Practice Report: men’s basketball Q and A style

Posted at 10:52 p.m. ET – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

Sorry for the delay Wildcat fans on the men’s basketball report. I was covering the women’s basketball game tonight at Memorial Coliseum so I didn’t have the time until just now. The Wildcats practiced this afternoon at the Joe Craft Center for less than two hours.

How did the guys look in practice today? Anything you liked in particular?

“They have been working hard all year long and they worked really hard today. I expected that and they came with it.”

Can you talk about the difficulties as a coach of putting a tough loss like last night behind and moving forward to a team like LSU that comes into Rupp on a roll?

“We play 28 games and you understand that you are going to win some and lose some and that you want to win them all but it’s not realistic to think that you are. We got beat and we will have to learn from it and get better from it.”

In practice then do you concentrate on working on some things that didn’t go well or do you turn your focus ahead to LSU?

“It’s a combination of both. We worked on everything because we have to get better in every aspect of the game.”

What concerns you the most about LSU?

“They are experienced. They have won 12 in a row in conference and Coach (Trent Johnson) does a great job with them. They have really good players at every position and they perform their roles well. They know who is supposed to take the shots and they consistently get those shots for those guys. Their composure is great and it looks like a veteran team. They’ve had a lot of close games and when it gets right down to the guts of the game, they have been very good offensively and defensively in those situations and that’s why they’ve won so many games.”

Can you talk about the effort Patrick Patterson went through last night and how he has responded coming off the ankle injury a few games ago?

“I thought it was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve ever seen. He put personal agendas aside. He always does because he is always a team player. I want him to take it personal, but I don’t want him to play and forget about his teammates and Patrick never forgets about his teammates. We were down a pretty good margin and I asked him two or three times if he wanted to come out of the game after the outcome was probably determined. He said no and wanted to stay in the game because I don’t think he was very happy with the results. He kept battling and ended up fouling two of them out and the other one had three fouls. When you’re by yourself down there like he was that’s pretty amazing. The execution wasn’t the greatest, but the effort was courageous. You have to commend a guy for playing like that for the sake of the team.”

Do you ever see efforts like that carry over to the next game?

“Sure they do. You see effort based on what happens in practice on a daily basis. Playing hard is a skill. Playing hard is not something you do when the game lights come on. If you don’t practice hard, you’re not going to play hard. Pat always practices hard and most of our guys do that too. A lot of times you can practice really hard and not play nearly as hard because you get a little stage fright or whatever, but Pat has never had that problem. He has great practice habits.”

Brooks ranks near the bottom – and that’s a good thing

Posted at 4:56 p.m. ET – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

Interesting story that was passed along to me. Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ranked the Southeastern Conference coaches based on who was the most irritating.  

The good news? UK Coach Rich Brooks was voted as one of the least irritating, coming in at No. 11 on the 12-man list.

Bradley says: “The only nettling thing about Daddy Rich is that he’d pretty well convinced UK grads – full disclosure: I’m one – he was a lousy hire, whereupon he takes the Cats to three consecutive bowl games. Which means we geniuses were wrong. Geniuses hate being wrong.”

Pretty funny and interesting read. Check out who ranked No. 1.

Meeks an Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist

Posted at 2:50 p.m. ET – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

If you’re still fretting from the loss last night, maybe this will cheer you up. Maybe it won’t.

Junior Jodie Meeks, perhaps a bit unsurprisingly, has been tabbed a finalist for another player of the year award. This time Meeks, a junior guard from Norcross, Ga., has been named one of 15 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

According to the Oscar Robertson Trophy Web site, the award is the premier men’s college player of the year award. It is also the only player of the year award actually named after a player.

Meeks, who is averaging 25.1 points per game, fifth most in the nation, is the only player from the Southeastern Conference to make the list of finalists. He joins the likes Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair, Davidson’s Stephen Curry, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and many more. A full list of finalists is below.

Past winners include Tyler Hansbrough (who is again a finalist), Kevin Durant and Kenyon Martin.

The winner will be announced April 3.

2009 OSCAR ROBERTSON TROPHY FINALISTS
Pos.	No.	Player, School	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	Hometown
F	45	DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh	6-7	265	So.	Pittsburgh, Pa.
G	4	Sherron Collins, Kansas	5-11	200	Jr.	Chicago, Ill.
F	33	Dante Cunningham, Villanova	6-8	230	Sr.	Silver Spring, Md.
G	30	Stephen Curry, Davidson	6-3	185	Jr.	Charlotte, N.C.
G	12	Tyreke Evans, Memphis	6-6	219	Fr.	Chester, Pa.
F	23	Blake Griffin, Oklahoma	6-10	251	So.	Oklahoma City, Okla.
F	50	Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina	6-9	250	Sr.	Poplar Bluff, Mo.
F	44	Luke Harangody, Notre Dame	6-8	255	Jr.	Schererville, Ind.
G	13	James Harden, Arizona State	6-5	218	So.	Los Angeles, Calif.
G	5	Ty Lawson, North Carolina	5-11	195	Jr.	Clinton, Md.
G	22	Jerel McNeal, Marquette	6-3	200	Sr.	Chicago, Ill.
G	23	Jodie Meeks, Kentucky	6-4	208	Jr.	Norcross, Ga.
C	34	Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut	7-3	263	Jr.	Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
G	0	Jeff Teague, Wake Forest	6-2	180	So.	Indianapolis, Ind.
G/F	21	Evan Turner, Ohio State	6-7	205	So.	Chicago, Ill.

