A stream of thoughts that may or may not make any sense and probably is too long...
THE END
I've seen a lot of blame floating around online -- my Twitter mentions mostly focused on John Calipari and Willie Cauley-Stein -- and the first thing I'd say about that is that I truly believe Saturday's loss is more about credit. Credit to Wisconsin for not quitting, for outrebounding Kentucky and keeping it off the offensive glass and for exploiting every single mismatch on the floor.
Now, I wouldn't absolve Calipari from blame entirely. I think a timeout during that stretch of shot-clock violations would have been advisable. And during that stretch in particular, I felt like Kentucky had no backup plan. When it couldn't get the ball into Towns, everything deteriorated. Calipari told reporters at the Hall of Fame announcement that if
you're complaining about stall-ball in the final minutes, where were you
when UK was winning 38 games that way. Well, I was here saying I don't
like how early Kentucky goes into, essentially, a prevent. I get that it
works. I get that Calipari knows way, way, way more about basketball
than I ever will. I just don't like that part of what he does, and I
never have. That said, if you look at the course of the season and especially the tournament, Andrew and Aaron Harrison had made plays in late-clock situations, and I can't totally fault anybody for thinking those two breaking down Wisconsin's guards was Kentucky's biggest advantage.
I agree with anybody who says Wisconsin is the team against which Kentucky missed Alex Poythress the most (that seems so obvious to type about a team's only loss that it's almost pointlessly dumb, but I'll roll with it). Poythress was (is) a pretty solid perimeter defender. He's one of the few guys in the country who wouldn't be totally screwed getting caught on either Kaminsky or Dekker, and that's a huge advantage to have.
Like almost everyone, I thought the Andrew Harrison stuff and the guys who didn't shake hands, including Cauley-Stein, were really disappointing. I'm a believer in the postgame handshake. I get the emotions behind it, but you lose, you give the other guy credit and you move on. It doesn't matter if you like the other team or if you think you deserved to win. It's a tradition, and I like for people to stick to it. Andrew obviously didn't think anyone would overhear what he said (I don't know why players continue to think that; we can hear almost everything they say to each other under their breath at those press conferences) and the use of the n-word in that context (which, to me, is without racial subtext, though I'm hardly the expert on the matter) bothers me far less than just the idea of saying "F the other team's best player." I have come to like Andrew more over the course of this year, for a bunch of reasons. I think he's probably a good kid. That was classless and tactless, and I'm glad he apologized when he realized it had become a thing. I'm also glad Calipari, without condemning his players, said that their postgame reactions were "dumb."
THE YEAR
From most any perspective, it was a terrific season. Maybe a disappointing one (that is sad but undeniable), but what a run. That rout of Kansas. The 7-point half by UCLA. Winning at Louisville and at home against Texas and North Carolina. Running the table in the SEC. Winning the SEC Tournament for the first time in four years. This team took on all comers, and while the league wasn't as good as some others, you won't catch me taking anything away from Kentucky.
From my perspective, this one was pretty fun. I'm not here trying to elicit anybody's pity, but Kentucky isn't an easy program to cover. The access is severely limited. The media training is so extensive that it often ensures that players' private personalities are stripped out or buried before they ever meet with reporters (and, to a lesser degree, fans).
This team was different. The media access remains lousy. And you don't have to care about that. I happen to, but I understand that issues of access often turn into "Media vs. University" debates, and I know fans rarely will take the media's side in those debates. But this team had some personality, and it came out. Willie Cauley-Stein has always been an individual and a great interview, but this season he went to new heights. This happens a lot with veterans who spend a lot of time around reporters. There's a comfort level. They start to know names and faces. They spend a couple years giving good quotes, having good experiences, not getting burned by the media, and they start to realize maybe it's not pure torture to talk about yourself for 10 minutes at a time. I can't remember a Kentucky guy who ever enjoyed that part of it more than Willie enjoyed it this year. But it wasn't just him. I really liked talking to Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis, too. Andrew Harrison opened up a little bit and revealed this super dry, sort-of-sarcastic sense of humor that I get, and really enjoy. And Karl-Anthony Towns may come across as a little rehearsed sometimes, but he still can be an absolute joy to talk to.
