Archive for March, 2008 Page 3 of 5

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Lofton named second-team All-American

Published by jtipton on March 17, 2008 in National news. 0 Comments

Kentuckian Chris Lofton made the United State Basketball Writers Association’s All-American second team.

Vanderbilt forward Shan Foster also made the second team. Kansas State forward Michael Beasley was named Freshman of the Year.

Here’s the first two teams as announced Monday:
First Team
D.J. Augustin, G, Texas, So.
Michael Beasley, F, Kansas State, Fr.
Chris Douglas-Roberts, G, Memphis, Jr.
Tyler Hansbrough, F, North Carolina, Jr.
Kevin Love, C, UCLA, Fr.
Second Team
Shan Foster, G/F, Vanderbilt, Sr.
Luke Harangody, F, Notre Dame, So.
Chris Lofton, G, Tennessee, Sr.
A.J. Price, G, Connecticut, Jr.
D.J. White, F, Indiana, Sr.

SEC working on refund plan

Published by jtipton on March 17, 2008 in SEC. 3 Comments

The SEC has not figured out how to refund ticket holders to the league tournament. But SEC officials are working on it.

Here’s a note I received from the SEC office Monday morning:

REFUNDS FOR SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

 

 ATLANTA, Ga.—The Southeastern Conference and its 12 member institutions are currently working on a refund process for the 2008 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament.  Fans will be informed through www.SECsports.com as well as the official internet sites of the 12 SEC member institutions as information comes available.

 

The SEC advises fans to retain any unused tickets for the 2008 tournament

Quick service aids UK preparation

Published by jtipton on March 16, 2008 in Video. 1 Comment

UK Coach Billy Gillispie saluted Tim Asher, the man who runs the program’s video department.

Shortly after learning that UK would play Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournanent, Gillispie said that Asher told him that there were 29 game tapes on Marquette available.

“He’s not reactive,” Gillispie said of Asher. “He’s proactive.”

Asher’s promptness becomes “really important,” the UK coach said, “when we have to travel to the West Coast and play Thursday. That’s a huge deal.”

Emotional Gillispie ‘proud’ of UK

Published by jtipton on March 16, 2008 in National news. 1 Comment

UK Coach Billy Gillispie choked up as he spoke about Kentucky overcoming obstacles and doubts this season to receive a NCAA Tourmament bid on Sunday.

“I’m really proud . . .,” he said before pausing to regain his composure at a news conference.

A few moments earlier, he called the bid a “great testament” to players who believed in themselves.

Gillispie described Marquette, UK’s first-round opponent, as another tough opponent.

“It’ll be a major undertaking,” he said. “But we’ve faced a lot of good teams. We haven’t backed down from any of them and I don’t think we will on Thursday.”

Gillispie had no complaints about:

– an 11th seed, which is the program’s second worst in the 64 (or 65)-team field. In 1985, Joe B. Hall’s last season as coach, the Cats were seeded 12th. “Seeding is very, very, very important,” he said. “But . . . the most important thing is to see your name pop up on the TV screen.”

– Having to travel to Anaheim and play on the first day of the tournament. “We’ll love it out west,” he said before playfully noting that UK had been as far west as Nashville this season. (Actually, the farthest West this season was the game at Houston.)

Gillispie said he had not studied Marquette yet. But, he added, UK admired Marquette “from afar.”

“What jumps out at you is their athleticism,” he said. “They have great guards and really good role player inside guys. They compete hard on every single play. I’ve always admired how hard (Tom Crean’s) teams play.”

NCAA bid relieves UK players

Published by jtipton on March 16, 2008 in players. 0 Comments

UK seniors Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford acknowledged their relief in Kentucky receiving a NCAA Tournament bid.

“We were a little nervous,” Crawford said on Sunday night. “We wanted to see our name so we could be totally sure.”

UK, an 11 seed, will play Marquette in the first round in Anaheim, Calif., on Thursday.

The team watched the pairings announcement at UK Coach Billy Gillispie’s home. “A castle,” Crawford called it. They watched the draw in what Bradley called “the theatre room.”

The players cheered and celebrated the sight of Kentucky in the bracket.

When asked about Gillispie’s reaction, Bradley said, “He was really serious. It was one of those momentes where a dad is telling how proud he is of his son.”

Bradley and Crawford expressed their eagerness to begin a new portion of the schedule. They saw no problem in having to travel across the country and play on the first day of the NCAA Tournament after a long, grinding season filled with obstacles.

