Here are some quotes from UK Coach Billy Gillispie on the Cats accepting a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. The quotes were released by UK Sunday night:
On playing UNLV …
“I watched them on the road a couple of times. We obviously watched them against Louisville because they played them right before we played Louisivlle. They won that game on the road and I saw them play on the road against UTEP, and they won that game on the road as well. I know some of their personnel. We’ve recruited some of their personnel. They have a couple of Texas guys. Coach (Jeremy) Cox actually coached one of their players so we know their personnel very well. We know their coaches very well. Coach (Lon) Kruger is one of the best coaches anywhere. He’s been great everywhere he’s been. We have the utmost respect for them. If you watch all of those shows and all that kind of stuff, I’m sure they’re disappointed about not being in the NCAA Tournament because they’re definitely worthy of being in there. I know that they’ll be ready to play on Tuesday night and it’ll be a real tough opponent for us.”
On playing in the NIT …
“Every Division I team wants to be in the NCAA Tournament in the country and we’re no different than anyone else. Every single team has their opportunities to play their way into the NCAA Tournament. The ones that get there they deserve it and the ones that didn’t get there don’t deserve to play in the NCAA Tournament. That’s obviously every team’s goal. We’ve not played well enough to be considered for that tournament. We’re very excited about playing in the postseason. We’ve got a lot of players on our team that have never played any postseason games and we’ve got a lot of guys who have played very, very limited postseason minutes. It’s a great tournament with a great deal of tradition and we’re going to be excited to play and we’re going to play our best. It’s a very difficult tournament and we’ve got a very difficult draw.
On playing in Memorial Coliseum …
“Not too many people have the good fortune of having a place like Rupp Arena and if that’s not available to be able to use Memorial Coliesuem as a secondary gym. I’m a basketball historian and I know a lot of history of the building. It’s a great building. It’s one of my favorite places I’ve ever seen. Just thinking about all the history and all the players that have played, all the coaches and all the teams that have performed there, I think it’s going to be an exciting time for us. I hope that we have great support during the game. We’re going to take it like it’s a new beginning. We’re going to do our very best and that’s what it’s going to take to win.”
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
17 comments ↓
Please, Billy, just leave. Quietly, quickly, without a fuss, man-up to total failure and slip back to Texas…or Oklahoma, or where ever else you have secretly applied for work. Like your marriage, this just hasn’t worked out. It’s too big a deal, and not about just living in a gym, and teaching young kids. The cast for ‘Hoosiers’ is all filed up, and you didn’t get the role.
You know, of course, that every team in the country will shoot threes all night long against you and the Famous Kentucky Swiss Cheese Defense you have created. It’s like uncontested free throws from beyond the arc all night long (and it’s not ‘loose balls’, it’s no defense). Your Grand Man-to-Man-Plan just doesn’t work here. It really doesn’t.
And the whole basketball world knows it. So please. Stop embarassing us on national TV. Take all that money and the Amtrak back to Bugswallow. Just do it now, instead of continuing to engineer the longest trainwreck in Kentucky history.
And one last thing, Billy. You ARE different than ‘any other team in the country’. You are the head coach at the University of Kentucky. You are paid millions to perform and get results. You are NOT like everyone else. You make 4 times the money. We have 40 times the history. This isn’t some whistlestop ‘just having a bad season’. We don’t ‘just get whopped’ 26 times in two years. That’s a small towner talking.
For a “basketball historian” Billy G seems to have no clue where he’s coaching! The Head Coach at Kentucky is not “just like any other coaching job”.
He is an ambassador for our state and school despite what was in the job description.
We expect a lot for sure, but don’t fans of other “big time” programs expect a lot?
Ohio State football? Michigan football? UNC basketball?
Why can’t we expect more than a 13 loss season?
UK and Barnhart are charging $33 a ticket for each seat at Memorial Coliseum. In contrast, according to the Creighton Web site, they, the #1 seed in the bracket are only charging $30 for lower tickets and $20 for upper tickets. Has Barnhart figured out yet another way to gouge LOYAL UK fans again? Is anyone charging more for a first-round ticket than UK, the #4 seed?
