Courtside with the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky’s team plane is scheduled to arrive back in Lexington at 6 p.m. on Friday.
For fans who want to greet the team, they will get off the plane at TAC Air.
After the loss against Marquette, UK Coach Billy Gillispie and the players spoke glowingly of the fans and the support the team received this season.
Judging from the pre-game warmups, it did not appear that sophomore guard Jodie Meeks would play for Kentucky against Marquette on Thursday.
Meeks, like freshman Patrick Patterson, had warmup pants on as teammates (all in game shorts) took shots.
Meeks contributed by feeding passes to Derrick Jasper, who took perimeter jumpers. Patterson shagged rebounds.
Meeks, who has played only 11 games this season, had hoped to rehabilitate a groin injury in time to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Probably reflecting the importance of the game, Perry Stevenson will replace Mark Coury in Kentucky’s starting lineup on Thursday against Marquette.
Stevenson has easily been the most productive big man available to Kentucky since freshman Patrick Patterson was lost to the season because of injury.
But Coury had started with Stevenson quickly coming into the game at the first sign of trouble.
Coury had started all but one game this season.
Since Patterson’s season-ending injury, Stevenson has averaged nearly a double-double in four games. He was averaging 9.3 points and 10 rebounds in the four games UK’s played without Patterson.
In that same span, Coury was averaging 1.0 points (all four points against South Carolina) and .5 rebounds (two rebounds at South Carolina).
Fans may learn by the end of the week how they can get refunds on SEC Tournament tickets.
SEC Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom said the league was working on a refund plan, and it could be announced by Friday.
Of course, the tornado that hit Atlanta forced the SEC to move its tournament from the Georgia Dome to Georgia Tech. The move forced the league — in the spirit of fairness — to restrict attendance to family, friends and select insiders.
Because the tornado hit on Friday night, Kentucky fans did not get to see their favorite team play.
It looks like a case of he said-he said on the collision between UK’s Ramel Bradley and Georgia’s Albert Jackson at the end of their SEC Tournament game.
Jackson said that Bradley was falling (trying to enduce a foul call) before contact was made.
But Bradley saw it differently.
“I really didn’t help him at all,” the UK guard said. “He was like 300 pounds. He was like all muscle coming at me.”
The non-call sealed Kentucky’s fate. Georgia won 60-56 in overtime.
“The referee didn’t make the call,” Bradley said on Wednesday in Anaheim as UK prepared for the NCAA Tournament. “That’s the way the game went.”
Such people as national officiating coordinator Hank Nichols and former Coach Eddie Fogler said such a call is seldom made.
When asked if he expected a call on Jackson, Bradley said, “I just thought a foul was a foul.”
In Thursday’s story about Kentucky, I made a mistake. I said that only George Mason in 2006 had advanced to the Final Four as an 11 seed.
A reader reminded me that LSU did the same thing in 1986. Who could forget that? I could.
So two out of 92 No. 11 seeds have advanced to the Final Four.
Watching Jodie Meeks in the public workout on Wednesday:
Meeks stands out in terms of attire. He’s the only player wearing a long-sleeve blue shirt. Other players are wearing a jersey topwith or without an undershirt.
Don’t know if that means anything, but it fuels the impression that he won’t play against Marquette on Thursday. UK Coach Billy Gillispie said Meeks was “very, very doubtful.”
Jodie Meeks shot some during Kentucky’s public practice on Wednesday. He did not run with his teammates as part of the pre-workout warmup.
When asked if Meeks could play against Marquette on Thursday, UK Coach Billy Gillispie said, “I would say he is very, very doubtful.. ..
” He’s moving around better than he has been in a long time. Does that mean he’s going to be able to play? He’s been a long ways away from being able to play. So I would doubt he’s going to be able to do anything.”
As for UK’s other notable injury, freshman Patrick Patterson said a decision has not been made on whether to underdo surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left ankle. He and his family want to speak with “three or four more doctors” before deciding whether surgery or rest can return him to full health, Patterson said.
Even though Kentucky is an 11th seed (second-worst seed in the proud program’s history), the players still feel pressure to win in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Forward Perry Stevenson noted that UK fans continue to expect the most.
“Seven championships in six years,” he said on Wednesday. “That’s the expectations they have for you. We’ll try to honor that.”
Kentucky begins play on Thursday against Marquette, the sixth seed in the South Region. The winner will play either Stanford or Cornell on Saturday.
Senior Ramel Bradley said he felt a responsibility to help Kentucky do well. UK hasn’t lost a first-round game since 1987 (Rex Chapman’s freshman year).
After noting UK’s tradition — most appearances (49), games (141) and victories (98) in NCAA Tournament history — he said, “I don’t want to come up with any less than that.”
Kentucky did not place a player on the all-Southeastern Conference team, which The Associated Press announced on Monday. The team is voted upon by a media panel (which did not include me).
Ramel Bradley and Patrick Patterson all made the second team. Joe Crawford made the Honorable Mention list.
Bruce Pearl of Tennessee was the Coach of the Year. Nick Calathes of Florida was the Newcomer of the year.
Here’s the teams:
FIRST TEAM
u-Shan Foster, Vanderbilt, F, 6-6, Sr.
u-Jamont Gordon, Mississippi State, G-F, 6-4, Jr.
Richard Hendrix, Alabama, F, 6-8, Jr.
Chris Lofton, Tennessee, G, 6-2, Sr.
Tyler Smith, Tennessee, F, 6-7, So.
Devan Downey, South Carolina, G, 5-9, So.<
SECOND TEAM
Charles Rhodes, Mississippi State, F, 6-8, Sr.
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky, F, 6-9, Fr.
Ramel Bradley, Kentucky, G, 6-2, Sr.
Marcus Thornton, LSU, G, 6-4, Jr.
Nick Calathes, Florida, G-F, 6-6, Fr.
Sonny Weems, Arkansas, F, 6-6, Sr.
Dwayne Curtis, Mississippi, C, 6-8, Sr.<
HONORABLE MENTION=
Joe Crawford, Kentucky, G, 6-5, Sr.; Sundiata Gaines, Georgia, G, 6-1, Sr.; A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt, C, 6-10, Fr.; Anthony Randolph, LSU, F, 6-10, Fr.; JaJuan Smith, Tennessee, G, 6-2, Sr.; Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State, C, 6-9, So.<
PLAYER OF THE YEAR _ Shan Foster, Vanderbilt
COACH OF THE YEAR _ Bruce Pearl, Tennessee
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.