Two big pieces of news this morning. One is that Ken's interview of Mike Casey predictably hit the Big Blue Nation like a thermonuclear bomb. We have had visits from places I've never even heard of checking it out, and there is a lot of commentary around about it.
The other big news is that A Sea of Blue has recently surpassed the 2 million visit threshold, and you can read more about that in the FanPost I wrote earlier.
Now, for the rest of the news.
Kentucky Basketball News
- Wildcats have lost their traditional swagger. Yeah, I think that's right. I truly hate to say it, but this team doesn't have a whole lot to swagger about these days.
- Marc Maggard has a really good blog post about Mike Case's comments. Now, I know that some of you aren't Maggard fans, but you really should take the time to read this. It's very solid work.
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This makes sense. In essence, this was a mistake that even veteran players could have made. It doesn't mean that Galloway and Stewart don't get criticized for a failure to communicate, but it wasn't just a lazy or foolish play. You wouldn't think that setting a bad screen would be more effective than setting a good one, but in this case, that's what happened. The ball screen completely failed to hinder Galloway, so he stayed with his man. Stewart anticipated the switch, and game over.
Seven times out of ten, Galloway gets contact and switches, and maybe the result is different. It's been that kind of season.
- Ken Davis of NBC Sports says that the 'Cats need a big week this week, along with Notre Dame, Florida, and several others including the Golden Gophers.
- Jodie Meeks is not a lock for POY, according to this article. I think that's right -- there will be a strong movement, led by Bruce Pearl and others, to name the POY from the league's best team, LSU. Marcus Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell both have to be considered threats, and Devan Downey also has an argument.
- Joe Biddle goes off the deep end. Well, I suppose this is what you can expect from a Tennessee writer. I think that if Meeks and Patterson were both gone, as he says his sources suggest, we would all know that by now. Hard to imagine a columnist like him has better sources than Tipton, Vaught, John Clay or Mark Story.
I think we are seeing some wishful thinking here, and not a little schadenfreude at Kentucky's troubles. I do have real issues about the complaints Gillispie is "throwing his players under the bus." All coaches call out their players. Gillispie's just getting heat from guys like this because he is struggling, and an easy target. Kick 'em when they're down, Joe, that's the spirit. Oh, by the way ... save your advice about where to direct our anger. We know a thing or two about basketball in these parts.
- John Clay blogs Ken's interview with Mike Casey.
- Billy Gillispie walks the line. The question is, where does it lead?
- Gillispie is sticking to his formula. Mainly, this is about man-to-man vs. zone. Some caller last night to the call-in show suggested that guarding the three-point shot is UK's weakness, and that a zone is the answer. I thought 'Cat fans were supposed to be knowledgeable about basketball? Maybe he was a Louisville plant or something. I hope so.
Most great coaches mix zone in with man-to-man to give teams different looks, and confuse them. Apparently, Gillispie thinks that's some kind of a gimmick. All I can say is that no matter what defense UK plays, they need to win.
- Bluegrass State Basketball has thoughts on Mike Casey's comments.
- The Fake Gimel Martinez at KSR has this on the Casey interview, among other things. We are in agreement on the whole "calling out" thing, apparently.
- Winning in Rupp. From an LSU blogger.
Kentucky Football/Other News
- Vol Nation tries to cast SEC coaches as characters from The Godfather. Rich Brooks is cast as Bruno Tataglia, the pimp. Nice. He features Lane Kiffin as Michael Corleone.
Are you laughing? I am.
- This guy from the Bleacher Report says he loves Rich Brooks' vocabulary.
- A roller-coaster season for UK Hoops. Question is, are they going up, or down right now?
NCAA Basketball News
NCAA Football News
- Ranking the coaches in the SEC. Brooks comes in a respectable 7th.
- Steve Spurrier replaces half his coaching staff. His son managed to make the cut, natch.