Entries from January 2011 ↓

Kentucky Coach John Calipari again called for more leadership and on-court production from the team’s veteran players.

But one of those players, junior DeAndre LIggins, said it’s not so easy given the veterans lack of experience, especially at crunch time, in previous seasons.

“It’s kind of tough,” Liggins said. “My first two years, I didn’t really play much and got my name out there. It’s kind of hard for me. . . .”

In calling for more from veteran players, Calipari is presumably also referring to junior Darius Miller and senior Josh Harrellson.

“It’s like we got held back (in the first season at UK). Now I’m getting adjusted to it. I’m that leader. It starts with me.”

Kentucky Coach John Calipari said on Monday that UK’s team is better than last season’s 35-3 powerhouse.

“We’re executing better than last year’s team,” Calipari said. “. . . We just don’t have as many pieces.”

UK’s six-man rotation brought a question to mind: Is UK’s freshman-oriented team hitting the metaphorical wall.

When asked if fatigue might be a factor in UK’s uneven play, wing DeAndre Liggins said, “Maybe.”

But Calipari dismissed the notion.

“I think we hit the wall last week,” the UK coach said. “I think we bounced through it.”

Calipari noted how practices are shorter this time of the season.

Plus, the UK coach added, there are only 10 practices left in the regular season. That didn’t count the scaled down workouts the day before games.

“You can’t go hard for 10 practices?” Calipari said of a rhetorical question he’d bounce off the players.

Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy lamented his team’s poor shooting, a factor he cited in the Rebels’ surprising 0-3 home record in SEC games.

“We’ve not shot the ball well at all at home,” he said, “which is surprising. I don’t know if it’s pressure or playing tight.”

The poor shooting has affected the defense, Kennedy said. The Rebels ranked at the bottom in points allowed, opponents’ shooting overall and three-point shooting in league games going into last weekend.

When asked if he’d consider practicing more in the Tad Smith Coliseum, the site of home games, rather than a on-campus practice facility, Kennedy said, “We’ve tried it all.”

That included extra shooting and full practices in the so-called “Tad pad.:”

The Rebels had almost six full weeks off during the holidays to have extra time to shoot.

“I honestly think it’s between the ears,” Kennedy said. “Shooting is a fickle mechanism.”

By scoring 14 points against Georgia last Saturday, Darius Miller posted his fifth straight game with 10 or more points. He’d only had five such games this season prior to the current streak.

This prompted a reporter to ask Kentucky Coach John Calipari if Miller was playing with the aggressiveness long sought.

“He’s getting closer,” said Calipari, who noted that there still are spells in games when Miller is not as assertive.
“But I’m pleased he’s moving in the right direction.”

Ole Miss is barely more than an hour from Memphis. Given that proximity, Kentucky Coach John Calipari was asked on the SEC teleconference Monday if some of his friends from Memphis would be attending UK’s game at Ole Miss on Tuesday.

“I’m not going to indict anyone by (saying) who’s coming to the game,” Calipari joked.

Yes, he added, some friends from his days as Memphis coach will be attending the game.

“This is a business trip for me,” Calipari said.

Calipari noted that UK’s travel plans do not call for a stop in Memphis. For some games at Ole Miss in the past, Kentucky would fly to Memphis and bus from there to Oxford.

Since coming to UK in 2009, Calipari said he has made a few trips to Memphis, so he’s visited his favorite doughnut shop and gone to Mass.

“I’ve done all that,” the UK coach said. “This (trip) is strictly business.”

Seventeen of the 25 teams in The Associated Press top 25 lost last week. That made for a lot of second-guessing in filling out this week’s ballot.

For the third straight week, I put Kentucky at No. 13. A wobbly finish to a victory again dulled the urge to advance UK.

Ohio State at No. 1 was the easy part.  Then the second-guessing began.

At the other end of the top 25 ballot, I put North Carolina at No. 24. The Tar Heels are 15-5, plus own a RPI of 15 and strength of schedule of 18.

I also rewarded Tennessee for hanging in there in a season full of distractions.

Here’s the ballot:

1. Ohio State
2. Texas
3. Kansas
4. Duke
5. Pittsburgh
6. Connecticut
7. BYU
8. San Diego State
9. Missouri
10. Purdue
11. Villanova
12. Syracuse
13. Kentucky
14. Notre Dame
15. Minnesota
16. Louisville

17. Washington

18. Georgetown
19. Arizona
20. Texas A&M
21. Wisconsin
22. Illinois
23. Vanderbilt
24. North Carolina
25. Florida

Sandy Bell, Kentucky’s chief compliance officer, said Saturday she was confident that Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown did not violate NCAA rules during his visit to UK this week.

That became an issue when UK center Josh Harrellson said Friday that Brown participated in practices, even stopping drills to offer instruction.

UK Coach John Calipari, who considers Brown a friend and mentor, said he encouraged players to seek advice from Brown.

Both actions could be considered in violation of NCAA rules. The NCAA permits visitors like Brown to counsel coaches and observe practicees. But the visitor cannot interact with players on or off the court.

“They know what they can and can’t do,” Bell said of the UK coaches. “We’ve been talking too people all week.”

Bell acknowledged that she could not rule out that Brown violated NCAA rules.

“If he did, we’ll deal with it,” said Bell, who added that it would be a secondary violation.

Larry Brown attendance at Kentucky’s practices this week and his apparent interaction with players would seem to be a violation of NCAA rules.

According to NCAA rules, a temporary consultant can be brought in to counsel the coaches. But that consultant is not supposed to interact with athletes. That consultant cannot have on-court or off-court coaching  with players.

During Friday’s interview session, UK center Josh Harrellson said Brown had been participating in practice.

“He’ll even stop drills like Coach Cal does and put his imput in,” Harrellson said. ‘It’s great having a legendary coach here buiding us and helping us out.”

UK Coach John Calipari, who considers Brown a friend and mentor, said he invited players to seek advice from Brown about how to improve.

“Not a bad deal,” Calipari said. “He’s a Hall of Famer.”

UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said that Harrellson was mistaken.

“It didn’t happen,” Peevy said. ” I have no idea what Josh is talking about.”

Here’s the applicable NCAA bylaw:

11.7.1.1.1.4 Use of Outside Consultants. An institution may use or arrange for a temporary consultant to provide in-service training for the coaching staff, but no interaction with student athletes is permitted unless the individual is counted against the applicable coaching limits. An outside consultant may not be involved in any on- or off-field or on- or off-court coaching activities (e.g., attending practices and meetings involving coaching activities, formulating game plans, analyzing video involving the institution’s or opponent’s team) without counting the consultant in the coaching limitations in that sport. (Adopted: 1/10/92, Revised: 3/10/04)

Kentucky Coach John Calipari dismissed the notion that Georgia might come to Rupp Arena with a psyche bruised by a double-overtime home loss to Florida earlier in the week.

“Doesn’t matter,” Calipari said. ” . . . They’re a good team, a top 20-25 team.”

Kentucky center Josh Harrellson acknowledged a revenge factor for the Cats against Georgia on Saturday. Earlier this season, the Dawgs beat UK in Athens.

In the words of UK Coach John Calipari, Georgia “manhandled” Kentucky in that game.

“We definitely have a lot of hard feelings toward them,” Harrellson said.