Hardwood Happenings

I often think about this and sometimes ask myself why football is now in a 6-class system and basketball continues to stay the way it is. I love the Sweet Sixteen and attended about every one of them throughout high school and absolutely loved that week of basketball. However, what is the justification of classing in football and not basketball.

They do have the all “A” this week in Richmond and I think it is a great tournament, but why don’t we class and do this at the end of the year. This is also a scheduling nightmare for the schools who are in the all “A” tournament. You run the risk of going over your game limit and you better hope there are coaches who will let them out of contracts to stay within the game limits. I think Somerset has run into that and had to cancel a game with Boyle Co. and luckily Judy has been in this tournament before and knows where coach Akins is coming from and let him out.

If we were in a four class system, why couldn’t you take the top four teams of each class and still have the Sweet Sixteen. You could let the 4 teams from each class play until you have a winner from each class and then crown an overall winner. Once you have the four classes crowned then let the winner of 1A play the winner of 3A and then let the winner of 2A play the winner of 4A and then let the two winners play for all the marbles.

I think a lot of the reason is money and what the Sweet Sixteen brings each year, but I contest that you would make more $ if you had teams from each class representing the tournament. For some reason we won’t touch basketball and it may be the bread and butter of funds for KHSAA, but why not try it?

I also question, sometimes, why football is classed and basketball is not? Is it because at bigger schools they have more and bigger athletes to choose from? Well, wouldn’t that apply to basketball as well? Now football is in 6 classes and to win your class you have to be better than what 36 or 37 schools? In basketball you have to be better than all of them. To win the region you have to beat the big dogs as well as the smaller schools — in other words size does not matter and it confuses me. There may be a great explanation and keep in mind I am a basketball coach, but I love football and I really enjoyed watching the Titans bring home the 2A hardware.

I am sure some of you football coaches can explain this to me about football, but who can explain why basketball does not?

Coach Stonebraker—give me some insight on this!!

Until next week, keep your head up and shoot with confidence!!

Ok, I bet the bashers are out in full force after the second straight loss in SEC play, but I still say that UK will go deeper than most are anticipating. I had some great comments on my previous post, all who agree that Tubby is a class act and all the comments I received pretty much felt he was the man for the job.

I did look into Larry’s e-mail bag and saw some comments on how Tubby needs to go and there is money to buy him out, but no one ever gives who they think would be his replacement or better yet could do the job the way everyone thinks it can be done.

Billy Montgomery’s comment back to me was very accurate in that parity is at an all time high and the dominant UK days are over, but not just for UK but for the other elite as well.

Wesley Harmon gave me two names and I will admit these are two very good names. Tom Izzo would be my pick as well if Tubby ever left, but I would say that he would not please the tough UK fans because he is cut from the same mold as Tubby. Rick Barnes is a quality coach, and has a great talent in the best freshman if not the best player in the country (Kevin Durant). Lets’ see what he does with it and guess what, this kid will go pro after one year and, if Texas does not win the NCAA, where did that recruit get you?

Another person sent a comment about how Tubby is paid to win first and perform overlooked accomplishments second and that UK fans have been lulled to sleep. My comment back to him is yes, he is paid to win and like I said he is averaging 26 wins per year and is on pace to reach that this season. How many coaches in the NCAA have averaged 26 wins per year at one school? There may be a few, but of those few, how many have won national championships and, if they have, would or could we lure them to UK? Coach Stonebraker put it pretty good when he stated that there is not a “wow” coach out there that would come to UK and deal with win or get out of town attitude.

I appreciate the comments and please keep them coming and remember this is just my opinion and you are definitely entitled to your own, and for fun!! But remember the question, if Tubby decided to leave who would you hire and more importantly why?

I do have one thing I wish the University of Kentucky would do, but I know they won’t because it becomes a money issue. I wish they would commit to one game per year at Memorial and allow pretty much students only. What kind of great atmosphere would that be? I think if you played a quality team as well it would be great. How about UK vs. Duke in Memorial? Wow, now that would be fun.

I think this will be my last blog on Tubby until March Madness. If there is anything anyone would like me to discuss let me know. I will be doing a feature blog on Upward Basketball.

Until next week, keep your head up and shoot with confidence.

Ok, I may be stirring the pot some, but lets have some fun. I recently sent Larry an e-mail on my views of Tubby and Rick and I had quite a bit of opposition especially when it came to Tubby Smith. I was definitely in the minority of the comments I received after he ran the article.

