Kevin Keatts

The new-look UofL basketball staff is now complete with the addition of Hargrove Military Academy's Kevin Keatts.

A good link here that provides some of his background info and includes a video on Keatts explaining a bit of his coaching philosophy.

We have three additions of young, hungry, up-and-comers with a particular emphasis on recruiting prowess. What more can you ask for?

Welcome aboard, fellas. Now get to work. If it's not against the rules, a phone call to check in with Rodney Purvis would be a good place to start.

New unis, Mr. Red approved

My thoughts on the Brandon Bender interview

In case you hadn't heard, ex-Cardinal Brandon Bender went on Matt Jones' radio show today to talk about....well, nothing as it turned out, but in theory, to talk about the rumors that Bender is playing an underhanded role in the recruitment of local kids, kind of a C-list World Wide Wes, and that he's been talking kids out of committing to Louisville, like DaMarcus Smith and Kevin Ware, because of his supposed longstanding antipathy towards UofL. Whew. That's called a run-on sentence.

The full interview is available here, but I gotta warn you, the interview is really only good from a sociological perspective, as a snapshot of how local sports journalism has devolved and been bastardized with tabloid fodder to become, well, these kind of much-hyped but senseless interviews.

My thoughts on the "content" of the interview...

* The funniest part was listening to Jones struggle to keep his agenda straight. Bender came on the show because his shady recruiting influence is supposedly (according to Jones) being investigated by Pat Forde of ESPN and Pete Thamel of the NY Times. Since Jones is a sworn enemy of both, naturally, he would like to support anyone that goes against them.

But even so, it was impossible for Jones to take Bender seriously. Faced with Brandon in real-time he became a little disoriented, lost sight of his UK-centric radar for a moment, and just treated a buffoon as a buffoon.

It reminded me of that time when Glenn Beck had that weirdo pedophile congressman, Eric Massa, on his program after he was forced from office by his own party. Naturally, Beck assumed having an angry Massa ready to dish dirt on the Democrats would be a good idea, but even after substantial hype, it was clear to Beck within minutes that Massa was a clown, and Beck had to apologize to his viewers afterwards for wasting their time.

Kind of the same thing going on here.

* The other irritating aspect, from a sociological perspective, was that Jones kept referring to these rumors, innuendos and reports throughout the interview in a detached manner. Those reports are coming solely from his own website!

It was surreal to hear back and forth like...

MJ: How crazy is it that everyone's talking about you, seeing your name in bright lights?

BB: Real crazy. Don't know what it's about.

To my knowledge, not a single source had published a recent word about Brandon Bender until KSR dove into it, and they did so only because they'd heard rumors that Forde and Thamel were investigating. So what if they were? Maybe they investigated but decided there was nothing there. Then again, maybe they will publish something, and if/when they do, they'll be held to journalistic standards for their sources and accuracy.

But it's worth noting that Jones decided to dive into, whatever this is, without having read a single thing about it, without knowing if any accusation is true or false, or even if there are any accusations.

All Jones knew, or had heard, was that there was a story maybe in the works involving a name he remembered being written by people he didn't like. And as a radio host, having that name on air would be EPIC!

But eventually, no matter how talented the carnival barker, the bell tolls and the rubber has to meet the road. And in this case you can boil Jones' interview into one sentence: "Brandon, if or when you're accused in the future in an article that has yet to be published by people I don't like, and if or when you're accused of doing said things that I have no specifics on, would you maybe come back on to talk about it? OK? Thanks, Brandon. Click. Good guy, that Brandon, courageous for coming on".

The whole interview encapsulated the reason for my distaste for KSR and the Matt Jones phenomenon in the first place. It's not cause he's a UK homer, he's supposed to be, I'm fine with that. I'm a fanatical UofL homer.

The problem is that Matt Jones wants it both ways. He wants to be the newsbreaker, news-reactor, and uber-fan-in-chief all at the same time. When he wants to be treated as a serious journalist, Jones expects deference and respect. But when he's treated as a serious journalist and held to standards of professionalism, he hides behind this "I'm just a little website operator that's bullshittin' with my buds" schtick and relishes in his own pettiness.

Pick one hat and wear it, that's all I ask. Or if you don't want to, at least stop bitching about it.

Sharpheadin' to the pros?

A lot got covered in Rick Pitino's press conference yesterday. The additions of Richard Pitino and Wyking Jones will have the most long-term impact (I'm too weary to speculate on the significance of Richard being named "associate head coach" rather than just "assistant"). But the most immediate impact will be felt if Terrence Jennings keeps his name in the NBA draft.

