Kentucky Sports Radio

Can’t we just split the Player of the Year two ways?

As tournament time approaches, legit candidates for Player of the Year begin to emerge. As a UK fan, we all know and appreciate the fact that it is more fun to have a season where one of the players wearing Big Blue is in serious contention. While it is fun to get the publicity, and we certainly want our man John Wall to win, what is the correlation between Player of the Year and winning an NCAA Championship?

I ran back over the past 10 years with three of the big POY Awards. Check it:

First, the level of group-think here is a bit much. I would have added more columns, but all the POY awards are pretty much the same. With the exception of David West/TJ Ford in 2003, every POY award seems to go to one particular player.

Second, Duke was the last team to have a POY winner and win the National Championship, and they did that way back in 2001 when Coach K could still recruit.

So take heart, Kentucky fans. If Evan Turner winds up with the award, that almost assures Ohio State won’t win the championship and increases UK’s chances of coming home with the big prize. Of course, if John Wall ends up with the hardware, forget this post ever happened.

If you enjoy reading articles about the UK men’s basketball team, please visit my webpage at http://kybasketball.blogspot.com.  You can also follow my webpage on Twitter. My webpage has been around for several years and I update it several times per day so UK basketball fans have access to the best and most recent articles about the team.

Now, The Article Links-

Brandon Knight eliminates Miami from consideration and adds Syracuse to his list

Zagsblog says Kentucky is probably where Brandon Knight ends up

MaxPreps.com predicts Brandon Knight will end up at Florida

Calipari was in Las Vegas on Tuesday to watch Corey Joseph and some of Findlay Prep’s younger talents practice

The Epoch Times says Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross are rumored to be leaning toward Washington in a possible package deal

The duo of Darius Miller and Darnell Dodson are critical to the success of UK in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments

The 2010 SEC Tournament is a very hot ticket this year

Computers aren’t so fond of the schedule Calipari’s Wildcats have faced this season

The Big Blue Mist is headed for Nashville in what may be record numbers. Everywhere I go people tell me they are headed down for the SEC Tournament and from my own anecdotal looks, it may be the most excitement I have seen for the SEC in 15 years. So what are you going to do when you get down there? Well the Nashville Chapter of the UK Alumni Club has created a number of events for Thursday, Friday and Saturday that will have UK fans by the boatloads in attendance. If you get a chance, stop by one of them and if you are there at the Friday event, the KSR crew will be in attendance as I am MCing (is that the correct word?) the event. Good stuff all weekend and definitely worth a visit:

SEC Tipoff Event at Red Rooster - Thursday, March 11

On the Thursday, March 11th (SEC Tournament start date), we are hosting a Tip-Off Party at Red Rooster. There will be a $5 cover charge which benefits SEYA and their fight against pediatric cancer. With your $5 cover charge, you will be given 2 free draft beers. Also, our proud partners at Buffalo Trace will reward one lucky person in attendance on the night of the event an “Ultimate Game Day Watch Party” at their home for up to 100 people. This includes 6 bottles of BUFFALO TRACE KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY and enough Whitts BBQ to more than satisfy your friends. They will also throw in some fun Buffalo Trace swag - stadium cups and basketballs to add to the fun.

Despite the fact that we are superior and won’t have to play on Thursday, we would like to encourage everyone to wear their UK Blue for the event! This will be the perfect way to kick off an amazing weekend in Nashville!

Pre-game Pep Rally at Wildhorse Saloon - Friday, March 12

Catch the Big Blue Spirit - Music City style! Join UK alumni and fans to get fired up for the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Enjoy music, door prizes and lots of fun with fellow Wildcat fans. The UK band and cheerleaders will also make a special appearance. The event will take place 2 1/2 hours before tip-off of the first Kentucky SEC Tournament Game. Cost is $12 for pre-registered members and $15 for nonmembers and event walk-ups. Make your reservation online by clicking on the link below or by calling 859-257-7161.

Online Reservations

Post-game Party at Big Bang - Saturday, March 13

Big Bang will be THE PLACE to be after we win on Saturday. In preparation for the championship game on Sunday, every UK fan with a ticket stub will be allowed into Big Bang with no cover charge, and you will be given 1 free beer. Big Bang is roping of part of their huge space exclusively for UK fans, and they are going to provide our group with a free buffet of appetizers. They will have their dueling piano players on hand for entertainment, and we are currently training their musicians all of the UK Classics! Make sure to head over to Big Bang on Broadway after the game on Saturday!

I’m not really sure what this is, but it appears that a Syracuse fan has released a diss track of some kind (and 5 minutes of dead air) aimed at Kansas, Duke and your beloved Wildcats. Prepare yourself for the worst song ever made (non-John Wall theme edition).

