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After a grueling road trip to Auburn and Tennessee, both of which turned out to be cat-fights, the Kentucky Wildcats return home to the more friendly confines of Rupp Arena to face their next two opponents, the Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday and the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.
I'm sure the 'Cats will be happy to be home for a while, and hopefully it will translate into better offensive execution. Now for today's links:
Kentucky Sports Radio // UK releases Fall Semester GPAs
Pretty good, overall.
John Clay: UK showing it's a Final Four-quality team // Kentucky.com
Silly to rip Roy for ensuring UNC’s starters avoided court rush | Beyond the Arc
"Let’s make sure that we understand that I was not trying to embarrass Florida State by pretending that they could not control the crowd," Williams told the Raleigh News & Observer. "That’s not what I was trying to do at all. I was just trying to protect our team. We had an ugly incident at Las Vegas and one of our female managers got knocked down."
I think Williams is right. We have already seen first-hand the dangers of students rushing the court and losing their perspective at Indiana.
Ohio State delivers payback to Hoosiers - CBSSports.com
Thad Matta and the Buckeyes exactly a measure of revenge for the loss in Bloomington two weeks ago with a resounding thumping against the Hoosiers on Sunday afternoon. The final score was 80-63, and that doesn't even tell the story of how one-sided the game was from start to finish. The outcome was never in question as Ohio State jumped out to an early lead thanks largely to its defense and role guy Lenzelle Smith.
Good win by the Buckeyes. I'm glad they avenged the loss to the Hoosiers. I wish we could.
UK Hoops Battles Back to Beat South Carolina
Fourth accuser in Bernie Fine case admits ‘he told a lot of lies’ // Beyond the Arc
The sexual molestation investigation against former Syracuse assistant Bernie Fine was already a muddled mess, but Sunday added another level to it.
What a mess all this is.
Aggie fans happy to see Billy Gillispie again | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The Eagle
"Good to see you Billy." Thanks for everything Billy." Even the odd "We love you, Billy," greeted the former A&M coach of three years.
Wow. Still a lot of good feelings for Gillispie at A&M.
Coach Cal using Alabama football as inspiration for his team - CoachCal.com
"You think about this team, if I could ever get them to that, wow," Calipari said. "Now we’re what you all think we are. Right now teams are going to hang around with us. They’re going to have chances to beat us, chances for buzzer beaters, until we get to that point. We’re just not there yet."
No. We're not. Hopefully, we'll get there.
TNJN // Stokes opens up possibilities for Volunteers
Stokes was impressive, and it's likely he'll make an impact.
Next Cats: Amile Jefferson among 3 UK recruits on TV Sunday // Kentucky.com
What is worst loss by eventual NCAA basketball champ? // John Clay's Sidelines
Interesting stuff. I think in modern times, we could see more lopsided victories than in the past due to more parity among the programs. But Carolina's blowout in Tallahassee was one ugly result.
John Calipari’s ultimatum: Get tougher | The Kentucky Kernel
"The reality is, every tough ball, they got it," Calipari said. "Until the very end."
Part of that problem, as Calipari sees it, is players willing to concede rebounds to Kidd-Gilchrist and Davis. The pair account for 17.9 of UK’s 40.7 rebounds per game. A better team effort is needed.
I agree with Coach Cal on this one.
UK-UT notes: Jarnell Stokes a big one that got away // Kentucky.com
"He definitely offered me a scholarship," Stokes said of Calipari. "But they didn't have a scholarship on the table because he was unaware I was graduating early."
Well, those are the breaks. He would have really helped next year's recruiting class.