Nothing's official yet, but having learned a measure of Pitino-ese over the last decade, his verbal cues indicate that the chances of TJ returning are slim.

If he calls it a UofL career, it'll be tough to wrap my brain around Jennings' legacy. He was often a whipping boy for fan discontent, constantly criticized for occasional lack of hustle and unwillingness to mix it up on the glass. He lost his starting position for a time last season, and his lackadaisical manner looked even worse when juxtaposed against that of Gorgui Dieng, the instant fan favorite who plays with relentless energy.

But just whenever you were ready to write TJ off for good he would come through with clutch play. He's a strong defender, gifted shot blocker, and a surprisingly good free throw shooter. And while he never developed much touch around the rim, some of UofL's most consistent offense last season was watching TJ slam it home with authority before doing his shuffle/swagger back down court.

If he leaves, a potential strength next year, frontcourt depth, will be negated; athletic bigs like TJ don't grow on trees. Gorgui has near unlimited potential, but it's not clear what the Cards will do when he gets into foul trouble, or has to be yanked for rampant goaltending. Zach Price shows more project than polish.

The Cards have a chance to be great next year with the combination of unselfish and reliable role players infused with freshman five-star talent. It's what we've all been waiting for. TJ would be the wizened, yet remarkably gifted veteran that is almost an endangered species in college basketball. And while Pitino just glibly mentioned TJs status yesterday, I hope and trust that he's in his ear quite a bit and telling TJ what a year of playing on a Top 10 team can do for his NBA stock.

We can get by without TJ, but I have hopes for this team that go far beyond just getting by.

Video of the press conference

Louisville announces two new assistant basketball coaches and a whole lot of other stuff

Rick Pitino just ended his press conference announcing a whirlwind of changes and updates. I'll try to include them all here in quick fashion, but if I get any of this wrong, I'll correct it as soon as I see the video replay.

* First off, two of the three assistant coach vacancies have now been filled. Richard Pitino is now associate head coach at Louisville. Wyking Jones, an assistant at New Mexico with apparent Nike recruiting contacts, is taking one of the open assistant coach positions.

Of Richard Pitino, who just had a baby, Rick said that it was lucky that he agreed to come back to Louisville because he otherwise would have had to ask a close personal friend, unnamed but who just retired from the pros, to take the associate head coach position. I'm not motivated at the moment nor have I kept up with recent retirees from the NBA to start brainstorming who Pitino was talking about, but all guesses are welcome. At any rate, Richie is officially back and we are glad to have him back.

As for Wyking Jones, Pitino said that after thoroughly looking into Jones' recruiting and coaching talents, the interview went something like this:

R: How much do you want the job?

W: I want it badly.

R: Welcome to Louisville.

As for the third open position, Rick has as many as five candidates in mind for the third open coaching slot and hopes to fill it by the end of the week.

Welcome to the program Wyking, and welcome back Richard. And congrats on the baby.

Now on to some of these other things that Rick hinted at:

* Pitino said that he is operating on the assumption that Terrence Jennings is not coming back. "As far as I'm concerned, he's not coming back," is the quote that I caught. Rick said that we'll be fine with Gorgui and Zach Price at the 5. Speaking about TJ, he suggested that he had learned a lesson last year about predicting a player might come back even after declaring for the draft, after Samardo went against Pitino's advice and went pro. So some of this is still fluid, new standard operating procedure, etc., and perhaps Jennings will ultimately decide in favor of his senior year. Judging from the press conference alone, however, it seemed to me that TJ is gone.

* It's not official yet, but Pitino hinted that he will not coach the Puerto Rico national team as a result of the university's failed appeal to the NCAA to allow Louisville to play the Puerto Rico national team in the preseason. However, Louisville will be playing in the Bahamas in August against the Bahamian national team. Regarding Puerto Rico, it's a weird ending to a weird courtship if true, but at least it appears that Ricky kept Louisville's best interests at heart.

* The schedule for next year is almost done; the two things said about it in the presser are that we'll play in the Bahamas tournament, some time between August 8th and 18th, and that we'll have that return trip to Indianapolis against national runner-up (again) Butler.

* On next year's freshmen class: Chane Behanan is going to be an "impact player right away." On account of this, learning the system is going to be more overwhelming, but necessary, for Chane than it will be for Wayne Blackshear. Pitino said that Blackshear may or may not be ready to play in the Bahamas tournament and that he had no idea why Blackshear suited up for the McDonald's All America game.