And, since that was so awful, I think it’s only fair that we offer a make good and give you Derek Anderson talking about UK. Enjoy.

Quincy Miller talked with me last night about his weekend visits and also some of his plans for the future. Here’s the highlights:

Dustin Rumbaugh: You took a visit to Louisville over the weekend. What were you able to do there?

Quincy Miller: I watch the UL game and then went into their locker room after the game.

DR: Were you able to talk with Coach Pitino after the game and what did you guys talk about?

Quincy Miller: He just talked to me about the pros of coming to UL, how he would use me and about the program.

DR: What about the UK game?

Quincy Miller: Well I came straight from UL to the UK game and after the game I hung out with the players, John Wall and Demarcus Cousins.

DR: So you’re pretty close with John Wall?

Quincy Miller: Yeah, yeah. He’s like my older brother.

DR: That close relationship that you have with John, will it help UK in terms of them recruiting you?

Quincy Miller: Yeah it helps. I played with John at D-1 [their AAU team] and if he can come there and excel, it helps.

DR: So basically you’re saying that since you and John played in the same system at D-1 and were successful and he was able to come into UK’s system and the success transferred, you feel like it would for you too?

Quincy Miller: Yeah

DR: Let’s get back to this shirt thing. You’ve been seen wearing UK gear a lot. Is that any kind of indication of your feelings or that they may be a favorite?

Quincy Miller: No, I don’t really have any favorites. I got shirts from every school and I wear them….but I love UK.

DR: When’s the final decision going to come?

Quincy Miller: Next year

DR: Do you feel like it’ll be early in the next year or late in the year or do you even know?

Quincy Miller: Probably later

DR: You have AAU’s coming up real soon. What’s your plans for AAU season?

Quincy Miller: Dominate (Laughs)

DR: A dunk contest between you and John Wall. Who wins?

Quincy Miller: John wins but I definitely go down with a fight

DR: You and Demarcus meet in the post. Who wins?

Quincy Miller: Demarcus wins but I go down with a fight again. He has more experience.

DR: So it’s basically just the experience. If you had the same experience that he had, you would win?

Quincy Miller: Yeah

Quincy seems more than ready for the big time and the NBA may eventually answer the question of who would dominate who in the post. Quincy definitely has the skill to be a top big man in the land and his decision on where to attend school in a couple years could really go a long way in giving him the experience he needs to refine his game. Right now he is entertaining offers from a plethora of schools but UK seems to be one of the constants in his recruiting process. If the Cats were able to land a kid who could compete with John Wall in a dunk contest and hold his own against Boogie in the post, I think they’d take that.

ESPN’s Dick Vitale announced his 2010 All-Solid Gold Team today and sources tell me he was yelling and getting on everyone’s nerves when he did so.  Like every other media outlet in America, Vitale put John Wall and Demarcus Cousins on his first-team.  However, Vitale mixed it up a bit and went against the majority with his Player of the Year award by giving it to our beloved John Wall over Ohio State’s Evan Turner.

Vitale’s All-Solid Gold First Team

John Wall, Kentucky
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova
Demarcus Cousins, Kentucky
Evan Turner, Ohio State
Wesley Johnson, Syracuse

Vitale’s All-Solid Gold Second Team

Greg Monroe, Georgetown
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
James Anderson, Oklahoma State
Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Damion James, Texas
Cole Aldrich, Kansas
Sherron Collins, Kansas

Vitale’s Player of the Year: John Wall, Kentucky

Vitale’s Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim

Quick question - Why Dicky V name seven players to each team?  This is basketball, Dick.  Not netball.

Go Cats.

Last night I was able to speak with Tonya Knight, Brandon Knight’s mother, for a bit in order to get the latest on where his recruitment stands. Despite rumors that Knight was deciding between staying at home in Florida or playing for Calipari at Kentucky, she said, “No we haven’t cut the list down yet. We probably won’t cut the list at all. He’ll just make his decision” This meshes well with what I’ve been hearing, which is that all schools remain in play and Brandon is still in the midst of the decision making process.

She also added, “We plan on making a decision in a couple of weeks.” This also goes right along with what the same above sources have been saying.

Therefore, I tend to believe that the people that I have been able to talk with about Knight are good with their information. They’ve debunked rumors that any kind of commitment is 100% and even laughed at the idea of a “silent verbal.” The situation right now seems to be exactly what Mrs. Knight is saying. Brandon is in the process of deciding and you can expect that decision anytime within the next couple weeks. These same sources do get the feeling though that any leaning at this point is toward joining Calipari’s long line of future NBA point guards.