There are some media folks who don't like Kentucky and who weren't sad to see this team bounced, and I think the nature of some of that was a little celebratory, but I can assure you this: That has nothing to do with the players. Lots of media folks don't like Calipari and never will, and I think they take that out on Kentucky (which I think often is unfair). But I think most fans, most media and just about anybody who encountered them enjoyed this group of players. That's another reason why I don't like the postgame stuff. For a lot of people, that's going to be the lasting image of Andrew Harrison and Willie Cauley-Stein.
I'm curious how fans will remember the season. Was having a postgame discussion with some other reporters late Saturday night (Sunday morning), and a couple of us (me included, and I won't rat out the other one in case he doesn't want anyone to know) surprised the others by saying we thought in a lot of ways, this team may not stand the test of time in fans' hearts the way the first Calipari team has. Outsiders always bash that team for having had such NBA success but not making the Final Four, but I've always sensed a really strong affinity for that team by UK fans, who I think will always appreciate those guys for making Kentucky cool again and starting what came after. That 2012 team, obviously and rightfully, is beloved. But to me, it's always seemed like that 2010 team runs a fairly close second in the Calipari era for a lot (probably most) fans, and I have a sense over time that it may remain there for some. This team was great, and I think pretty endearing. But in the immediate aftermath of it, I just have a feeling that the disappointment with this group is going to be harder to overlook than 2010, when it was all new and fans had a real sense that the best was yet to come. A lot of my UK-fan friends seem exhausted and defeated, to have seen the thing come so close to history and then have it taken away, and I think that feeling may always color the way they feel about this year going forward.
THE FUTURE
I think it's pretty clear that Cauley-Stein, Towns, the twins and Trey Lyles are going pro, based on outside expectations, draft projections, buzz around the program (and public comments by Calipari that came after I wrote that sentence that I'm too lazy to change). I suspect Dakari Johnson and Booker will go too, though I think the door is open that either or both of them could be back. I don't know what Derek Willis will do. I have a sense Marcus Lee will be back, though obviously all sorts of things can change in an offseason.
T.J. would have a far better sense than I of who might join that group. A mass exodus to the pros usually doesn't hurt a recruiting class, so we'll see.
I wonder, too, if it will be hard for some people to get quite as excited about basketball next season. Not that I think this team is going to dilute the long-term excitement for basketball at Kentucky. I don't think anything could do that. But I just wonder if, after a 38-0 start, it's hard to think about starting over at 0-0 next fall. Maybe it's not.
SHOUT-OUTS
Spring football prohibits total relaxation around here (you'll see a lot more coverage of that on the front page now that we're not running off to some tournament site every week), and of course the recruiting news never stops. I'll try to take a day or two off in the coming days, but the thing I spend most of my time doing is making sure there's always content here, so we'll try to maintain our regular standards there.
I need to say thanks to Alex Forkner, who worked so hard to help provide strong tournament coverage this month. Alex has put in way more hours than anybody should who gets paid what he does. If a raise was in the budget, he'd get one. Instead, he'll have to settle for my gratitude and praise.
Adam Creech did a great job, too, of providing photos. When I have to pull those off the wires and deal with them myself, it's no exaggeration to say I can easily spend six to eight hours after a game getting the site ready. Having an on-site photog is so helpful, and Adam did really good work.
I love what we provide you on this site, and that works in large part because the people who aren't covering the tournament don't stop working when it's going on. So Justin Rowland and T.J. Walker (who also helped some on basketball and spring football) did their usual strong work on football and basketball recruiting this month while I was basically ignoring them other than to edit their stories. And Derek Terry did extremely valuable work filling in on football practice on some days when we were really in a bind with everybody else on the road.
Thanks to everybody who reads this site and looks at those front-page stories. As a group we work our tails off, and you guys are the reason why. I don't post here as often as I should (I'm a content guy at heart, and I spend my hours mostly trying to get that stuff in order), but I hope every subscriber knows: I really appreciate you all. You're the best.