* On Tim Fuller's departure: "We're not happy about Tim leaving early, but we understand it."

* Jared Swopshire is recuperating nicely, will be ready to play next season, and may even be ready ahead of Rakeem Buckles, who is also recovering from season-ending injury.

* David Padgett might not be back next year, depending on how other job offers work out. Pitino praised Padgett and said that it was in his interest to gain more experience elsewhere.

* And finishing off with the requisite Kenny Klein joke... Pitino said that the program is "looking into transfers," contingent on what available playing time will be at each position, and that you can expect some transfer candidates to be visiting campus in the next few weeks. If members of the media would like to meet them, "come see Kenny at Molly Malone's between 12 and 8; his shift ends at 11:30."

****UPDATE****

Not that my analysis is ever deficient in any way, but Charlie Springer at Card Game also summed up the bullet points from the press conference nicely.

Monday musings

I feel a little guilty about not being sufficiently excited for the Chane Behanan era until now. I don't know the reason, maybe it's the natural tendency to go gaga over point guards or true scorers, or maybe because at 6'7'', he's not your typical frontcourt force. My mind knew he was a great  pickup, but my heart just wasn't in it.

Consider me converted. After seeing with my own eyes what Chane can do at the Derby Classic, it's clear he provides precisely what ailed the Cards last season. He gets his hands on everything that falls around the basket, and even playing alongside some of the premier talent in the country, he looked like a man amongst boys with his chiseled frame. He plays with Ellis Myles' mentality and Otis George's motor.

Even if he doesn't score a single point next season he could still be one of the most important players on the court. I'm late to the party, I know, but now I'm fully pumped. I'm sure that'll be a great load off Chane's mind when he hears that.

* What I'm unpumped about is that we're ticking the days down until Derby and there hasn't been any movement towards hiring what Pitino promised would be the greatest assemblage of assistant coaches in the history of Western civilization. Some fans are able to turn a tin ear to Pitino's BS, but I can't. I don't know why he's so eager to become a parody of himself; so much of what turns people off about him is easily avoidable.

Anyways, I really hope we see some movement on the coaching front this week. It's good to take your time I suppose, but I can't help but think that if UofL had moved swiftly and confidently after Fuller and Massielo's departures, then last week needn't have been such a fiasco with Negus/Ware/Woods all spurning Louisville at different levels.

The '12 recruiting class needs bodies, and whatever coaches we bring on will be playing catchup with a lot of recruits.

* UK Hypocrisy Watch #7,894. When rainstorms and cold washed out Louisville's Red-White game and led to a paltry attendance of about 2,500, UK fans cackled with delight, ignoring the context and calling the showing pitiful.

Well, their own Spring Game rolled around quicker than you can say karma, and wouldn't you know it, rainstorms and cold led to a UK attendance of about 2,500.

I don't want to get into a pissing contest over low numbers, but I do want to point out a key difference in the two fanbases. After our game Charlie Springer wrote a nice piece chiding Louisville fans for the poor showing, and you could turn on any number of local radio shows the following Monday discussing the significance, if any, of the low figure.

UK fans on the other hand, despite having already mocked UofL a week earlier, simply ignore the fact. Though the pics of the stands told the tale, I had to dig through about 12 articles before one had the temerity to mention the attendance.

I'm starting to think something's just not right amongst them fans.

* Jamaal Coombs-McDaniel, key 6th man for UConn, was arrested over the weekend on a marijuana possession charge. I don't think there's ever been less of a feel good national champion than Calhoun's Huskies.

* I greatly enjoyed this article in the CJ today on Bats' first basemen Danny Dorn. I went to my first game of the season last week and sat on the first baseline. For some undefined reason, my buddy has built Dorn up in his mind as a baseball god, kind of a cross between Shoeless Joe Jackson and Paul Bunyan. He lets no play transpire, not even a routine groundout, without shouting some words of encouragement like "Yea Doooorn, way to stretch for it!" His excitement was contagious and I got on board quickly. It's minor league baseball at its finest.

So of course today's article on how Dorn shook off an old football injury only adds to his legend. It's Dorn Fever baby, catch it!.

* The Mrs. and I moved into our first home over the weekend. It was a long and arduous process but we're pretty excited. The thing could have been infested with termites for all I care, I was sold the moment I discovered it had a partially finished basement that was already painted red and black. I will now begin the process of turning into Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

My thoughts go out to anyone affected by the rising waters of the Ohio, this flood stuff is starting to get scary.