Good Luck Wildcats!We’re behind you all the way,go Cats
You’re a basketball historian??
You gotta be kidding me.
So when you show our boys Texas A&M history to motivate them, is that what you mean? You’re a Texas historian? Or do you mean basketball historian in that you studied all the great coaches in history and decided you knew better than them to play only man-to-man defense? Or do you mean historian in that you found the only way to make history at UK was by shattering every worst record every made?
I’ll just let BCG hang himself:
“. . . I’m sure they’re disappointed about not being in the NCAA Tournament because they’re definitely worthy of being in there.”
And a moment later . . .
“Every single team has their opportunities to play their way into the NCAA Tournament. The ones that get there they deserve it and the ones that didn’t get there don’t deserve to play in the NCAA Tournament.”
[Hangs Head and Crys]
Despite this nonsense, best regards to the team in the NIT. I don’t know how they’ll find the motiviation to play meaningfully, but I wish them the greatest possible remaining success.
Isn’t this the guy who said he “doesn’t believe in history”?? Big turnaround, I say. We’ll play our best means playing exhausted and afraid of making a mistake. Sorry to be so negative, but I DO believe in history.
You can look and complain about the past and forget about the future, and forget the past and take the challenges of the future in future of you… the world will continue if you get wrapped-up in the past.
It’s very likely that the Cats will be a one & done team in the NIT. Given the way they have played the last half of the season. Maybe now that the pressure is off they’ll play better but doubtful. GO CATS!
If BCG is such a basketball historian, I’m sure he would liked to be remembered as the coach who couldn’t take UK to the Big Dance. I seriously doubt he yet understands the tradition at UK, if he has any shame, he should hang his head low and admit he’s not worthy to taking UK back to the top!
One line tells it all… “quotes were released by UK”. The university obviously believes they can no longer trust Billy G. to speak for himself, so they have their PR department clean and sanitize a statement before it’s release. Who can blame them? BG is a recruiting and PR nightmare. He’s boorish and acts hung-over most of the time. Barnhart and Todd failed to perform adequate due diligence prior to signing him to a megabucks “agreement”. Once again, the taxpayers and students get to pay for their mistake. Congratulations to Tubby and Rick. Two class acts.
Billy G just does not get it. This team is not full of guys who have not played in the post-season, UK has been to 17 consecutive NCAA tournaments! His inability to answer questions in an intelligent and polished way is an embarassment every time he’s in front of the media. His game day practices, unpolished mannerisms and odd (being polite) way of managing his team has me more frustrated with the program than I can remember since the dark Sutton days. If he doesn’t get it done next year…..it’s time to turn the page.
How can a College coach have a player like Meeks and not be able to run an offense that does not that player to get open to shoot?
I wish someone had asked him “Billy, how does it feel to be the coach to break the Cat’s 17 year NCAA tournament streak?”….and I’m sure the response would’ve have gone something like this “Gosh, its an honor…and with all of the history of UK basketball….I’m just happy to be in the record books somehow…and the guys are ready to play a really hard team…in a great tournament.”
No doubt Gillespie has his shortcomings. But he has also got some strengths. For example, telling the truth, shouldering responsibility for failure, and always radiating the kind of love for the game that leads him to study its history and keep on fighting through adversity.
I cannot imagine that he is trying to convince fans that we should be happy about the NIT. On the contrary, when he speaks highly of the NIT, one gets the sense that he is modeling humility for his players. Pride will always stand in the way of rebuilding a program and uniting a team. But humility nevers look down on any opportunity, including the opportunity to gain experience via the NIT. Consequently, his words echo the NIT is not the bottom but the beginning and that’s the way the team is going to treat it.
If humility is the mother of greatness, then perhaps the response of Coach Gillespie to the NIT bid will be reflected in the posture of his players. Or put differently, even now I am hoping that these early years of the Gillespie era will function as the adverse fire through which our program passes, both preparing the basketball players for the challenges of life after basketball as well as forging their talent into the kind of steel that is better equipped for winning in the adversity of tomorrow, beginning in the NIT and moving toward next season.
Personally I see no moderation needed. Just the way I see it