My question then is if you were on the hiring committee at the University of Kentucky who would you hire and why? Also be realistic if you think this person could be lured away to come to UK. Keep in mind that he could probably be the highest paid coach in college basketball.

I will stick to my guns and say I would keep Tubby right where he is. He is averaging 26 wins per year and I know the opposition is saying what has he done for me lately and my answer is win and win with class. Parity is at an all time high right now and there is no dominant team this year nor was there last year.

I recently read an article on the coach from George Mason (Jim Larranaga) and he puts it best. His job as a college coach is not winning at all cost, but to educate these young athletes for life after basketball. He asked his players to write their own obituaries, an exercise in evaluating their lives. Guess what? Not a single player wrote about basketball, they talked about wanting to be liked, about hard work and about giving it their all.

In my opinion that is what Tubby Smith is all about, teaching and preparing these young men for life after basketball. That is who I would want my son to play for and that is the way I look at it, not just from, can he win a championship?

That is my perspective in a nutshell, now what is yours? Keep in mind the pressures that go with the job at UK and who could handle it. Also keep in mind that I want to have fun with this and not create a monster.

Some of recent names I have gotten when this topic has been brought up is Mark Few and Gonzaga. Great coach and apparently can recruit, but my answer to that choice is the pressure level at Gonzaga is nothing compared to what you get at UK.

Remember that at Tulsa and Georgia the main thing everyone liked about Tubby was his ability to recruit. Now that UK, he can’t recruit? Lets’ face it, when it comes UK basketball we are talking about a different animal.

Few is just one of the coaches I have talked with people about and I am sure there are other coaches that would do a great job at UK, but could or would anyone represent the University in a more positive manner than Tubby Smith?

Until next week, keep your head up and shoot with confidence!

First of all, let me say how much I am going to enjoy writing or blogging about basketball. I love the game of basketball and it possesses so many life lessons good and bad. I will try to post once a week and please feel free to comment on any of my posts. I have been coaching basketball for a long time and love to hear different perspectives about the game.

My first topic I would like to discuss is the fundamentals of basketball and how I feel it is losing ground to winning at all costs attitudes. As a high school coach we stress fundamentals on a daily basis, but unless taught at the elementary age we as coaches are fighting a losing battle.

I have seen this first hand in the recent weeks watching my son play on an AAU team. The good thing is that my son’s coaches are doing this the right way by teaching the kids how to play the game. They are a very good team of third graders that have not lost to other third grade teams in two seasons.

Now, don’t get me wrong it is a pretty talented group of young boys, but they stress fundamentals at every opportunity they get. We recently returned from a tournament in Bedford, Indiana (home of former IU star Damon Bailey) in which we brought home the hardware. I was amazed at what I was seeing from these teams not just the third grade teams but even older groups.

The Mercer Cyclones were the only team that played man to man defense. How can you play a zone if you have not taught man defense? I was proud of our kids in the fact they are taught to point their pistols at their man and the ball. This is not an easy task to teach, we still struggle with this at the high school level. Tubby Smith would be proud of the Cyclone coaches and the ball line defense that they are teaching.

It is sad in the fact that winning at such an early age has taken over teaching the game the correct way. If I have any advice to little league coaches it is to start with the basics and go from there. No zones, use your off hand, keep your head up, learn to pass and my biggest pet peave at an early age is NO three pointers! This creates terrible habits in the correct shooting form. I would also advise to not let your kids watch NBA games, in my opinion that is not basketball. When is the last time we won an Olympic gold or other games where they supposedly put together the best team in the world! Go back to playing the College kids. If you want your son to find a role model to watch, check out the way Derek Jasper plays and handles himself on the court. If your daughter needs a basketball role model go to a UK game and watch Carli Olmerod play, now that is what I see as a fundamentally sound player.

As you can read, I like fundamentals and like players who have used what they have been taught. I agree it is not easy to teach and with most little leagues, there are not enough gyms or gym time to teach what needs to be taught. It is essential that players work at home on their own. We always tell our young players at our summer camp that you won’t get better just by what we teach you in one week, the only way you get better is to take what you have learned home and apply it. I tell my high school players at the end of every season that players are made in the off season.

In closing, three pointers and dunks are highly overrated. Teach the game of basketball at an early age. Turn off the Play Stations and get a ball and hit the courts. If you would like a good movie to watch, rent the movie about Pistol Pete!! He was the master of fundamentals.

Until next week keep your head up and play with confidence.