Courtside with the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie did not sound optimistic about Jodie Meeks playing against Arkansas on Saturday.
Meeks, who has played in 11 games this season, had participated in practice on a “very, very limited” basis, Gillispie said after Friday’s practice.
“He’s trying his hardest,” said Gillispie, who added that Meeks was “questionable.” [Hear Gillispie’s Friday news conference.]
For the first time all season, Kentucky is at full strength.
UK Coach Billy Gillispie noted how Jodie Meeks has been practicing. Meeks played six minutes at Vanderbilt on Tuesday as he tries to recover from a strained hip flexor injury.
“He’s practicing like a guy that hasn’t been out there for a while,” Gillispie said. [Hear Gillispie’s Friday press conference.]
Meeks needs the practice time to return to full form. “You don’t get in shape in two days (of practice) and six minutes of a game,” the UK coach said.
Alabama’s best player, forward Richard Hendrix, will not play against Kentucky on Saturday.
Becky Hoft, a spokeswoman for the program, said Hendrix had the flu. Hendrix made the trip, but the Alabama team left him at the team hotel.
Hendrix leads the Southeastern Conference in double-doubles this season with 12. He leads the Tide in scoring and rebounding.
The illness robs the game of its marquee matchup: Hendrix against UK freshman big man Patrick Patterson.
A smiling Ramel Bradley suggested that he’s close enough to full health to play against Alabama on Saturday.
“I’m usually 150 percent,” he said. “So I’m probably more like 100 percent now.”
The combination of a viral infection and a concussion caused Bradley to miss Kentucky’s game at Auburn on Wednesday and the bulk of the game at Georgia last weekend.
Bradley had been as close to indispensable as a player can be, playing 254 of a possible 255 minutes in UK’s January games.
UK Coach Billy Gillispie noted Bradley’s absence as a factor in the team’s season-high 24 turnovers at Auburn. When asked about the importance of having Bradley play, Gillispie said, “We had 24 turnovers when he didn’t play.”
Concern about Alabama led Gillispie to make an unprompted plea for fan involvement in Saturday’s game.
“We need them as 6th man because we still hobbled,” the UK coach said. “We need more help from them (against Alabama) than ever.”
When asked why UK needed more help against the Tide than, say, against No. 3 Tennessee on Jan. 22, Gillispie said of Alabama, “As far as physical size, physical play and overall athletic ability, I think they have a major advantage over us.”
Bradley is one of Kentucky’s better athletes. But he’s had trouble functioning since becoming sick two weeks ago. He noted a sore throat that made it difficult to eat. Migrane headaches compounded the problem.
Then Bradley sustained a concussion when a foul by Georgia’s Dave Bliss sent the UK player chin-first to the floor.
“It looked bad,” Bradley said of watching the replay. “It looked really bad. I was in the air. I couldn’t catch myself at all.”
UK fans have been in an uproar because Bliss was not called for an intentional foul. The Georgia player fouled from behind as Bradley raced toward a breakaway layup.
In a similar circumstance less than two weeks earlier, UK’s Derrick Jasper was called for an intentional foul against Tennessee.
“While I don’t think he did it intentionally,” Bradley said of Bliss, “I felt if that would have been us, they would have definitely called it intentional.”
Bradley mostly rested since the Georgia game. Of the many symptoms, the worst for the out-going UK player might have been the difficulty he had in talking.
“Everybody doubted my (New York) Giants,” he said. “I couldn’t scream (during the Super Bowl). Everybody says we don’t do football in my city. We have the Lombardi Trophy.”
The hit from Bliss came three days before Bradley’s 23red birthday.
Being sick and still woozy made for a less-than-happy birthday.
UK spokesman Scott Stricklin just came by to say Ramel Bradley will not play at Auburn because of the viral infection that came to light last weekend. Jodie Meeks also will not play because of the strained hip flexor that’s limited him recently.
As I sit and watch Kentucky players warm up, there’s no Ramel Bradley and Jodie Meeks.
The status of both players is in doubt. Bradley sustained a concussion at Georgia on Saturday and is feeling the lingering effects of a viral infection. Meeks has been sidelined because of a strained hip flexor.
At the moment, UK players are doing a layup line. There’s less than an hour to go before tip off.
On the plus side, Joe Crawford (cramps, sore feet) is participating. So is Derrick Jasper.
Ramel Bradley did not practice on Tuesday. Neither did Jodie Meeks. Joe Crawford practiced without apparent pain.
That’s the injury update Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie provided at a news conference on Tuesday.
All three will make the trip to Auburn for Wednesday night’s game. But that’s not a guarantee any will play, Gillispie said.
Bradley sustained a concussion and a cut chin in a nasty fall at Georgia last weekend. He also went into the game with a viral infection, which lingered for several days.
“He looked more alert,” Gillispie said. “He looks like he’s feeling better. But I don’t know his status for (the Auburn game).”
Meeks, who has been hampered by a strained hip flexor, “has not practiced in a good while,” Gillispie said. “It looks doubtful for him.”
Joe Crawford practiced some this week. Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper also practiced, but missed some court time too.
That was the injury update offered by Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie at a Friday news conference. [Hear the news conference.]
Crawford has not played since the Tennessee game on Jan. 22 because of a sore foot. “Joe was able to practice on a limited basis the last couple days,” Gillispie said. The UK coach said he expected Crawford to play, perhaps on a limited basis, at Georgia on Saturday.
Meeks (strained hip flexor) did not practice Friday and only on a limited basis on Thursday. Jasper (knee) missed one day of practice this week, Gillispie said.
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie did not sound optimistic when asked about injured players Joe Crawford, Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper.
Crawford had not been active on the court since taking himself out of the Tennessee game on Jan. 22, Gillispie said on the Southeastern Conference coaches’ teleconference on Thursday.
When asked if Meeks and Jasper had been practicing, Gillispie said, “Limited. Not totally. Limited.”
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie expressed doubt about senior Joe Crawford being able to play against South Carolina on Saturday.
Whether that was coach-speak or a genuine concern about Crawford’s availability remains to be seen.
Foot pain associated with a plantar fascia condition caused Crawford to take himself out of UK’s game against Tennessee on Tuesday. Crawford did “a few things” in practice on Friday, Gillispie said. “But not much. I don’t know if he’ll play.”
[Hear Gillispie’s Friday press conference.]
Meanwhile, Derrick Jasper and Jodie Meeks participated fully in practice on Friday.
Jasper pronounced himself 75 percent recovered from the mid-June microfracture surgery he underwent on his left knee.
Even at less than full capacity, Jasper has contributed to UK’s 2-2 start in league play.
Gillispie expressed concern about Jasper continuing to limp.
“Sometimes it hurts,” Jasper said. “Every once in a while, there’s a sharp pain.”
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.