Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - Mike Montgomery Edition

California Golden Bears coach Mike Montgomery is all the rage this morning after a little shove on one of his players in an apparent attempt to get him fired up. It's funny, you see players do this to each other all the time, but when a coach does it, it's big news. As you might expect, the name of the Devil himself -- Robert Montgomery Knight -- has been invoked.

Will he appear?

Tweet of the Morning:

A lot of hammys pulled in race to get past Montgomery's actions. Would it be same if it were one of the coaches many consider villainous?

— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) February 18, 2013

And

Just read statements from Cal and Montgomery about the "shove" on Allan Crabbe. Well handled all around. Done and done. Move on.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) February 18, 2013

How's that hammy feeling there, Seth? Little stiff this morning, eh? :-)

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Louisville Shouldn't be Too Concerned with New Kentucky Wildcats
  I remember somebody accused me of hiding my head in the sand when Louisville went to the Sugar Bowl. Is Louisville hiding it's head in the sand now that Mark Stoops has outclassed their recruiting class in only 66 days on the job? We'll see.

• CatsIllustrated.com // Illinois LB 'psyched' after early contact with UK ($)
  I think we're all getting a little psyched.

Kentucky basketball

• Without Nerlens Noel, Kentucky basketball in jeopardy of missing NCAA Tournament field // NY Daily News

  But this season, his want [sic] for reloading every season has come back to haunt him, especially since he has no upperclassmen or veteran starters to pick up the heavy lifting.

  As someone so sagely said in the comments recently, sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.

• CRAWFORD - 'Uncoachable?' Expect Calipari to coach them anyway // WDRB 41 Louisville

  Calipari is 10 months removed from winning a national championship. He's been to back-to-back Final Fours and has had a three-plus year run like few coaches in modern history.

  To suggest that he can't tap into players' minds and motivate elite level talent is laughable. His track record from DeMarcus Cousins to John Wall, DeAndre Liggins to Darius Miller, Terrence Jones to Marquis Teague, would suggest otherwise.

  Exactly.

• Nerlens Noel, Marcus Lattimore should sue NBA, NFL for potential lost wages // Orlando Sentinel

  This is a hilarious, fact-free, I-can't-wait-for-the-next-click rant by Orlando Sentinel resident moron Mike Bianchi that had me in stitches this morning.

  Nobody likes to see people get hurt, but blaming it on the NBA is stupid. John Calipari made a good point the other day -- what if the injury happened his junior year in high school, as it often does (see Orton, Daniel)? Would we them be loudly declaiming the rule that make it impossible for people under the age of 18 to quit school and go to the NBA without parental consent?

  Like it or not, we cannot protect young men and women from everything, and it is wrong to ask the NBA to compromise their financial interests, and absorb all the risks in playing a game where the risk of injury is omnipresent.

  Are there better ways to do this? Maybe. But this article offers nothing but fodder for humor. There are no grounds upon which to sue, since the NBA's position is fully authorized by law.

• Andrew Wiggins offers up glimpse into brilliant future: Kelly // Toronto Star

  A couple of rows down, a middle-aged gentleman was on his feet, fist pumping. He had — honest to God — a full-on, ‘Coming to America’-style jheri curl. The overwhelming gravity of Wiggins’ excellence was tearing a hole in the continuum of time and space.

  I just had to laugh at this. "Coming To America," as corny as it is, is one of my guilty pleasures, and the jheri curl reference brings this scene to mind:

• Kentucky Sports Radio // Calipari Watched Karl Towns, Jr. Today

• John Calipari backs off comments, stands by Kentucky team // USA Today

  Whether it was a moment of clarity or a flat-out epiphany, Kentucky coach John Calipari changed his mind about his team Sunday morning.

• Quotes to ponder to help understand Kentucky’s debacle at Tennessee // vaughtsviews

Other UK sports

• Kentucky Completes Comeback to Down No. 6 Georgia 4-2 // UKAthletics.com.

• Riddle's 6-for-6 Makes History, Leads No. 8 Baseball to 20-3 Win - UKAthletics.com

Links posts

• Morning Five: 02.18.13 Edition // Rush The Court
• Wakeup Call: Could Siena join the Catholic 7? // CBSSports.com
• Tom Leach // Monday links
• The Morning Mix // CollegeBasketballTalk

College football

• Wisch: Does College Football Need A 13-Game Regular Season? // CBS Chicago
  In the era of superconfernces, maybe so.

College basketball

• 3-point shot: Terps look to stay focused // ESPN

• Cal coach Mike Montgomery appears to push Allen Crabbe in heated exchange // Sporting News

  When, in 2006, then-Texas Tech coach Bob Knight used his hand to lift the chin of one of his players, Michael Price, it led to an extended public debate about his conduct even though Knight insisted he did nothing wrong.

  I think Mike DeCourcy omits the context here. Knight had a known issue with physicality with his players that was so bad, it got him fired at Indiana.

  Montgomery has no such reputation. But the Twitter debate on this has been ... interesting.

Other sports news

• Former New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul wins his first NBA All-Star MVP award // NOLA.com
  Congratulations to Chris Paul. Great game, great point guard. I wonder if we could...you know, rent him for a little while here in Kentucky? Think the NCAA would mind?

• Chris Paul doesn't need Dwight Howard now – or in the future // Yahoo! Sports
  Can't we just enjoy that game by Paul, and not smack around somebody else? Just askin'.