Hardwood Happenings

OK, now that Tubby is officially a Golden Gopher is it going to be Billy Donovan?

My first thought is that there is no way that Billy Donovan will make the move to Lexington, but after listening to him after their win over Butler he is at least considering. I do think he also does not want to be a Nick Saban and make a comment that he will later regret. I do think it is going to be hard for him to leave Florida but he does have that Pitino ego that could lure him to Lexington.

He would be my first choice, but I am afraid if we can’t buy him the Alabama version is on! I also think if we can land him we will land Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas; if we don’t we will definitely lose Patterson. I think we have a real good shot at Lucas regardless of the coach. I would not be surprised either to see Jasper transfer somewhere on the West Coast if we don’t land Donovan.

My personal choices

If I were Mitch Barnhart here are my choices in order:

Billy Donovan — I think he would be what all the fans want and would have a longer honeymoon period that any other coach we could get. I also think he would be the quickest fix because of the recruits we are trying to land.

Ben Howland (UCLA) — Why not? From what I hear he does not get paid very well at UCLA so why not take a shot at him. He has definitely put them back on the map and can apparently handle a prestigious program. I have not seen his name on any of the short lists, why not? I would think if he is good enough for UCLA, why would he not be good enough for UK?

John Calipari — I am not real wild about him, but he is another guy that has the ego necessary to handle the pressure of UK. I don’t think his graduation rate at Memphis has been real good and he flirts in the gray area. But lets be realistic, that is what UK fans want — win at all cost and if we don’t get caught he is great. He obviously can recruit, but can he win the big one?

Thad Motta (Ohio State) — This guy is proving that he can recruit and win. Just watching on TV, his players seem to love him.

Tom Crean (Marquette) — I think he is a good coach but not sure he could handle the pressures of UK.

Rick Barnes (Texas) — He can obviously recruit.

This is just a list of coaches that would be on my short list if I were Barnhart. I love Tom Izzo at Michigan State, but he is cut from the same mold as Tubby so I don’t think UK fans would be satisfied with him. I also like the coach at Oregon, Ernie Kent, and Bruce Pearl at Tennessee but I doubt very seriously that UK would hire either one of those guys.

No Pitino on my list

If you noticed I did not include Pitino in my list. In my opinion, he had his opportunity and decided he wanted more fame and money. Not to mention he has a top five team coming back at Louisville and he would not leave the talent base he has there.

It won’t be long until this will pan out, and big blue nation will either be buzzing or there will be a search committee for Barnhart!

On a high school note

Did anyone mention that when LCA won the girls Sweet 16 that, it is now 7 years in a row that a private school has won the tournament. Guess what? LCA only had one senior. I still say until it starts happening in boys basketball it will stay the way it is — because it is just GIRLS BASKETBALL!

I also went to the Friday session of the boys Sweet 16 and it just seems the KHSAA puts more into that tournament than the girls. The atmosphere was totally different and it has been several years since I have been to the boys tournament. Apparently Houchens has given them a pretty nice check so it will stay at Bowling Green as long as they are willing to sponsor, but I have wondered why can’t they host the girls at the same time they do the boys just like the all “A” does. I am sure girls teams would like to play in front of 15,000 fans vs. 1500 fans. Unless the team is from the Western part of the state there is not much fan base there because of the travel time. But once again it is just: GIRLS BASKETBALL!

Let me know your thoughts and your short list.

Go Big Blue!

I’d like to talk NCAA and the state of UK basketball, especially all the rumors flying about Tubby and his replacement. According to some rumors Calipari is the next UK coach. I heard today that Travis Ford was the next man and also the coach from Texas A&M.

Why don’t we wait and watch UK and hopefully they can put it together and make a run. Of course to satisfy most he will have to win it all.

They say he can’t recruit, but this junior class was the number one class in the nation. That is just part of it; they have just not panned out yet and may not, but the season is not over. I will blog more when the tournament gets going.

I have a better topic that is way more important than the NCAA or Tubby and it is basketball! Take a look. Enjoy and we welcome any comments.

Upward Basketball

As I promised my brother when I agreed to this, this week’s article will be about a passion of his for the last 4 years: Upward Basketball. My brother, Greg, attends Harrodsburg Baptist Church. They began the Upward program 4 years ago and saw approximately 165 kids from 1st Grade through 6th Grade enroll in the basketball and cheerleading program. Incredibly, the program has swelled to almost 400 kids participating in basketball and cheerleading and added Kindergarten plus 7th/8th Grade age groups.

So what’s so different about it?

Isn’t this just like any of the other little league basketball program? The answer quite simply: No. For starters, teams are grouped based on skill level which are evaluated per player at the beginning of the year. No “loading up” or recruiting is permitted. Responding to a call made by the referee from a player, a parent, or the coach is strictly prohibited and enforced. (An area we all could use a lesson in — especially me!) Each game has someone from the community deliver a brief devotion at halftime. Lastly, and maybe most surprisingly, the score is not kept in any game. Huh?