Moving on

Posted at 12:40 p.m. ET – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

The loss Wednesday night to South Carolina was certainly a devastating hit to the Wildcats’ chances of winning the Southeastern Conference East Division, and it certainly doesn’t help UK’s NCAA Tournament resume.

But the more important thing will be how UK responds with three regular-season games remaining on the schedule.

With Louisiana State, arguably the most formidable team in the SEC, coming to Rupp Arena on Saturday, UK has a chance to capture a significant resume building win. Handing the Tigers just their second conference loss of the season would go a long ways in securing an NCAA Tournament bid, but losing could turn UK into a late tailspin that it can ill afford to go into this late in the season.

As is life on the bubble, every game is a big game, and this weekend looks to be no different. Here is what each coach had to say about the upcoming matchup on the SEC Coaches Teleconference this morning.

Trent Johnson

• Johnson wasn’t on for very long (and when he was, surprisingly wasn’t asked too much about Kentucky), but he did say Gillispie’s teams have always been commissioned on defense and said he’s expecting UK’s best game of the season coming off a tough loss.
• Johnson was asked about facing a UK team that is having a “down year” and what his team needs to do to stay motivated. He basically chuckled at the question.  “Are you kidding me?” Johnson said. “It’s a chance to go out and compete. It’s a chance to play against a very well coached, a very good basketball team. We haven’t beaten everybody in this league. That’s not necessarily our goal, but that’s every team’s (goal) going into the year is to have a chance to compete and beat as many teams as possible. I’m chuckling because this is Kentucky (we’re talking about). It’s a Billy Gillispie coached team that is extremely talented. Give or take a bounce here or six or eight points and they probably have 23, 24 victories. Oh my goodness, we know what we’re up against.”

Billy Gillispie

• Since Kentucky’s postseason future remains in limbo, Gillispie was asked what he thought about the criteria of the selection committee’s emphasis on the last 10 games of the season. “As far as the last 10 games, I would think they really thoroughly look at that situation. In the last 10 games, you may play seven games on the road, you may play three at home, or you may play seven at home and three on the road, so I’m sure that they totally look at all that thoroughly and not just as the last 10 games and the record only. I would think they look at each and every contest.”
• Coming off one of the more hostile crowds UK has faced all season, Gillispie was asked what the differences are of playing on the road versus at home. “The best teams are usually able to win on the road as well as at home. The thing that I always say is no matter how good of a home court advantage has, the biggest challenge that you face when you go on the road is the team itself. No matter how good the crowd is, no matter how good the tradition is, any of those kinds of things, the biggest challenge that you face is the team that you play against. I would think that maybe more so than teams playing poorly on the road and just generally speaking, it might just be that teams play better at home. I know that sounds kind of funny but you might have a little bit more confidence shooting in your own gym, playing in your own gym or being able to overcome tough stretches in the game. You might be able to (overcome that at home) because the crowd helps you out a little bit more. I don’t think that it’s totally detrimental to the opposing team as much as it is probably helpful to the home team.”
• Gillispie was asked if he was going to make any changes after the loss Wednesday night. In short, the answer sounded like a “no” and that Gillispie was sticking to his plan. “There are three games left and our conference tournament. We’re going to take them one game at a time just like we always do. We’ll practice well today, we’ll practice well tomorrow and we’ll play better on Saturday. As far as big, big changes, I doubt if that’s going to happen. I like our guys, I trust our guys and they’ll play better on Saturday.”
• One of the things Wildcat fans pondered about Wednesday night was why Jodie Meeks, UK’s leading scorer, was on the bench in the second half. Gillispie said Meeks still played 31 minutes and that he wasn’t the only starter on the bench. “That wasn’t the story of the game. The story of the game was how well South Carolina played. They played great and they made us play very poorly.”

Thursday links

Posted at 11:41 a.m. ET – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

I realize some of you are probably pretty heated after Wednesday night’s game. Often times I find the best way to get over a loss is read all you can about it, take it on the chin and move on. That’s exactly what UK Coach Billy Gillispie’s team will have to with three conference games yet to go.

Anyway, here are some links to some game stories and columns from Wednesday night’s loss, as well as a link regarding UK’s three seniors from the women’s basketball team who will be honored at Senior Night.

I’m listening to the Southeastern Conference Coaches Teleconference as we speak. Some highlights from that will be up in a little bit.

The Lexington Herald-Leader’s game story along with Jerry Tipton’s notes.

Tipton’s colleague John Clay writes that UK wasn't ready to play.    

