Here is the PART II of
Let the Healing Waters Flow: Throw a Little Whiskey on the Fire!
(We were talking about recruiting)
To me it is one of the most honored and favorite past-times of Wildcat Fans. A perfect weekend was spending Friday night and all day Saturday playing basketball and talking about recruiting. Who did we need? What positions were the most necessary? What was the word on the street concerning the recruits? The anticipation of maturation of new player was just as savory as reminiscing the legends. But that joy soon faded when Tubby started losing key recruits to other schools or having players that were of high caliber transfer. I stood beside and defended Tubby to friends and family saying, “You can’t build a program on one and done’s and you can’t get prima donnas that won’t listen. He’s the coach and knows better than we do.” But I started noticing a trend: the Bourbon barrel was getting low and even the sweetest victory turn sour in my stomach. Something wasn’t right; Big Blue Nation was becoming divided and watered-down. There were those Fans who refused to see that anything was wrong and those on the other side who magnified every mistake. What bewildered me the most is that no matter what level of talent that Tubby recruited, it seemed like that there wasn’t any development of the players. I felt like I was being forced to drink a weak Bourbon and Seven; flat Seven-up, lots of ice and only a touch of rawgut Bourbon. I was left very dissatisfied with the service.
Even players like Tayshaun, Bogans, Rondo and others it seemed like they only accomplished minimal strides every year, skill wise. They never had a break out year, or they never corrected the less-than-desirable habits that they had. I know a few of them won SEC player of the year awards but it never quite had the same taste. It appeared that Tubby tried but did not succeed in molding the players to his style of play nor his philosophies, or worse that he actual succeeded in doing just that and the product was uneven at best. Only a few ever exceeded promise, guys like Gerald Fitch, Chuck Hayes and Eric Daniels. Those Wildcats became integral cogs of the 2004 team that demolished the SEC and blew out Florida by 20 in Lexington; Florida came into the season ranked number one in the country. I do savor those moments and let the aroma soak in, because they came so far and few between.
I will point out that I think that Tubby is a fine play caller and sideline coach. To his coaching credit he always found a way to win at least twenty games whether or not they had great talent. He did win national coach of the Year a few times. Which is the mark of a good coach, but alas that is not the only mark by which the standard is set. Our teams were always physically out matched and out of shape. My wife, who didn’t know anything about basketball (at the time), would watch the games and make comments like, “why do Kentucky players look like little kids playing against men.” The Wildcats looked like the pudgy kid at the gym who could get on a hot streak, knock the lights out and win games they are not supposed to. It doesn’t matter that the other guys are more athletic and skilled players, so that is not a bad thing…but what if that pudgy kid got motivated and pushed to be become better and he trained more and learned defensive skills…I would say a tall glass, no ice.
Tubby did get twenty-win seasons but he also had many years of double-digit losses. A record of 22-15 is not a great record by Wildcat standards, especially if this is not your first few seasons and you have had ample time to prepare the distillery for production of your own brew. Heck, use the recipe that is probable still hanging on the clipboard from the last master distiller. Considering you inherited a recruiting gold mine and two national title games. The fact of the matter was that Tubby was the coach. He was responsible for recruiting, motivating, teaching, mentoring, and coaching the players.
He did some of those things well, others not so well. He was being paid millions of dollars to keep the Wildcats on the top and the Fans inebriated. But the Wildcats were producing bad batch after bad batch. Not even a draught of an SEC record of 16-0 and a number 1 ranking (for one season) could wash out the bitterness. I wanted Tubby to be great, I wanted him to carry the torch of Wildcat Mystique, but he did not. By season 10 the light from the ’98 championship was nothing more than a smoldering ember. Bickering, fighting, and anarchy in the heart of Big Blue Nation had broken up the ‘98 party; it was not Tubby’s intention, it was just the way that one went.
I felt like a recovering alcoholic who was being force-fed soymilk and grapefruit juice to sober me up to this reality; Wildcat dominance is a memory and a dream. The games were always close and we were being to be mocked by the national media. We were no longer the colossal giants of the nineties but the unlikely misfits that would find a way to win twenty plus games each season, hang around the top 25 and make it to the NCAA Tournament…but we were never a threat except for the 2004 season. Which was Tubby’s eighth season, interestingly enough that was same as the apex of Pitino’s dynasty. The only major difference is that Tubby was not getting a team right off of probation and full of overweight and unmotivated players. He inherited a team of Mcdonald’s All-Amercians and highly touted and recruited players, most of who had been to at least one National Title game.
The amplified bitter commentary of the likes of Vitale, Bilas, Davis, and Rafferty was sickening; too much vermouth for me to stomach. They would constantly talk about the lack of talent at Kentucky and that the talent of our recruits was sub-par; no longer the team to be feared or respected, that they once were. I tried to cut Tubby slack and tried to agree with those who said that he was just as good of a coach as Pitino, but the proof was just not there. It was a very restless time for me as a Fan. Absolutely the most confusing and emotional distress at this time was the fact that the media, both nationally and locally, were speaking out of both sides of their mouths. “Kentucky no longer has the talent of the big boys…” and then in the other breath say, “I don’t know what Kentucky fans are complaining about, Tubby is a great coach and recruiter, he is so great a coach, they are so lucky to have him in Lexington.” So I felt like that if I complained that I as being labeled a Tubby hater or disloyal. But in my heart I knew that the ingredients were there for success, the potential had not yet been reached.
Wearied from constantly trying to defend my beloved Wildcats from scoffers and haters, I just accept it that the Wildcats would never again get great recruiting and if we did they would never be utilized to their full potential (Rondo, Bradley, Crawford, and Morris). The pride was waning; everything that I had learned, my Wildcat Aficionado now was becoming inconsequential and nothing more than minutiae. I still paced the floors yelling at the TV during games, I still talked about recruiting and kept up with stats but in my heart I was losing interest; my obsession was being diminished to nothing more than a façade. I appeared to my fellow Fans that I was still true blue…but mainly I was blue. My head hurt and I felt like throwing up after every disappointing loss…I could see the fast approaching Tarheel in the rear view mirror. For me the Tubby Era was the mother of all hangovers from the drunken glory of Pitino.
After sobering up and putting a “mature” out look on my obsession with the Wildcats and all that that entails. The Wildcats, under Pitino, pushed the limits. Remember the line from Top Gun, “You never be satisfied unless you are going Mach I with your hair on fire.” That was my sentiment exactly. How can we Fans be satisfied with a dangerously close Four-corner-esque brand of basketball when we fell in love Secretariat-paced, absolute breath-taking game speed? My perplexity between Pitino and Tubby was the effort that the players gave. Pitino’s Wildcats let it all on the court and played with tremendously huge hearts, but I was always left with the impression that Tubby’s Wildcats played their hearts out but that their hearts were much smaller and seemingly out of shape. Now that Tubby has headed north to Minnesota, where he is doing well, I have nothing more to say on that subject. Enter Billy Clyde Gillispie.
He’s a down-home, blue-collar fellow that has a mule eating briars smile on his face most of the time (unless he is carving you up with his razor sharp sarcasm). He talks slow and seems indifferent with the magnified spotlight. I am sure that he would rather be recruiting or coaching than talking to the media. His intensity seems to bubble underneath the good-natured good ole boy, but the genius is evident if you watch and listen.
The philosophy of basketball that I have gleaned from watching Billy G. over the last year is; if you practice hard and you play hard during the game you will get more minutes. That would appear to Common Wildcat Sense, but it is amazing to me that the media and Fans have been hard on Gillispie for his hour practices before games and that the players who practice hardest get more minutes…huh? Why won’t Billy G. play A.J. Stewart, he is more athletic and explosive than a lot of the other guys? (I read that on a very popular blogsite). But look at A.J. now; he is looking very good and maturing. Simple facts folks, he wasn’t ready yet and had to be motivated to play. This should not be foreign concept to Wildcat Fans. Rupp, Hall or Pitino did not play players because of talent only. Just because you have a scholarship doesn’t mean you will ever see the floor; you had to earn the right to play
The apparent difference in Gillispie’s approach, the first year, was the exhausted look that the Wildcats exhibited but they continued to push themselves. There were a few early season losses because of it, but that same approach got the into the NCAA tournament at the end of it. (A few players suffered injures…it comes with the territory.) He was conditioning and training them, grooming them for the post season. But what you heard from the local media was that he was pushing these guys to hard. It was almost scandalous. It was like watching an over protective mother and father observing their pampered, spoiled children attending boot camp, and complaining to the drill sergeant that he shouldn’t be so cruel to their “Baby.” The first year produce an very uneven batch. It was plagued with a few contaminants, one heavy, biting lose to Gardner-Webb and one to San Diego. Those two especially were difficult to swallow; stiff drinks, kinda of harsh and didn’t go down smooth at all. The national media was calling the Gardner-Webb defeat one of college basketballs greatest upsets…leaving an ungodly taste in my mouth, yet there was something that I saw in the team; a glint of hope. There was a change happening, but as the season went on the drinks remained very harsh and stiff. After all, Bourbon aged only one year is about 125 proof…but at least it was not watered down or weak. It takes at least four years for Bourbon to come of age. Have patience.
Then the came the Tennessee and the Vanderbilt games, both were highly ranked at the time. Those victories were a smooth and sweet drink, and they warmed the body all the way down. In the words of Will Farrell, “It is so good…when it hits your lips, so good.” You can see our conditioning paying off, and the constant urging voice of Gillispie to go harder and faster was being heeded. The two Wildcats that benefited most from this throwback recipe of Kentucky Basketball were Bradley and Crawford. I was never so proud of two guys in my Fan-dom than those two. They became leaders and took the responsibility of team and the fans. They reached their potential that we always knew they could and we champion their accomplishments. They shouldered us and carried us to the NCAA’s with guts and heart. Both young men are worthy to go into the annuls of Wildcat Lore. I know that my kids will hear about Billy G. and the Two Senior Guards of ‘07.
I am sure that last season was a major disappointment to a lot of fans, but some are always going to be negative; it is part of the Gene. They want the Wildcats to win every game by 50 points…that may never happen (again…’96 was very close). Billy G. is challenging the Wildcats to pitch a defensive shutout this year. How does eighty-five to nothing sound? He is stirring up the tradition and characteristics of the heart of Wildcat Basketball, that has been here since the time of Adolf Rupp; play hard, play fast, play a smothering defense and play to win…BIG. What I have seen in the last two years has put me on the edge of my chair. Could it be? Could the Blue Collar, hard-nosed Attitude that Gillispie is concocting be the answer? The answer is YES.
He is not loquacious. He does not possess that polished, P.R. silver tongue, but then again he’s not running for Governor or even Mayor (hmmm…maybe after Titles 8,9,10, and 11). What he is, though, is intentional. There seems to a purpose for every action, every comment, not a single wasted movement. His resume stands witness to this ultimate focus; winning Big-12 Conference Coach of the Year 2005 and 2007 and SEC co-Coach of the Year 2008 (as well as Texas Coach of the Year numerous times). I implore you for a moment to pay no attention to the label on the Bottle. Just close your eyes and listen to your heart, bring the glass to your lips and slowly drink in…isn’t there something familiar about that taste, warmth, and aroma. Can you feel the energy, the excitement as the Wildcats are diving on the floor for lose balls, playing shut out defense, hitting a flurry of threes, slamming dunk after dunk…yes…something so familiar. It has been the missing ingredient in our recent recipes. Figured it out?…It is Passion.
These Wildcats have passion by the Barrels. You can see the intensity, desire on their faces, and a new swagger in their playing. Billy G. is blending a perfect combination of passion and fundamentals in to these young players…now it just has to soak and mature. So, I ask you, Big Blue Nation, that you open your wounded hearts and let them heal. Have faith one more time and allow that suppressed, frothing Passion come to the surface. Embrace Your Wildcats, Your Team, And Your Colors. Grab a glass and prepare for the outpouring in Lexington. That rich amber concoction is going to flood the streets and bring much needed health and happiness to the Fans. There is hope for my family and those who you know as well that are currently in equivalent of Basketball Hospice, because the only relief for the ADWGD (Advanced Deteriorating Wildcat Gene Disorder) is the abundance of the hard liquor of success. Come on Billy G. pour it on us. CHEERS!
Even players like Tayshaun, Bogans, Rondo and others it seemed like they only accomplished minimal strides every year, skill wise. They never had a break out year, or they never corrected the less-than-desirable habits that they had. I know a few of them won SEC player of the year awards but it never quite had the same taste. It appeared that Tubby tried but did not succeed in molding the players to his style of play nor his philosophies, or worse that he actual succeeded in doing just that and the product was uneven at best. Only a few ever exceeded promise, guys like Gerald Fitch, Chuck Hayes and Eric Daniels. Those Wildcats became integral cogs of the 2004 team that demolished the SEC and blew out Florida by 20 in Lexington; Florida came into the season ranked number one in the country. I do savor those moments and let the aroma soak in, because they came so far and few between.
I will point out that I think that Tubby is a fine play caller and sideline coach. To his coaching credit he always found a way to win at least twenty games whether or not they had great talent. He did win national coach of the Year a few times. Which is the mark of a good coach, but alas that is not the only mark by which the standard is set. Our teams were always physically out matched and out of shape. My wife, who didn’t know anything about basketball (at the time), would watch the games and make comments like, “why do Kentucky players look like little kids playing against men.” The Wildcats looked like the pudgy kid at the gym who could get on a hot streak, knock the lights out and win games they are not supposed to. It doesn’t matter that the other guys are more athletic and skilled players, so that is not a bad thing…but what if that pudgy kid got motivated and pushed to be become better and he trained more and learned defensive skills…I would say a tall glass, no ice.
Tubby did get twenty-win seasons but he also had many years of double-digit losses. A record of 22-15 is not a great record by Wildcat standards, especially if this is not your first few seasons and you have had ample time to prepare the distillery for production of your own brew. Heck, use the recipe that is probable still hanging on the clipboard from the last master distiller. Considering you inherited a recruiting gold mine and two national title games. The fact of the matter was that Tubby was the coach. He was responsible for recruiting, motivating, teaching, mentoring, and coaching the players.
He did some of those things well, others not so well. He was being paid millions of dollars to keep the Wildcats on the top and the Fans inebriated. But the Wildcats were producing bad batch after bad batch. Not even a draught of an SEC record of 16-0 and a number 1 ranking (for one season) could wash out the bitterness. I wanted Tubby to be great, I wanted him to carry the torch of Wildcat Mystique, but he did not. By season 10 the light from the ’98 championship was nothing more than a smoldering ember. Bickering, fighting, and anarchy in the heart of Big Blue Nation had broken up the ‘98 party; it was not Tubby’s intention, it was just the way that one went.
I felt like a recovering alcoholic who was being force-fed soymilk and grapefruit juice to sober me up to this reality; Wildcat dominance is a memory and a dream. The games were always close and we were being to be mocked by the national media. We were no longer the colossal giants of the nineties but the unlikely misfits that would find a way to win twenty plus games each season, hang around the top 25 and make it to the NCAA Tournament…but we were never a threat except for the 2004 season. Which was Tubby’s eighth season, interestingly enough that was same as the apex of Pitino’s dynasty. The only major difference is that Tubby was not getting a team right off of probation and full of overweight and unmotivated players. He inherited a team of Mcdonald’s All-Amercians and highly touted and recruited players, most of who had been to at least one National Title game.
The amplified bitter commentary of the likes of Vitale, Bilas, Davis, and Rafferty was sickening; too much vermouth for me to stomach. They would constantly talk about the lack of talent at Kentucky and that the talent of our recruits was sub-par; no longer the team to be feared or respected, that they once were. I tried to cut Tubby slack and tried to agree with those who said that he was just as good of a coach as Pitino, but the proof was just not there. It was a very restless time for me as a Fan. Absolutely the most confusing and emotional distress at this time was the fact that the media, both nationally and locally, were speaking out of both sides of their mouths. “Kentucky no longer has the talent of the big boys…” and then in the other breath say, “I don’t know what Kentucky fans are complaining about, Tubby is a great coach and recruiter, he is so great a coach, they are so lucky to have him in Lexington.” So I felt like that if I complained that I as being labeled a Tubby hater or disloyal. But in my heart I knew that the ingredients were there for success, the potential had not yet been reached.
Wearied from constantly trying to defend my beloved Wildcats from scoffers and haters, I just accept it that the Wildcats would never again get great recruiting and if we did they would never be utilized to their full potential (Rondo, Bradley, Crawford, and Morris). The pride was waning; everything that I had learned, my Wildcat Aficionado now was becoming inconsequential and nothing more than minutiae. I still paced the floors yelling at the TV during games, I still talked about recruiting and kept up with stats but in my heart I was losing interest; my obsession was being diminished to nothing more than a façade. I appeared to my fellow Fans that I was still true blue…but mainly I was blue. My head hurt and I felt like throwing up after every disappointing loss…I could see the fast approaching Tarheel in the rear view mirror. For me the Tubby Era was the mother of all hangovers from the drunken glory of Pitino.
After sobering up and putting a “mature” out look on my obsession with the Wildcats and all that that entails. The Wildcats, under Pitino, pushed the limits. Remember the line from Top Gun, “You never be satisfied unless you are going Mach I with your hair on fire.” That was my sentiment exactly. How can we Fans be satisfied with a dangerously close Four-corner-esque brand of basketball when we fell in love Secretariat-paced, absolute breath-taking game speed? My perplexity between Pitino and Tubby was the effort that the players gave. Pitino’s Wildcats let it all on the court and played with tremendously huge hearts, but I was always left with the impression that Tubby’s Wildcats played their hearts out but that their hearts were much smaller and seemingly out of shape. Now that Tubby has headed north to Minnesota, where he is doing well, I have nothing more to say on that subject. Enter Billy Clyde Gillispie.
He’s a down-home, blue-collar fellow that has a mule eating briars smile on his face most of the time (unless he is carving you up with his razor sharp sarcasm). He talks slow and seems indifferent with the magnified spotlight. I am sure that he would rather be recruiting or coaching than talking to the media. His intensity seems to bubble underneath the good-natured good ole boy, but the genius is evident if you watch and listen.
The philosophy of basketball that I have gleaned from watching Billy G. over the last year is; if you practice hard and you play hard during the game you will get more minutes. That would appear to Common Wildcat Sense, but it is amazing to me that the media and Fans have been hard on Gillispie for his hour practices before games and that the players who practice hardest get more minutes…huh? Why won’t Billy G. play A.J. Stewart, he is more athletic and explosive than a lot of the other guys? (I read that on a very popular blogsite). But look at A.J. now; he is looking very good and maturing. Simple facts folks, he wasn’t ready yet and had to be motivated to play. This should not be foreign concept to Wildcat Fans. Rupp, Hall or Pitino did not play players because of talent only. Just because you have a scholarship doesn’t mean you will ever see the floor; you had to earn the right to play
The apparent difference in Gillispie’s approach, the first year, was the exhausted look that the Wildcats exhibited but they continued to push themselves. There were a few early season losses because of it, but that same approach got the into the NCAA tournament at the end of it. (A few players suffered injures…it comes with the territory.) He was conditioning and training them, grooming them for the post season. But what you heard from the local media was that he was pushing these guys to hard. It was almost scandalous. It was like watching an over protective mother and father observing their pampered, spoiled children attending boot camp, and complaining to the drill sergeant that he shouldn’t be so cruel to their “Baby.” The first year produce an very uneven batch. It was plagued with a few contaminants, one heavy, biting lose to Gardner-Webb and one to San Diego. Those two especially were difficult to swallow; stiff drinks, kinda of harsh and didn’t go down smooth at all. The national media was calling the Gardner-Webb defeat one of college basketballs greatest upsets…leaving an ungodly taste in my mouth, yet there was something that I saw in the team; a glint of hope. There was a change happening, but as the season went on the drinks remained very harsh and stiff. After all, Bourbon aged only one year is about 125 proof…but at least it was not watered down or weak. It takes at least four years for Bourbon to come of age. Have patience.
Then the came the Tennessee and the Vanderbilt games, both were highly ranked at the time. Those victories were a smooth and sweet drink, and they warmed the body all the way down. In the words of Will Farrell, “It is so good…when it hits your lips, so good.” You can see our conditioning paying off, and the constant urging voice of Gillispie to go harder and faster was being heeded. The two Wildcats that benefited most from this throwback recipe of Kentucky Basketball were Bradley and Crawford. I was never so proud of two guys in my Fan-dom than those two. They became leaders and took the responsibility of team and the fans. They reached their potential that we always knew they could and we champion their accomplishments. They shouldered us and carried us to the NCAA’s with guts and heart. Both young men are worthy to go into the annuls of Wildcat Lore. I know that my kids will hear about Billy G. and the Two Senior Guards of ‘07.
I am sure that last season was a major disappointment to a lot of fans, but some are always going to be negative; it is part of the Gene. They want the Wildcats to win every game by 50 points…that may never happen (again…’96 was very close). Billy G. is challenging the Wildcats to pitch a defensive shutout this year. How does eighty-five to nothing sound? He is stirring up the tradition and characteristics of the heart of Wildcat Basketball, that has been here since the time of Adolf Rupp; play hard, play fast, play a smothering defense and play to win…BIG. What I have seen in the last two years has put me on the edge of my chair. Could it be? Could the Blue Collar, hard-nosed Attitude that Gillispie is concocting be the answer? The answer is YES.
He is not loquacious. He does not possess that polished, P.R. silver tongue, but then again he’s not running for Governor or even Mayor (hmmm…maybe after Titles 8,9,10, and 11). What he is, though, is intentional. There seems to a purpose for every action, every comment, not a single wasted movement. His resume stands witness to this ultimate focus; winning Big-12 Conference Coach of the Year 2005 and 2007 and SEC co-Coach of the Year 2008 (as well as Texas Coach of the Year numerous times). I implore you for a moment to pay no attention to the label on the Bottle. Just close your eyes and listen to your heart, bring the glass to your lips and slowly drink in…isn’t there something familiar about that taste, warmth, and aroma. Can you feel the energy, the excitement as the Wildcats are diving on the floor for lose balls, playing shut out defense, hitting a flurry of threes, slamming dunk after dunk…yes…something so familiar. It has been the missing ingredient in our recent recipes. Figured it out?…It is Passion.
These Wildcats have passion by the Barrels. You can see the intensity, desire on their faces, and a new swagger in their playing. Billy G. is blending a perfect combination of passion and fundamentals in to these young players…now it just has to soak and mature. So, I ask you, Big Blue Nation, that you open your wounded hearts and let them heal. Have faith one more time and allow that suppressed, frothing Passion come to the surface. Embrace Your Wildcats, Your Team, And Your Colors. Grab a glass and prepare for the outpouring in Lexington. That rich amber concoction is going to flood the streets and bring much needed health and happiness to the Fans. There is hope for my family and those who you know as well that are currently in equivalent of Basketball Hospice, because the only relief for the ADWGD (Advanced Deteriorating Wildcat Gene Disorder) is the abundance of the hard liquor of success. Come on Billy G. pour it on us. CHEERS!
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