Adam Zagoria spoke with a few sources today as well, that seem to feel the parent’s end of the decision is solid. His sources said, “The parents like UK. Brandon likes the idea of staying local, but he’s definitely not opposed to going away.” A second source said that the parents had already in fact made up their mind and selected UK. “Do I think they made up their mind already? Yes, I do. It’s hard for me to believe they’ll stay locally,” the source said. Both of these sources agreed that, in the end, UK would be the ultimate destination.

So it looks like all sources agree that UK is sitting in their best case scenario right now, especially with this staff’s ability to seal deals on the recruiting trail.

We are all about to pack up and head to Nashville and I just finished my SEC Tournament Preview for CBS and it just went live. Click the link, check it out and leave comments if you have the technical expertise to navigate their system.

Tomorrow on this site, we get into SEC Tournament coverage, which means a live running journal of events from 1 pm to midnight on both Thursday and Friday. It will be similar to what we did for “Hoops for Haiti” with all the writers contributing notes and me giving insight, pictures, etc from the envet. It should be a lot of fun and will include a LIVE BLOG from the game.

More in a bit….I am ready to get on the road.

One of the things that has become clear over the last eight months or so is that we have many more women reading KSR than in our early days. From comments to emails to posts, the women of KSR have been making their voices heard. So the folks at UK Fan Outfitters created a UK shirt that is for the ladies and has a UK/St Patricks Day theme. The shirt above has been selling in their store in Lexington and is now available here. You can click on the link below to purchase for yourself (or if you are a guy) for your favorite woman in your life. Every purchase helps KSR and if you order TODAY, it will arrive to you before St Patricks Day. So there you go, order up and enjoy the Big Blue, or Green as the case may be.

UK T-Shirt purchase

This place will be basketball obsessed for the next few days (or weeks), so a quick football note. Today was Pro Day for UK football, allowing the graduating Seniors to get a workout in front of scouts and the Juniors to showcase themselves for next year. Very little news comes out of the event because times arent released, but a couple of quick notes:

— Everyone, from reporters to the player himself, thought that the real winner today was Alphonso Smith, who ran a sparkling fast time (Jeff Drummond of Kentucky Ink reported it as 4.35) in the 40 and killed the other drills as well. He is likely the player who helped himself the most today.

— Micah Johnson apparently improved his 40 time from the combo, which he needed to do as it hovered around 5 seconds then. He apparently looks chisled, which should surprise no one.

— One scout told me yesterday that Trevard Lindley is looking at the 3rd or 4th round right now and he worked out as well.

— The fastest times came from Derrick Locke who put up a time that was not reported but according to one KSR spy “had the scouts oohing and ahhing.”

A good number of Juniors worked out and some former UK players like Andre Woodson and Dicky Lyons were there as well. We will the trend of more UK players taken in the draft continue this year and we of course pull for all of them to make their dreams happen.

As reported by Adam Zagoria almost exactly a month ago, St. Patrick’s of New Jersey, home of Kyrie Irving and Michael Gilchrist, had their high school suspended and was sentenced to two years of probation for numerous violations of New Jersey high school rules. The investigation into the school was apparently sparked by a call from former NBA player Chris Washburn, whose two sons relocated to New Jersey from Texas despite Washburn’s claims that their mother had no means to afford it. Because of the call, the New Jersey high school governing body hired a former state trooper to go undercover and gather information on the school. As a part of that investigation, it was discovered that St. Patrick’s head coach, Kevin Boyle, hosted workouts for college coaches that were in violation of New Jersey rules. So what does this mean to you? Well, Coach Cal was one of the guys who was reported to be there.

Surprisingly, this story came and went and didn’t really make its way to the PTI’s , Outside the Lines or Pat Forde’s column as they so often tend to do. I guess people recognized that it was more about St. Patrick’s than Cal or any of the other (they say up to eight) unnamed coaches who were in attendance. However, I have a feeling we’re about to hit a second storm regarding the news. Brett Dawson wrote about it today in the Courier-Journal despite there being no new developments in the past month (he does note it’s not an NCAA violation), which makes me suspiciously think that there could be media people hitting this on the second time around. Maybe they missed it or maybe they forgot to hit “Publish” on their sophisticated version of WordPress. I don’t know. I just think there’s more that’s going to be reported on this. The media doesn’t just pass up things with Zapruder-like films.  So get your shield and strap on your Big Blue armor.  It might be time to defend Fort Calipari again!

