t think BG would have said this if there was a mutiny happening amongst some of the players. Based on what Gillespie has said, it appears that everything was fine during practices, which I assume means that the players were taking directions just fine as well. Thus, the failure to execute which we have all witnessed would seem to be happening only during the games. To me, that is not a symptom of mutiny, but rather a symptom of a lack of leadership on this team. And to be fair, there is only so much a coach can do to develop leadership. In the end, whether a person becomes a leader or not depends on individual personality, and I just don’t think any of the experienced players has stepped up and become effective leaders for the younger players. During practice, the coach can micromanage everything and essentially be the on-the-court leader. But during the games, the players have to execute for themselves. I just don’t see or here much talking going on out there during the games and you never see any player getting on any other player for making stupid mistakes. I may be wrong, but that is what I see on the offensive side of the ball.

The defensive side of the ball is another story. As far as I can tell, other than a few mistakes a game, the defense generally executes what the coach has designed. The problem is that the defense is the same, every single play. No defense is perfect, every defense has exploitable weaknesses. By playing the same defensive scheme on every possession, BG has allowed opposing coaches to implement offensive plays late in the season exclusively designed to beat the BG defense. I mean, its a no-brainer to me that if I have already installed the offensive scheme, I might as well throw in a few new plays guarantee that the weak side 3 is going to be open every time. I think BG’s failure to ever switch the defense is a major coaching mistake/malpractice. Yes, he has won at other programs using this defense, but as a certain annoying poster will be glad to tell you, BG has not exactly been successful in the post-season so far in his career.

P.S – I haven’t posted here in quite awhile. The reason is because a certain poster makes every single discussion a debate about why a certain ex-coach is better than a certain current coach. I personally think that by trying to show everyone who makes anything that can possibly be construed as a dig against a certain former coach that they are wrong/stupid this poster is engaging in cyber-bullying, which is against this forum’s rules. The thing is, I personally agree with the views of this poster, but I think the need to defend a certain coach over and over again, ad nauseum is unnecessary. Let people have their own opinions, even if they are wrong, as long as they are not bashing anyone. Not only that, it is incredibly annoying and boring to read.

That when I heard the choice, I was a bit puzzled. But I’m on the bandwagon now, drinking the kool aid and asking for more, i don’t really like the alternatives.

If the players are not running the offense/defense they way you want, it is your resposibility to get them to do so.

Billy lost control of this team when He didn’t punish any of the above player actions.

I know what is wrong should have told us. He will start fresh next year. He will lose a few players but,He will lay the law down at the start.

Next year will tell the tale. I choose to believe that he will take some hard lessons learned from this season and make some positive changes.

I’ve been visiting this site for almost two years now, and I would first like to say that I enjoy the rational approach taken by most on this site, and the fine examples provided by Tru and Ken.

I know that everyone has their dander up nowadays over the performance this season of not only the coach, but also the players. I won’t presume to take sides on who is to blame, for the Wildcats are a team, and it is as a team that they have faltered. Deep down, I still think that, despite Forty’s adept numerical analysis that appears to indicate BCG is BQA (a below-qualified applicant) for the j-o-b, my gut tells me that he can and will get it done. The program was listing beneath the guidance of Smith (in my opinion the talent base was steadily spiraling downward), and has taken on a lot of water in this season, in particular. Perhaps BCG’s maneuvers haven’t righted the ship yet, but I believe that with the successful recruitment of talented and dedicatedKentucky Wildcat players, things will improve. We need to have young men who are willing to listen and work a la Patterson, Harris and Meeks. Not people who place themselves above the team like Liggins and Stewart have done this year. I applaud BCG for showing benevolence and patience with those young men, but there comes a time when changes need to be made for the betterment of all parties involved. Granted, the way Pitino handled Sosa was more savory, but the bottom line is the same—Get with the Program, or get Out.

Most of us can think back to times in our lives where things just didn’t go well, despite our best efforts. Be it in sports, home life, or in our employment, there have been times that, despite our best efforts, things just went into the tank and seemed to ferment. I believe that this has happened this year to UK. BCG brought in athletes, the best he could get on short notice to fill the gaps, but it wasn’t enough. Instead of gelling, this team began to ferment. We need a few new ingredients to change the composition, and time is one of those ingredients, along with the introduction of a strong catalyst, which might just initiate the chain reaction we are all expecting. Granted, I don’t know where this elusive element is going to come from, but perhaps the hunger of our new recruits along with a coach that has been properly seasoned by the UK pressure cooker will get things moving forward next year.

I think we all need to step back, take a deep breath, and remember that the state of this program two years ago was “Decline”. Our expectations this year have not been met, and I would be willing to bet that BCG’s expectations have not been met as well. We now have a coach who is hungry, a coach who believes in himself (at least that is my optimistic view of why he does not initiate the changes all of the fans/novice coaches have proposed) and a coach who will work hard for success.

