Entries from February 2011 ↓

Kentucky Coach John Calipari said Monday that he does not want his players to worry about winning games in order to improve seeding nor ranking nor enhance the chances for a more favorable matchup.

“We don’t have our backs to the wall to do this and this and this,” he said. “We just have to catch fire. And it’s not shooting.”

So how does Calipari want the players to catch fire?

“Defense,” he said. “Playing together. Playing for each other. Subbing yourself because you’re tired.”

Kentucky has a 1-6 record in SEC road games. The Cats are 7-0 in SEC home games going into Senior Night against Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

When asked to explain why such a contrast exists, UK Coach John Calipari said, “I don’t have the answer. I wish I had it.”

On the plus side, Calipari noted that the post-season will be played on neutral sites.

The UK coach asked reporters what the team’s record was at home and/or neutral sites. When told it was 17-1, he said, “I like that since the NCAA (games) are not going to be played on the (opponent’s home court).”

As he has earlier, Calipari noted his teams in the past have enjoyed playing on the road, in part because it gave them a  chance to make those fans miserable.

When a reporter suggested that this season’s players were too accommodating, Calipari said, “We have nice people. We have nice kids who want to make people happy.”

In noting Josh Harrellson’s transformation into a reliably productive player as a senior, Kentucky Coach John Calipari said the big man had to approach basketball more seriously.

“He  knows he had no room,” Calipari said of Harrellson’s approach to this season. “It scared him into being straight. He did it. He had a choice: beating it, getting out of here or change.”

When discussing how he motivates players, Kentucky Coach John Calipari candidly said Monday that he will use the the media for that purpose.

“You get used like a wet rag,” Calipari told reporters, who assembled for a give-and-take with the UK coach about Tuesday’s Senior Night game against Vanderbilt. “You guys are part of the (means to) help me say what I want to say to (players).”

Coaches Bob Knight and Eddie Sutton are among the new inductees elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced Monday.

Other inductees in the class of 2011 are players Ralph Sampson, James Worthy, Cazzie Russell and Chris Mullin, as well as contributors Joe Vancisin and Eddie Einhorn.
The Class of 2011 will be formally inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 20.

For the fifth time, the SEC named Kentucky guard Brandon Knight as its Freshman of the Week. Knight matched teammate Terrence Jones as a five-team winner of the award.

The record for any SEC player to be named Freshman of the Week is six.

Knight averaged 21 points, 5.5 rebounds and four assists in games against Arkansas and Florida last week.

The SEC named Arkansas guard Rotnei Clarke as Player of the Week. His 26 points helped the Hogs beat Kentucky on Wednesday.

Where to put BYU, Ohio State and Kansas was the big question in this week’s top 25 ballot considerations.

Using the RPI numbers as a guide, I went with BYU No. 1, Ohio State No. 2 and Kansas No. 3. That’s also how those three teams top the RPI according to Collegerpi.com

By beating Pittsburgh, Louisville moved to the cusp of the top 10 at No. 11.

Kentucky slipped from No. 21 to No. 22 because of the overtime loss at Arkansas. It could have been worse, as freshman Doron Lamb noted. Lamb said the Cats needed to beat Florida Saturday to remain in the top 25. Maybe. But a competitive game — win or lose — against the Gators would have kept Kentucky in my top 25.

Besides Kentucky, the SEC teams on the ballot are No. 14 Florida, No. 19 Vanderbilt and No. 21 Alabama.

Here’s the ballot:

1. BYU
2. Ohio State
3. Kansas
4. Purdue
5. Duke
6. Pittsburgh
7. Notre Dame
8. Texas
9. Wisconsin
10. San Diego State
11. Louisville
12. Syracuse
13. North Carolina
14. Florida
15. Connecticut
16. St. John’s
17. Georgetown
18. Villanova
19. Vanderbilt
20. Kansas State
21. Alabama
22. Kentucky
23. Missouri
24. Arizona
25. Utah State

Before Kentucky left the court after beating Florida 76-68 on Saturday, UK recognized the game as John Calipari’s 500th coaching victory.

Or was it?

As part of the penalties against Calipari’s Memphis team of 2007-08, the NCAA ordered the team’s 38 victories from that season to be stricken from the record.

In an earlier ruling, the NCAA ordered Calipari-coach Massachusetts to vacate the four victories it had in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

So did Calipari win its 500th game as a college head coach Saturday or was it his 458th?

The Associated Press policy in this instance calls for stories to note the 500th victory but also include a brief explanation of victories that had to be vacated.

UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said he had been notified before the Cats played Tennessee that the school’s website did not reflect the Calipari victories that should have been stricken from the record.

Peevy said he had sent an e-mail seeking guidance from  Jim Wright, one of the persons in charge of official statistics for the NCAA. As of Saturday, there had not yet been a reply, Peevy said.

Calipari downplayed the victory, whatever number it is in his career.

“All I was worried a bout was No. 20,” he said of this season’s victory total for Kentucky. “That’s all I was worried about. . . . You coach long enough and you survive . . . you win some ballgames.

“But I appreciate all the players and staff that I’ve had.”

The SEC assigned referees Doug Simons, Ed Corbett and Antinio Petty to the Kentucky-Florida game.

When John Wall was starring for Kentucky last season, Coach John Calipari memorably said he’d wrestle the freshman in order to force him to enter the 2010 NBA Draft.

When asked Friday if he’d recommend the 2011 NBA Draft to any of this season’s freshmen, Calipari paused before saying, “If today, probably not. But we’re still a month away (from making a decision).”