There is an added bonus though for you, the reader. This gives you a prime opportunity to observe the lowest form of human debate – the comments section on the Courier-Journal. Both UK and U of L are often represented by only the most eloquent and well-mannered portions of their fan bases and debates remain tasteful and respectful. Check it out!

Admittedly, these 2,000 fans may be the best in the SEC

Personally, I hate, hate, hate talking about sports writers.  I don’t care one damn bit what Pat Forde says on ESPN.  And I think far too many of you get far too worked up when something is written in a poor light about UK.  Some of the comments about harassing Forde’s kids or throwing a punch at Tipton at a game are just ridiculous and ignorant.  These guys are just guys who write.  They don’t move the needle of sports fans opinions.  Everyone has already made up their mind about UK and Calipari and the program in general, so when any sports writer writes a negative column about UK, its not going to change the general opinion of the program.  Let’s also keep in mind that most people HATE UK, so when negative things are written, they are actually appealing to the majority.

But I digress.  Reading that Jerry Tipton felt that FLORIDA had the best fanbase got me a little rilled up.  I don’t know why I took offense to that, but I did.  Anybody who has covered SEC basketball on a regular basis can not truly say that any fanbase besides UK is the best without laughing in the process.  But, instead of making ignorant threats or calling Tipton every 4th-grade name in the book, I did what a dork typically does, I am bringing stats.

First, I looked at each SEC school, and compared their home attendance when UK came to town with the home attendance of their other games:

Florida: 12,618, HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR
Georgia: 10,523, HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR
Tennessee: 21,214, 2ND HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR (Kansas: 21,936)
South Carolina: 18,000, HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR
Vanderbilt: 14,316, HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR (6 other sellouts)
LSU: 13,083, HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR
Auburn: 11,669, HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR
Mississippi St: 10,788, HIGHEST ATTENDANCE OF THE YEAR
Note: UK did not play Mississippi, Arkansas, or Alabama on the road this season.

Now, I understand that those stats are mainly due to the fact that the other SEC schools gear up for UK more than they do for anybody else.  But, part of that increase is due to the fact that UK fans travel to the road games in droves, more so than any SEC school, and probably any school in the country.  Just look at the total fans that attend this week’s SEC Tournament, and then tell me which school has the most LOYAL fans. 

Now, to give Jerry just a little bit of credit, part of his argument can be that the fans who actually show up for the games at Rupp are often times a little too quiet for 22,000 people.  Rupp Arena is not known as the most rocking and rolling arena in the country night in and night out.  For a big game, absolutely, its one of the best.  But, some games the fans there act like they are watching a baseball game.  Meaning get loud at the very end and eat hot dogs and popcorn the rest of the way.  But, if that was Jerry’s argument, I would combat that with “THEN HOW IN THE HELL CAN YOU SAY FLORIDA???”.  If anything, I would say Vandy or Tennessee have the best crowds on a normal basis, along with UK. 

UK was the only school to sell out all 8 of its SEC home games this season.  Vandy sold out 7 of the 8.  To me, that stat alone eliminates the other 10 schools from consideration for “Best SEC fans”.  I truly don’t know how Jerry came to the conclusion he did.  If anything, Florida has one of the most DISAPOINTING fanbases in the conference.  They are a 2-time national champ who can’t get 3/4 of their gym filled for big games.  Are their students “rowdy”?  Sure.  But, so are UK’s and Vandy’s and South Carolina’s.  They are STUDENTS.  They drink heavy, go to games, scream for 3 hours, and then drink some more.  Florida is not breaking ground with that one. 

