The Southeastern Conference Tournament will be played at Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum Saturday and Sunday.
The SEC moved its tournament because of damage done to the Georgia Dome by a tornado that hit Atlanta Friday night.
The move will force Kentucky to play three games within 29 hours in order to win the championship. The Cats will play Georgia at noon Saturday. That’s the game originally scheduled for Friday night. The tornado forced SEC officials to cancel the game.
If Kentucky beats Georgia, the Cats would play again Saturday night in the SEC Tournament semifinals against a rested Mississippi State. That game would start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the other semifinal between Tennessee and Arkansas scheduled for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
The SEC Tournament championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday at Georgia Tech’s Memorial Coliseum.
Georgia Tech’s on-campus arena seats 9,191. As of 4:15 a.m. Saturday, there was no word on ticket distribution. It was believed that only persons on official pass lists (parents, siblings, girlfriends, etc.) would be admitted.
After a first-round loss in the SEC Tournament, Florida Coach Billy Donovan questioned the commitment of his players to get better.
“You know, it’s hard for me to be excited going forward because I don’t see things being fixed,” the Florida coach said after an 80-69 loss to Alabama. “We’re 31 games into the season, and I’m not going to sit up here and talk about youthfulness or what we don’t have or what we lost or those type of things.
“You want to see a group of guys really understanding what it takes to win. . . .
“They’re not committed to it,” Donovan said of the Gators’ willingness to work to win. “I’m not necessarily excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest. I think people’s initial thing is, well, they’re going to get older. I never believe in that. I don’t think poeple change a whole lot, and I don’t think you’ve seen the basketball team change at all this year.”
The Southeastern Conference Tournament will use hip hop artists to introduce the telecast of each session.
‘Lil Mama, Chris Brown and T-Pain will perform during the introductions.
This follows a tradition of celebrities playing a part in the telecasts that dates back to author Pat Conroy in 2004.
The SEC has used country music artists the past three years: Allison Krauss in 2005, Ricky Skaggs in 2006 and Sugarland in 2007.
While Billy Gillispie and Ramel Bradley expressed appreciation for being named SEC co-Coach of the Year and first-team all-league respectively, Joe Crawford acknowledged a sting with only making the second team.
“I think I could have been first team,” he said in a calm voice. “I think that adds a little motivation.”
Crawford also noted his appreciation for all-league second-team status. “I was definitely honored to be recognized even at all,” he said.
Bradley said his teammate, roommate and soul mate should have been on the first team.
“Joe definitely deserved to be on first team,” Bradley said, “and also on the all-defensive team. He’s been busting his butt out there. He’s even better than myself, a really good defensive player. He was over-looked.”
Bradley made the SEC all-defensive team.
Gillispie cited the team as the reason he won Coach of Year.
“It’s an honor to the team,” he said. “My name is one it, but it’s their award.”
This marked the fifth straight year Gillispie has won a major coach-of-the-year award. He was the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2007. In 2006, he won that same award as given by the major newspapers in Texas.
As UTEP coach in 2004, Gillispie won the United States Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year award for the Western Athletic Conference.
The Southeastern Conference will name Billy Gillispie of Kentucky and Bruce Pearl of Tennessee as its co-coaches of the year later Tuesday.
The official announcement is expected at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
Gillispie and Pearl each received four votes in the balloting of league coaches for the award. Kevin Stallings of Vanderbilt and Rick Stansbury of Mississippi State each received two votes to complete the balloting.
Gillispie guided Kentucky to a second-place finish in the SEC Eastern Division. UK shook off injuries and a 6-7 non-conference record. The Cats were especially good in the clutch, winning 11 of 14 games decided by eight or fewer points or in overtime.
Pearl led Tennessee to its first outright SEC regular-season championship since 1967.
Former All-American Kyle Macy will represent Kentucky when the league honors past basketball notables at this year’s SEC Tournament.
Other persons scheduled to be honored include Corliss Williamson of Arkansas, Wesley Person of Auburn, Dan Cross of Florida, former Georgia Coach Hugh Durham, Joe Harvell of Ole Miss, Bernard King of Tennessee and Barry Goheen of Vanderbilt.