THE END
I've seen a lot of blame floating around online -- my Twitter mentions mostly focused on John Calipari and Willie Cauley-Stein -- and the first thing I'd say about that is that I truly believe Saturday's loss is more about credit. Credit to Wisconsin for not quitting, for outrebounding Kentucky and keeping it off the offensive glass and for exploiting every single mismatch on the floor.
Now, I wouldn't absolve Calipari from blame entirely. I think a timeout during that stretch of shot-clock violations would have been advisable. And during that stretch in particular, I felt like Kentucky had no backup plan. When it couldn't get the ball into Towns, everything deteriorated. Calipari told reporters at the Hall of Fame announcement that if
you're complaining about stall-ball in the final minutes, where were you
when UK was winning 38 games that way. Well, I was here saying I don't
like how early Kentucky goes into, essentially, a prevent. I get that it
works. I get that Calipari knows way, way, way more about basketball
than I ever will. I just don't like that part of what he does, and I
never have. That said, if you look at the course of the season and especially the tournament, Andrew and Aaron Harrison had made plays in late-clock situations, and I can't totally fault anybody for thinking those two breaking down Wisconsin's guards was Kentucky's biggest advantage.
I agree with anybody who says Wisconsin is the team against which Kentucky missed Alex Poythress the most (that seems so obvious to type about a team's only loss that it's almost pointlessly dumb, but I'll roll with it). Poythress was (is) a pretty solid perimeter defender. He's one of the few guys in the country who wouldn't be totally screwed getting caught on either Kaminsky or Dekker, and that's a huge advantage to have.
Like almost everyone, I thought the Andrew Harrison stuff and the guys who didn't shake hands, including Cauley-Stein, were really disappointing. I'm a believer in the postgame handshake. I get the emotions behind it, but you lose, you give the other guy credit and you move on. It doesn't matter if you like the other team or if you think you deserved to win. It's a tradition, and I like for people to stick to it. Andrew obviously didn't think anyone would overhear what he said (I don't know why players continue to think that; we can hear almost everything they say to each other under their breath at those press conferences) and the use of the n-word in that context (which, to me, is without racial subtext, though I'm hardly the expert on the matter) bothers me far less than just the idea of saying "F the other team's best player." I have come to like Andrew more over the course of this year, for a bunch of reasons. I think he's probably a good kid. That was classless and tactless, and I'm glad he apologized when he realized it had become a thing. I'm also glad Calipari, without condemning his players, said that their postgame reactions were "dumb."
THE YEAR
From most any perspective, it was a terrific season. Maybe a disappointing one (that is sad but undeniable), but what a run. That rout of Kansas. The 7-point half by UCLA. Winning at Louisville and at home against Texas and North Carolina. Running the table in the SEC. Winning the SEC Tournament for the first time in four years. This team took on all comers, and while the league wasn't as good as some others, you won't catch me taking anything away from Kentucky.
From my perspective, this one was pretty fun. I'm not here trying to elicit anybody's pity, but Kentucky isn't an easy program to cover. The access is severely limited. The media training is so extensive that it often ensures that players' private personalities are stripped out or buried before they ever meet with reporters (and, to a lesser degree, fans).
This team was different. The media access remains lousy. And you don't have to care about that. I happen to, but I understand that issues of access often turn into "Media vs. University" debates, and I know fans rarely will take the media's side in those debates. But this team had some personality, and it came out. Willie Cauley-Stein has always been an individual and a great interview, but this season he went to new heights. This happens a lot with veterans who spend a lot of time around reporters. There's a comfort level. They start to know names and faces. They spend a couple years giving good quotes, having good experiences, not getting burned by the media, and they start to realize maybe it's not pure torture to talk about yourself for 10 minutes at a time. I can't remember a Kentucky guy who ever enjoyed that part of it more than Willie enjoyed it this year. But it wasn't just him. I really liked talking to Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis, too. Andrew Harrison opened up a little bit and revealed this super dry, sort-of-sarcastic sense of humor that I get, and really enjoy. And Karl-Anthony Towns may come across as a little rehearsed sometimes, but he still can be an absolute joy to talk to.
