Schadenfreude, Thy Name Is Rick Stansbury

At this point, any distraction is a good distraction. However, given how we’ve played this yr, I get the feeling MSU is licking their chops and can’t wait to get a chance at us.

I’ve always liked and rooted for Stansbury (him being from Meade Co. and all), but I have to admit, his recent comments haven’t set well with me. I do understand that some of his semi-derogatory statements were borne out of frustration, but he should have enough self-discipline to keep such thoughts to himself.

That’s my opinion of what caused some of these ill spoken out-breaks.

He is Kentucky born and coached at Campbellsville, Cumberland and Austin Peay colleges and has been quite successful at each.
To my knowledge he has never been approached or even considered as a potential coach for either UL or the Cats.

I think it sticks in his craw that he is viewed as a second class coach and not one of the elites. It’s an esteem problem he is suffering through.

One man’s opinion.

for criticizing officials after the overtime loss to UK in the SEC Tournament. It was a violation of the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics.

He had a point. UK players stepped over the 3-pt line before the ball (an unusually high miss attempt by Bledsoe) touched the rim. And he had another point about his own player doing the same: The double violation meant a jump ball, which should have gone to MSU and which should have preserved the win.

We saw the proof. Who could argue? Well, Glenn could. But I supported Stansbury on that one. The problem came when he couldn’t leave good enough alone. He tarnished a fine argument with the petty suggestion of a double standard favoring Kentucky. That loss, you might remember, followed an earlier overtime loss in which officials called no fouls on UK in the last eight minutes and a number of fouls on MSU in the last two (MSU was trying to keep UK from wasting the clock). After a second overtime loss to UK, Stans couldn’t hold back: "I’ve been at this a long time, and one thing I’ve learned: At Mississippi State, you’re supposed to take it and be quiet. I had a hard time swallowing this pill because so much was at stake and my players were affected. When does the truth matter?"

Stansbury repeated the pattern in October when Calipari used the Dee Bost case as a good example of promoting common sense over the technical application of rules. Stansbury defended his player, making the case that he was in no way a professional, and that was fine. But he couldn’t leave it there. He had to get petty once again. “Everybody across the landscape of college basketball understands what that [Kanter] situation was. Everybody is probably waiting to see (if) Kentucky gets something, is it because, with Kentucky, something’s maybe different than another school.”

In both instances, it was admirable that he protected his players. But he took it too far by publicizing his paranoia that the officials or the conference or the NCAA favors Kentucky and has it in for his program. That makes him Nolan Richardson lite.

So I join Glenn in his Schadenfreude. I am not a fan of this coach’s character. And I am hopeful that UK will stick another needle in him shortly.

When he first came into the league I thought he was one of the best young coaches around. He’s certainly not met my early expectations. Beyond that, he doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Like KansasCat said, “He’s his own worst enemy.”