Let’s see what happens when BCG has a few more players on the floor that he can TRUST, but who have the talent to be able to make big things happen. Let’s see what happens when some of the negativity subsides, and perhaps when some of the mutineers have walked the plank. If BCG can get Joe Crawford to play the way he did last year, I believe he can get a team of Joe Crawford’s to satisfy our expectations.

sorry for the ridiculous and inappropriate use of Bold

From John Clay’s blog:

http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2009/03/10/texas-am-player-compares-turgeon-to-billy-g

here is what I wrote after the Liggins situation:

Look I think there is a happy medium. It lies somewhere from banishment and doing nothing at all (yea I know….we just don’t know what’s going on in practice). Sitting him down one game is a good ‘medium’ choice of punishment. Is Billy that desperate for one solitary win????

Billy chose to make this issue public in the conference after the game…therefore, it placed him in a position that he needed to follow through in a public way. He didn’t chose to do it which hurts him….and the team eventually.

by HozeKing on Dec 3, 2008 1:13 PM PST

Admitedly, it was easier for me to take this postion since I am not emotionally invested as most are about the Cats, but I did see it as an issue moving forward.

Another problem that I see or saw is that Gillispie is in the ‘recruiting vortex’. He has made and is continually making short term recruiting moves by either reaching down into the Juco’s (i.e., Galloway, Harrelson, Pilgrim) which are not paying off. He continues to offer ‘second tiered’ recruits scholarships because he has open spots. This will continue with this year’s likely departures….especially with the addtional pressure he will face at the end of the year.

He also seems to fall into the trap by not recruiting to the current team gaps. He has needed both shooters and point guards but his recruiting hasn’t addressed these needs.

Is Ken out of town?

Gone to cut up more ice storm damage.

and tru, I think you make a very good case. If that is the problem and these players are not executing what they are being told then I totally agree. I think what the other side of this is…..if what the Texas A&M player is saying is true…..then that could be the problem. The kids could feel so nervous at being yelled at/pulled that they are making mistakes then that couild be the problem and powers that be need to tell BG,…….calm it down or you will be shown the door. Being a bully doens’t make you a good coach. That doens’ tmean he should be soft, but other coaches get to their players without being a bully.

“I think every Kentucky fan is concerned, including the coach, including the athletic director,” he said. “We didn’t do nearly as well in the last half of the season as we did in the first half. That’s pretty obvious.”

http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/721248.html

You have always said you wanted to know. In the first sentence…their should be they. I noticed a minor other one, but we can’t be perfect.

I truly appreciate your love and dedication to this blog. I think many of us would be lost souls at this time without your and Ken’s insight and many of the members here.

Thank you.

some one sure shut this place down.

This was the only team he has coached that he didn’t know what they were going to do on the floor game to game. That pretty much sums it up.

THANK YOU TRU for another intelligent view (ha, that rhymes) on our beloved Cats written with true wisdom on the subject.

For those interested and have The Big 10 Network, the MSU v UK regional final game from 2005 is being replayed right now. Another heartbreaking UK tourney loss.

There are three players from Kentucky playing major roles for their teams on tv right now? Do you think Gillispie wishes he’d recruited Tilford, Mack, and Pettigrew right now?

What you describe is either a team in petulant mutiny, or a coach who doesn’t inspire.

Which is more likely?

Whom does BCG turn to to be his sounding board? I don’t mean this in a basketball sense; I mean it more on the personal level. As he is single, is admittedly single-minded / obsessed with hoops, and, according to the ESPN article, just reads or stares out the window during road trips, does he have anybody on whom he can unload his frustrations?

Most coaches have wives that serve this role. It helps to have someone you can bitch about your day to (as any of us who are married can attest) – you can complain in the privacy of your own home, get it out, and move on. It’s a great stress relief. Who serves this role for Billy? Does he talk to the walls in his house? Or is his head going to explode on the sidelines one day?

This is what i have been thinking most of the season and you put it into words better than i ever could have.

I would just like to add that IMHO Gillispie is in between a rock and a hard place here. The media has already posterized him as public enemy number one of the college basketball world, dating back to his “questionable” antics with recruiting over the last two years.

Add to that the obvious trouble of this years team, and the unhappy fan base, that is a recipe for disaster. What is the high road in this situation? What is the answer. I get the feeling the whole that has been dug here, and not just buy Gillispie might I add, may be to deep for him to climb out of. I don’t see the Mitch Barnhart running him outta town this season, BUT, I think if things don’t go REALLY well next year, it will ultimately be the demise of Coach G.

With that being said, I think you WILL see a MAJOR overhaul the roster after this season ends. I look for Stewart and Liggins to be sent packing,and rightfully so. I think with the incoming class, ( plus a REAL point guard), we could potentially have a top 25 team. But will that be enough to satisfy this rabid fanbase?

Gillispie needs to do some soul searching this off-season. Answer some questions about his team and himself. And if this is where he truly wants to be, go out there and make it happen. At this point, I would be happy with 20-25 ranking and less than 10 losses. GO CATS!!!