There are some media folks who don't like Kentucky and who weren't sad to see this team bounced, and I think the nature of some of that was a little celebratory, but I can assure you this: That has nothing to do with the players. Lots of media folks don't like Calipari and never will, and I think they take that out on Kentucky (which I think often is unfair). But I think most fans, most media and just about anybody who encountered them enjoyed this group of players. That's another reason why I don't like the postgame stuff. For a lot of people, that's going to be the lasting image of Andrew Harrison and Willie Cauley-Stein.
I'm curious how fans will remember the season. Was having a postgame discussion with some other reporters late Saturday night (Sunday morning), and a couple of us (me included, and I won't rat out the other one in case he doesn't want anyone to know) surprised the others by saying we thought in a lot of ways, this team may not stand the test of time in fans' hearts the way the first Calipari team has. Outsiders always bash that team for having had such NBA success but not making the Final Four, but I've always sensed a really strong affinity for that team by UK fans, who I think will always appreciate those guys for making Kentucky cool again and starting what came after. That 2012 team, obviously and rightfully, is beloved. But to me, it's always seemed like that 2010 team runs a fairly close second in the Calipari era for a lot (probably most) fans, and I have a sense over time that it may remain there for some. This team was great, and I think pretty endearing. But in the immediate aftermath of it, I just have a feeling that the disappointment with this group is going to be harder to overlook than 2010, when it was all new and fans had a real sense that the best was yet to come. A lot of my UK-fan friends seem exhausted and defeated, to have seen the thing come so close to history and then have it taken away, and I think that feeling may always color the way they feel about this year going forward.
THE FUTURE
I think it's pretty clear that Cauley-Stein, Towns, the twins and Trey Lyles are going pro, based on outside expectations, draft projections, buzz around the program (and public comments by Calipari that came after I wrote that sentence that I'm too lazy to change). I suspect Dakari Johnson and Booker will go too, though I think the door is open that either or both of them could be back. I don't know what Derek Willis will do. I have a sense Marcus Lee will be back, though obviously all sorts of things can change in an offseason.
T.J. would have a far better sense than I of who might join that group. A mass exodus to the pros usually doesn't hurt a recruiting class, so we'll see.
I wonder, too, if it will be hard for some people to get quite as excited about basketball next season. Not that I think this team is going to dilute the long-term excitement for basketball at Kentucky. I don't think anything could do that. But I just wonder if, after a 38-0 start, it's hard to think about starting over at 0-0 next fall. Maybe it's not.
SHOUT-OUTS
Spring football prohibits total relaxation around here (you'll see a lot more coverage of that on the front page now that we're not running off to some tournament site every week), and of course the recruiting news never stops. I'll try to take a day or two off in the coming days, but the thing I spend most of my time doing is making sure there's always content here, so we'll try to maintain our regular standards there.
I need to say thanks to Alex Forkner, who worked so hard to help provide strong tournament coverage this month. Alex has put in way more hours than anybody should who gets paid what he does. If a raise was in the budget, he'd get one. Instead, he'll have to settle for my gratitude and praise.
Adam Creech did a great job, too, of providing photos. When I have to pull those off the wires and deal with them myself, it's no exaggeration to say I can easily spend six to eight hours after a game getting the site ready. Having an on-site photog is so helpful, and Adam did really good work.
I love what we provide you on this site, and that works in large part because the people who aren't covering the tournament don't stop working when it's going on. So Justin Rowland and T.J. Walker (who also helped some on basketball and spring football) did their usual strong work on football and basketball recruiting this month while I was basically ignoring them other than to edit their stories. And Derek Terry did extremely valuable work filling in on football practice on some days when we were really in a bind with everybody else on the road.
Thanks to everybody who reads this site and looks at those front-page stories. As a group we work our tails off, and you guys are the reason why. I don't post here as often as I should (I'm a content guy at heart, and I spend my hours mostly trying to get that stuff in order), but I hope every subscriber knows: I really appreciate you all. You're the best.