The tournament will be March 13-16 in Atlanta.
UK Coach Billy Gillispie lamented the news that LSU had fired John Brady on Friday.
Gillispie noted that Brady was only two years removed from guiding LSU to a Final Four. And this season’s 8-13 record (1-6 in the Southeastern Conference) could be linked to a number of injuries. The Tigers’ most experienced and proven player, Tasmin Mitchell, has not played at all. [Hear Gillispie’s Friday news conference.]
“I guess that’s the way it is,” Gillispie said. “We all make way too much money. It’s all what have you done for me today because of all the money we make.
“It doesn’t matter you went to the Final Four. You have to do it every single day.”
Freshman Patrick Patterson and Coach Billy Gillispie acknowledged luck as a factor in Kentucky’s current four-game winning streak. The Cats have won those four games by a total of 22 points.
“Oh yeah, we definitely feel that way,” Patterson said. “We feel we’re starting to turn around things. We feel the ball is on our side right now.”
Gillispie cited a block by Derrick Jasper on Auburn’s DeWayne Reed as an example of good fortune smiling on Kentucky. Jasper hustled to block Reed’s fastbreak layup. The ball bounced off Reed out of bounds. [Hear Gillispie’s Friday news conference.]
“For the ball to bounce off (Reed), maybe that’s a little luck,” Gillispie said. “You have to be lucky to win close games. You have to make your own luck a lot of times.
“I’ve never seen too much luck happen when you’re not hustling.”
If close-game situations breed good and bad luck, Alabama has been snake-bit.
The Tide, 13-10, has lost six games by seven or fewer points. Five of those games came in Southeastern Conference play; Alabama brings a 2-6 SEC record into Rupp Arena.
Kentucky’s game at Auburn on Wednesday shapes up as a competition of size versus speed.
Because of injuries, Auburn starts only one player taller than 6-foot-5. That’s Quan Prowell, a 6-8 player who the Tigers envisioned as a shooting guard.
UK doesn’t have the biggest front line. But the Cats have 6-8 Patrick Patterson, who contends for the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors. Plus 6-9 Perry Stevenson has been much improved of late.
“Quickness is much better than height any time,” said UK Coach Billy Gillispie, who noted how Auburn’s perimeter shooters can pressure an opponent. The Tigers have six players who have made 14 or more three-point baskets. UK has three, the leader being Ramel Bradley, whose status for the game is questionable.
Patterson gives Kentucky something Auburn lacks: an inside presence.
The Southeastern Conference named Kentucky players Ramel Bradley and Patrick Patterson to individual awards.
The SEC named Bradley its Player of the Week last week. It named Patterson its Freshman of the Week.
Here’s the SEC news release:
SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ramel Bradley, Kentucky
G * 6-2 * 191 * Sr. * New York, N.Y.
* Bradley scored 20+ points in seven UK’s last eight games including 26 against South Carolina. He has nine 20-point games on the season, tied for fourth most in the league and has made 29 of his last 30 free throws.
* Bradley went 8-for-8 in the last 1:30 to help seal UK’s win over Tennessee.
* He recorded his second career double-double with 26 pts and 10 rebounds against South Carolina and has played 214 of a possible 215 minutes in league play.
* Averaging 21.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 4.0 apg in SEC play and leads the league in free throw percentage (.869)
Bradley’s Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG
16.7 4.3 3.3 0.3 1.6
SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
F * 6-8 * 232 * Fr. * Huntingdon, W.Va.
* Patterson recorded his seventh and eighth 20-point games this season this week including 20 in UK’s win over third ranked Tennessee.
* He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and tied his career high with three block shots against Tennessee.
* Played all 40 minutes against South Carolina and has played 209 of 215 possible minutes in UK’s five SEC games.
* Patterson ranks 13th on UK’s all-time freshman scoring list
Patterson’s Season Stats
PPG RPG APG BPG SPG
17.1 8.1 1.8 1.5 1.1
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.