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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 10-17-2021, 09:46 PM:

UK Radio Network analyst Mike Pratt, a former Kentucky All-American, says the lack of preseason buzz for basketball this year is understandable and no cause for concern.

“There has been a hangover from last season. Fans have not lost faith but they still cannot comprehend last season. I do think a lot of fans are excited about what Cal did in the offseason, but don’t want to be fooled like they were last year,” Pratt said.

“Football buzz was always in August and September. If football stumbles early, talk turns to basketball. This football team had a little more juice. It was an attractive team to start the season with a new coordinator, new quarterback, new juice.”

So will there soon be more “juice” for this basketball season?

“A dead man would have more juice than we had last year,” Pratt joked. “Nobody was more disappointed with last season than (John) Calipari. He was torn up about the year. I think he took the necessary steps to get the train back on the track. I don’t know how far the train will go but I can assure you it will not be a year like last year.”

Pratt said the “pieces didn’t fit last year” for Calipari’s team and that it does not matter whose fault that was.

“Pieces that did not fit left,” Calipari said. “(Davion) Mintz stayed and he delivered last year. When you have a turnover in players, you either fix the problem or you don’t get it fixed no matter who the players are.

“You cannot judge this group against last year’s group except when they start playing. It sure looks to me like the pieces fit a lot better. I am not saying they will win a national championship. Who knows about that? There are a lot of good teams out there. I think it will be a dogfight to see who wins the championship but Kentucky has players to have a chance to do that this year.”

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Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 10-17-2021, 10:00 PM:

My wife has been involved in the psychological part of basketball since the 1940's.
She says that the players (young guys) missed the fans (the sixth man) last year.
I hope that Rupp Arena will be full this year and the players will feel the enthusiasm.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 10-18-2021, 08:14 PM:

Clydeh, your wife is one smart lady!

Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 10-19-2021, 12:58 PM:

Cat,
Her dad was a high school coach in the Kentucky mountains when she was a girl, and she was around him when he was planning and coaching and talking to his teams many times.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 10-20-2021, 01:02 PM:

Clydeh,no wonder she knows so much about basketball.

Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 10-20-2021, 10:05 PM:

Cat,
I have a long story about her Dad and his coaching. Before I ever met my wife or her Dad, two of my friends and I had a tuberculosis fellowship in Inez, KY, doing TB skin testing to determine the amount of TB in Martin County. Inez is the county seat of Martin County. We had only been there a short time when one of the local grocery stores told us that they could not sell candy or soft drinks to any of the Inez basketball players.
Her Dad's name was Russell Williamson. When I was in Inez the first time in 1963, her Dad was no longer coaching and was the principal of Inez High School. I went into his office for a meeting and he had pictures of some of his players on his wall and they had their jersey numbers painted on their shirts. They won at least one state championship. That is amazing considering the size of that school.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 10-21-2021, 06:07 PM:

Great story and he must have one heck of good coach as well of being a heck of a father-in law!

Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 10-22-2021, 09:58 AM:

cat,
Your are right. He was a great father-in-law and a great coach. I do not know how he was able to take the few boys he coached at Inez and won so many games.

Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 10-22-2021, 05:59 PM:

I have information that he was a great coach and actually is in the KY hall of fame. Even coach Rupp bragged on him.

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 10-22-2021, 06:26 PM:

Dr Clyde, out of curiosity, I looked up the information you posted about your late father-in-law.

He sounds like he was quite a basketball guru, much like myself. Looks like you married into Kentucky basketball royalty.

From now on when you post “my wife says” i will set up and pay attention.

[ 10-22-2021, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: handycat ]

Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 10-22-2021, 07:06 PM:

handy, my wife never played or coached. She does have considerable understanding of the game, however.
Her Dad coached in a tiny school. I never did see Inez play. I just can't imagine how he was able to take just a few boys and win so many games. Kentucky at that time had no classes in sports so he was able to defeat large schools.