Some not-so-wonderful stats

Sadly, a USA Today poll from a few years ago revealed that a staggering 70% of kids polled wished their parents would not come to watch them play. How can that be? After all, isn’t a wonderful part of being a parent going to watch your child play? Ahhh, therein lies the possible problem. It’s not about you — it’s about your child. Unfortunately, many of us parents (me included) dream of our children reaching the athletic heights we were never capable of for whatever reason. So, many times, that (selfish) desire for our children to succeed gets off balance. What’s the new NCAA theme advertised now: “Most likely your child will become a professional in something other than sports” — or something like that. It’s true. In all my years of coaching I have only had 2 players become professionals — only 2 and they played football.

That was a foul!

At one time or another each of us watching a game have exclaimed in varying degrees of emotion what area of play the referee may have missed. Yelling at the official’s has become commonplace. In fact, it’s now become accepted and almost indirectly taught to challenge any ruling. The Upward approach to this is “what does the official represent on the floor?” He represents authority and we are to respect this role. Do we allow our children to object to the call of them doing a chore in our homes? No. Ultimately, the authority in our lives is God.

Every Child is a Winner

Since my brother has been on the Upward staff one of the rules he hasn’t been too crazy about is no score being kept. After all, aren’t there some lessons to be learned from winning and losing and how to handle both respectfully? This changed for him last year. While watching a game once, Greg noticed some interesting things. 1) The kids in this particular game weren’t playing with any less effort due to their being no score kept and 2) Maybe most importantly, the kids weren’t having any less fun from not keeping the score. Again, ultimately God is really the only one that needs to worry about keeping score. Our lesson is to play hard and keep playing hard.

Competition

Lastly, the most frequent statement the Upward staff folks hear as a “knock” on their program is it just isn’t competitive. No score, no debating with officials, no Championship at the end of the season, no MVP’s handed out, no titles period. C’mon dude. How do you have any kids interested at all? Suppose the best way might be to ask the almost 400 kids in it now. However, the Upward Staff answer is simple: the game strategy is to be the most competitive program available to win the soul of your child for Christ there is. Along the way, we’ll play a little basketball, learn a few cheers and have some fun. Not a bad game plan.

Upward Information

If you’re interested in your child participating in Upward Basketball & Cheerleading, contact Harrodsburg Baptist Church at 859-734-2339. Or Chad & Leanna Barnett via email at upwardguy@adelphia.net.

Ok, like I have said this is my favorite time of the year. March Madness! I love it in high school basketball and I also love it in college basketball as well.

UK Basketball

I am still a Tubby believer even though just about everyone in the state is ready to chip in and buy him out and bring in Billy Donovan — who by the way has lost to some of the same teams we lost to and by pretty big margins. Of course he is getting ready for the tournament and it is ok by most UK fans that he lost those.

We lose in very close contests and we don’t have a coach, don’t have talent and all that junk! In Florida, Donovan won’t get much flack for losing to Tennessee and LSU and Vanderbilt, but if he were the coach at UK — watch out. The thing that amazes me is that there is no doubt that Florida has more talent than any team in the SEC — how did he lose these games?

Do I think Florida will make another run? Probably so. Do I think that UK has equal talent to Florida? Probably not. Do I think Tubby is as good a coach as Donovan? Absolutely!

Tubby is now 20-9 (13th straight season with 20 wins) and it is unacceptable to most and I agree that they blew some games they should have won. I think that record is accepted as a good year anywhere but UK, Duke and a couple other places. That is my point, could any other coach in the country handle the pressures of UK basketball.

Of course Tubby has handled all this talk with class and he is correct that he does not have to defend his record to anyone. I don’t agree with Barnhart coming out with the statement he did; he is suppose to back his coaches. Now, he can talk behind close doors, but he should not come out and basically say Tubby better get it together at the end of the season. Of course Barnhart wishes that, so he can get a bonus if Tubby and the team do well. Barnhart’s incentives are silly. If I read that correct he makes the bonus if the baseball team makes the NCAA and not the coach.

Like I said if Tubby leaves UK, there is slim to zero chance that Billy Donovan would come to UK.

Also, did anyone hear Patrick Patterson pretty much say that if Tubby is not at UK, neither would he? I would venture to say that we have blown chances at him and Jai Lucas because of uncertainty in the program. Of course that will be Tubby’s fault.

As you can tell, I will stick with what Tubby stands for and always be a Tubby fan. Do I question decisions he makes? I sure do, but I also believe he is one of, if not the best, bench coaches in college basketball.

Go UK, win some games in the tournament and the bandwagon will get going again!

What about Louisville? I am not a huge Cardinal fan, but wow are they playing good. Playing with a passion and Caracter is an absolute load! They could also make some noise in the NCAA.

My Final Four picks

If I had to pick a Final Four at this time I think I would go with:

UNC
Wisconsin
Texas A&M (this is my sleeper pick)
Ohio State

I do reserve the right to change in a couple of weeks. I also do feel UK will make the Sweet 16 and possibly the Elite 8. Not bad for a team that has a terrible coach and terrible players.

Who would your Final Four be at this time?

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

Next week I will blog on UPWARD basketball program that is doing great things in our community.