To sum it all up:
PASSION + TRAVEL + STUDENTS + SELLOUTS + BIG GAME ATMOSPHERE = BEST FANS IN THE SEC

Good morning, my sweet KSR brothers and sisters, and welcome to your News and Views for Wednesday, March 10.  One of the many great pleasures of having a small cube and tedious job in corporate America is the opportunity to have your spirits roused by the occupational equivalent of the sweeps week guest star - the motivational speaker.  Today, my company welcomed in (to a techno Black Eyed Peas mix) former Sports Illustrated Associate Editor and master of the sports auto-biography, Don Yaeger.  Yaeger enriched the lives of myself and my co-workers with his 16 Characteristics of Greatness, one of which (surround yourself with great players) introduced me to former UCLA center Swen Nater.  Yaeger, who meets with John Wooden once a month (for a book I would assume) said that Wooden refers to Nater’s story as the greatest of anyone he’s ever coached and tells it to everyone he meets.  As we were told, Nater, orphaned at three years old, checked in at 6′11″ in high school and got cut from the team his junior and senior year and graduated having never played basketball.  He took a job as a mechanic and hoped to one day open an auto body shop when a JuCo assistant came in one day and saw him working on his car.  After some negotiating, the coach convinced Nater that giving basketball another try was worth a free year of education and, ultimately, the second that followed.  Having found some success and having used his junior college eligibility, Nater mulled some offers to four-year schools when his JuCo coach decided he’d just call up John Wooden and tell him to give Nater a scholarship.  According to Yaeger, the coach just dialed up the Wizard of Westwood, having never met the man, and told him that his team couldn’t continue to win titles without Sven Nater.  Sure, they had Bill Walton and the most dominant program in the country, but the JuCo coach said that with no one taller than 6′7″, there’d be no one to challenge Walton in practice.  Amazingly, Wooden bit and gave Nater a scholarship.  Two years later, Nater had two NCAA titles, Walton’s respect (called him the second-best center in the country) and became the first player to get drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft after never starting a game in college.  Nater went on to play 11 years in the NBA and now serves as a Senior Vice President of Costco.  And, according to Yaeger, it’s because he stuck to one of his characteristics of greatness - he surrounded himself with other great people.  So, my KSR family, I encourage you to spend your day surrounded by greatness.  Be sure to tell everyone at TBK I said hello.

Now onto some quick UK notes…

 - Obviously, the biggest story of the day was the release of the SEC post-season awards and John Wall being named SEC Player of the Year.  It came as no surprise, but not without historical significance.  Wall is UK’s 13th SEC Player of the Year and the first since Keith Bogans in 2003.  The Raleigh native, who leads the SEC in assists and is fifth in scoring, also became the first flag-respecting freshman to ever win the award.  Interestingly, Wall did not win SEC Freshman of the Year.  That went to DeMarcus Cousins.

 - Speaking of firsts, for the first time in the program’s storied history, the Cats landed three players on the All-SEC First Team as Wall, Cousins and Patrick Patterson all were named to the first team.  They were joined by Trey Thompkins (Georgia), Jarvis Varnado (Mississippi State), Devan Downey (South Carolina), Wayne Chism (Tennessee) and Jermaine Beal (Vanderbilt).  Cousins was also on the All-Freshman team along with Eric Bledsoe and, of course, Wall.  Patterson also appeard on the All-Defensive Team.

 - But, it wasn’t all great news as Kevin Stallings beat Coach Cal out for Coach of the Year.  I’m not sure how a guy who takes an NIT team to the #2 ranking loses to a guy who finished exactly where he was expected to, but no one’s ever said the SEC had the brightest minds on the sidelines.  Stallings is a good coach, without a doubt.  I’m just not sure he deserved this award.  He’s had much better coaching jobs than what he did this year.

 - Interestingly, Coach Cal was named one of 15 finalists for Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award, which did not recognize Stallings.  The award will be handed out at the Final Four and, as much as I love Cal, I think he’s going to have a tough time beating out Jim Boeheim to win the award for the second consecutive year.  But, stranger things have happened.  Like Kevin Stallings winning SEC Coach of the Year.

 - The SEC Tournament kicks off in Nashville Thursday, but you can’t blame Cats fans for looking ahead to the NCAA tournament.  As Matt tweeted today, it looks like UK will play the winner of the play-in game as long as they remain behind Kansas as the second#1 seed, taking the Thursday and Saturday combo (that was my Two Keys schedule in college) in the first round.  I hope you’re ready for East Tennessee State!

- On a non-UK note, ESPN has a pretty interesting story about the “dirty” recruiting of Baylor’s Scott Drew.  It mentions an ad he sent to recruits slamming Billy Gillispie and Bob Knight and offers some interesting insight into a guy UK fans found themselves wondering about several times the past few years.

 - On another unrelated note, Atlanta Hawk Josh Smith has agreed to provide for the family of slain Vandy commit Rajaan Bennett for six months.  Smith, who attended the same high school as Bennett, said that was very impressed with Bennett when when he met his family and hopes this gives them one less thing to worry about right now.  Good for him.

 - Let’s all have a moment of silence for the South Oldham Dragons, who fell just short of making it to state for the first time Tuesday night.  Thank you.

 - Finally, we got an email from the good folks at Nike who thought your life might be enriched by the following videos, which feature UK.  Have a peek below…

That’s it for now.  Stick around all day as we get you all set for the the Cats’ return to dominance at the SEC Tournament.  Also, don’t forget to check out our “One Blogging Moment” blog over at CBSSports.com.  Here were a couple of articles yesterday:

Matt’s Tuesday Wrap-Up

Tomlin’s FAQ: Pac-10

Drew Franklin’s interview with Sean Combs

My Big XII Scouting Report

Mike Rutherford previews the Big East

See you in a few….