The players saw an advanage in playing someone less familar with UK.

“I’m looking forward to that,” Bradley said. “Teams in the SEC, they’re keying. They know what you want to do. Hopefully it’s an advantage.”

Ticket information for Kentucky

Published by jtipton on March 16, 2008 in National news. 0 Comments

Here’s the information on tickets for games in Anaheim later this week.

The ticket price is $153. The phone number to call is 714-704-2500.

The website is www.hondacenter.com.

Kentucky defies RPI

Published by jtipton on March 16, 2008 in National news. 0 Comments

Nine teams with better Ratings Percentage Index numbers than Kentucky’s No. 57 failed to receive a NCAA Tournament bid.

The nine were No. 32 Dayton, No. 33 Illinois State, No. 46 Creighton, No. 47 Ole Miss, No. 49 Ohio State, No. 53 Virginia Tech, No. 54 Virginia Commonwealth and No. 55 Syracuse and No. 56 UAB.

Kentucky playing Marquette in Anaheim

Published by jtipton on March 16, 2008 in National news. 2 Comments

Kentucky was made a No. 11 seed, the worst in the era of 64 (or 65) teams. The Cats will play Marquette, 24-9, in a first-round game in Anaheim on Thursday.

The winner will play either Stanford or Cornell in the second round.

The top seed in the region is Memphis.

Notes from a new-look SEC Tournament

Published by jtipton on March 15, 2008 in SEC. 2 Comments

Friday night’s tornado will give the SEC Tournament a new look. Here are a few leftover notes from the early-morning announcement Saturday of a change of venue: From the Georgia Dome to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

– Record low attendance is all but assured. The existing record for low attendance is the 8,047 that attended the opening session of the 1996 SEC Tournament in New Orleans. Since Georgia Tech’s on-campus arena seats only 9,119, that record seems destined for the dust pan.

In a news release, the SEC said, “Out of respect for public safety demands that are required in the aftermath of Friday’s storms, access to the remaining games of the championship will be limited to student-athletes’ family members, cheerleaders, bands and other credentialed individuals.”

– Georgia Coach Dennis Felton made no secret of his desire to avoid two games in one day.

“Obviously, it’s not very fair to play two games in one day,” he said before saying such a scenario would cause “incredible stress.”

That’s just what the SEC did. It called for Kentucky to play Georgia at noon Saturday in a makeup for the 9:45 p.m. Friday night game postponed by the storm.

The Kentucky-Georgia winner will play Mississippi State at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Felton called for a one-day delay in the tournament, which would include a championship game on Monday. That’s the day after Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament.

Tom O’Connor, the chairman of the Selection Committee, told SEC officials that its tournament had to end before the Selection Show on Sunday evening, the SEC said.

– SEC officials met with personnel from the Georgia Dome, UK, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi State, Raycon and CBS in deciding what to do. The meeting lasted about five hours.

Afterward, SEC Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom noted the cooperative spirit. That clashed with Felton voicing objections to two games in one day. There was also media speculation that UK Coach Billy Gillispie objected to the strain of two games in the same day.

SEC expects no more than 2,000 fans

Published by jtipton on March 15, 2008 in SEC. 1 Comment

SEC Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom said early Saturday morning that the league expected no more than about 2,000 fans to attend each of the concluding sessions of the league’s post-season tournament.

The small attendance is due to the event being moved to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

A tornado Friday night did untold damage to the Georgia Dome. Rather than run the risk of playing in the Georgia Dome, SEC officials decided to move the event to nearby Georgia Tech.

In a statement released to the media around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, the league said attendance would be limited to players’ family members, cheerleaders, bands and other credentialed individuals. Georgia Tech’s on-campus gym seats 1,919.

Bloom acknowledged that the winner of the Kentucky-Georgia quarter-final game, which will be played at noon, will face a disadvantage in the semifinals. The opponent will have not played since the 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Friday.

Neither Kentucky nor Georgia objected to the revised schedule calling for two games on Saturday, Bloom said.

The league moved Sunday’s championship game from the original 1 p.m. tip to 3 p.m. in order to give more rest to the winner of the late Saturday semifinal.

The revised format means most Kentucky fans who bought tickets will not see UK play. Bloom said the league was working on a way to refund fans.

Bloom acknowledged that some fans might be upset.

“We’re hopeful that fans will realize what happened tonight,” Bloom said. “I know there will be some frustrated fans. I know passions are high with SEC basketball fans. But we had a significant event.”

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »