WHAS in Louisville is reporting that Billy Gillespie won’t be back as the head coach of Kentucky. They kept taking the story down last night, and Kentucky has denied it thus far. It just seems inevitable at this point.
Coaches always talk about finding the right fit. Gillespie was good in both of his stops before Kentucky (UTEP and Texas A&M). In fact, I think you could call what he did at those schools great. It just wasn’t for very long periods of time. Looking back, he may have made the jump to the bigtime a little too quickly. He seemed to have good relationships in Texas, but not so much at Kentucky. I guess you have to be true to yourself, and Gillespie couldn’t quite get it done.
If this report is accurate, I would expect Billy Donovan to be the next coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. He turned them down once, and like Roy Williams going to UNC in ‘04, he won’t be able to turn them down twice. Basically all the big job openings now (Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia) are on hold waiting to see what happens at Kentucky. Anthony Grant was on campus at ‘Bama to talk about their position, but I’m sure he’s in no rush if there’s a chance the Florida job is going to be open. If Alabama really wants him though, they better lock him in now with something he can’t turn down.
As always, it looks like we’ll be engaging in some interesting coaching searches as the season winds down. Virginia looks to be gunnin’ for a big hire. The rumors are the best part, unless it involves a coach still coaching in the tournament. Then, it’s flat out rude and ridiculous.
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I’ve come to the conclusion that CBS needs to add a feature where you can choose which game you want to watch each night. I’m sure this feature is available, but I’m talking about a free feature. And no, I don’t want to watch a game on my computer. This stems from me being excited all week long to watch the Missouri-Memphis game. Being an idiot, I didn’t even think of the fact that Duke and Villanova were playing in the same timeslot. I guess I don’t have the same thrill of watching Duke lose as I did in 1990, or say 2002.
If anything, the game that starts at 7:07 should run in it’s full entirety. This way when that game (20 minutes ahead) goes to halftime, you can watch 20 minutes of the second game. Likewise, you have the same option at the end of game 1, and you can watch the final 8 minutes or so of Game 2 in it’s entirety. Maybe this makes too much sense. I’m guessing Duke-Villanova was the game of choice for 85% of the country, so start that one at 7:07.
Regardless, Missouri rolled, and I’ve got a new team to watch going forward. It may look sloppy at times, but they actually do a nice job of holding onto possession of the basketball. You would think a team that’s flying all over the court for 40 minutes would turn it over more, but Mike Anderson does an outstanding job. I always liked Nolan Richardson’s Arkansas teams, and now I feel like Todd Day and Lee Mayberry are going to be at the top of the press at anytime.
Four more good ballgames tonight that I’m truly looking forward to. In essence, I guess there are only two since that’s the max I can watch. I always forget how easily swayed I am by outstanding individual performances (typically by guards). Levance Fields of Pitt had me off my chair last night with that contested three he hit from DEEP to give Pitt the one point lead. He followed that up with a recovery and layup to keep Pitt ahead for good. To think I was rooting for Xavier for 39 minutes and 30 seconds and then an individual performance had me flip 180 degrees in the other direction. Levance Fields wins the Bous Theory’s Get Hype off the Chair player of the night.
Who will it be tonight? Early money is on Johnny Flynn since I jumped on his bandwagon in the Big East Tourney. Sherron Collins is a pretty safe bet as well. As is Terrance Williams from Louisville. I guess it depends on which games are shown in our local area.
Have a great weekend!
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