More game  stories from the Associated Press, the Courier-Journal and the Kentucky Kernel.

The Kernel also writes that UK wasted its opportunity for the SEC East crown.

Here’s some postgame video from last night's game. Gillispie is about halfway through.

Kentucky’s blues were South Carolina's fortunes last night. The game story from South Carolina’s newspaper.

The Kentucky women’s basketball team will honor its three seniors tonight for Senior Night. Jennifer Smith writes that they left the program better than they found it.

Running like Olympians

Posted at 1:05 a.m. ET – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

The following is a feature for the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships behind held this weekend at Kentucky. Nearly 600 of the nation's best track and field athletes will compete for an SEC title at UK's Nutter Field House. The championships begin Friday and conclude Sunday. For a full preview of this weekend's meet, check UK's track and field homepage. 

There is a different aura around Jose Acevedo and Mikel Thomas these days.

They’re not overconfident, cocky or smug about it, but their goals have clearly changed. When you’re an Olympian you expect to win every time, even if they won’t come out and say it.

“(The Olympics) is the biggest stage they’ll ever run on in their lives,” sprint and hurdles coach Erin Tucker said. “If you look at the Olympic Games compared to the Venezuelan Championships, the Trinidad and Tobago Championships, the NCAA Championships, the SEC Championships, there is no comparison.”

Truth be told, there isn’t. When the Kentucky track and field team hosts the Southeastern Conference Championships this weekend at Nutter Field House, it won’t be the grandest stage the duo has ever been on.

And that’s saying something.

Acevedo, who competed in the 200-meter dash for his home country of Venezuela in the 2008 Games, is the reigning Venezuelan Federations of Athletics Male Athlete of the Year. Thomas reached the second-round heats for Trinidad and Tobago this summer in the Olympics, crossing the line in 13.62 to place sixth in his heat.

Both have numerous titles and record marks they have notched at UK.

Yet despite their laundry list of records, accomplishments and honors, the Olympians might not even be favored in their respective races this weekend, which they’re using as motivation.

When you’ve walked on the same track with the likes of Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay, no disrespect to anyone at this weekend’s event, but they expect to win every time out now.

“After (the Olympics), where else can you go?” Thomas said. “You go from the Olympics to the NCAA, you don’t have an excuse anymore (not to win).”

Since the Olympics, they’ve had little reason to make any excuses. In four meets so far, Acevedo has captured two individual titles in the 200-meter dash, Thomas has two in the 60-meter hurdles and both were a part of 4x400-meter relay team that won at the Penn State National Invitational.

More importantly, each has posted an NCAA qualifying marks in their respective events.

Tucker said a big part of that success has come from the development of competing against the world’s best. Now that they’ve gotten a taste of the world’s finest athletes, they’ve realized what goes into becoming an Olympic champion.

“Just the fact that I made it there that I have the talent and possibilities and chances to be at that level, that motivates me to get better and gives me more confidence,” Acevedo said. “Every time I come to practice I think about that. It makes me want to get better every day so that one day I can get back there and beat them.”

Even before the Olympics, Tucker said they were extremely talented kids. They would get “oohs” and “ahs” at practice from their teammates prior to this summer, but now that they have more experience and more confidence, they’ve gotten faster and stronger, both mentally and physically.

“Not that it’s any sense of arrogance, but for them it’s like, ‘I’ve been to the Olympics. I’m no longer afraid of the NCAAs, I’m no longer afraid of the SECs,’ ” Tucker said. “Now they think, ‘I’ve run against the best of the best, so when I run against collegiate guys, they’re still great, but they’re not at the top of the sport.’ You fear no man.”

Even though it was always their expectation and goal to reach the Olympics growing up, actually reaching the games was a dream come true for both of them, as is the case for any track athlete. It’s the pinnacle of their careers.

“It was humbling, but my appetite got bigger knowing that I raced among some of the world’s elite and that it almost put me on the same level as them,” Thomas said. “It makes it seem like it’s not that impossible anymore.”

But getting back is never a guarantee. Although the two are budding track stars, there is still more than three years left until the next summer games.

“It’s a long way from now,” Acevedo said. “Time is going to define what is going to happen to me. I cannot tell you that I’m going to be at the Olympics (in three years). So many things can happen between now and then.”

To get back there, both are trying to get stronger and work on their technique, taking it one meet at a time, one year at a time before thinking too far ahead. That starts with ending their senior seasons at UK on the right note.

Acevedo and Thomas still have plenty of meets to go to make their last impression at UK, but this weekend will actually mark the final time the Wildcats will compete at home. Ultimately it will have no bearing on their Olympic futures, but this week serves as another chance to develop in the long journey back to the summer games.

What better way for them to do it than in their last weekend at home against the nation’s best competition?

“When you’ve got your girlfriends, boyfriends, mom, dad, cousins, family members and classmates all here, they might have seen stuff you’ve done in the paper, they might ask you questions that you might not understand,” Tucker said, “but the only thing your friends and family understand is winning and losing.”

Since the Olympics, all Acevedo and Thomas have done is win.