While We’re Waiting… Danger Time for Tribe, Clipper Checkups, and Kanter skips team interviews

Our own TD discusses if it is danger time for the Indians, “It has been said that you can’t truly judge a team until 40 games minimum. Others say they go by the holidays as checkpoints in a season. Next week is the first one – Memorial Day. I truly believe this Indians team is for real. However, there is some cause for concern. With the way this team is constructed, injuries could be a real issue if they pop up at the wrong time. I hate to say it, but that time could be sooner rather than later, if not now.” [TD/Still WFNY]

–

Want to learn a little more about the newest Tribe hero and the rest of the Clippers? “Carrera has some pop to his pull-side so he is simply not a slap hitter, but he mostly concentrates on working counts and putting the ball in play all over the field. As a defender he is arguably the best outfielder in the Indians system, including the big leagues. He is exceptional at making both the routine and diving plays, takes good angles and routes to balls, and with his plus speed really covers a lot of ground.” [Tony/IPI]

–

Enes Kanter is making headlines once again, skipping interviews with a few NBA teams, “Kanter’s Gambit here is pretty clear: He wants to force these teams to pass on him so that he can end up with a city and franchise he likes. It’s a strategy Ricky Rubio employed in 2008 with poor results — the Minnesota Timberwolves picked him and he has spent the last two years in Spain. Kanter can do much the same and possibly even avoid Rubio’s state of limbo. Because he’s not currently tied to any team, Kanter can choose to spend another year away from professional basketball and reenter the draft next season.” [Ball Don't Lie]

–

David O’Leary at Stepien Rules gives an early look at who some of the lottery teams are looking at with their draft selections, “If Kanter falls to four; we’ll gobble him up. If not, look for us to take serious looks at Vesely, Valanciunas and maybe even Leonard. Two mocks I’ve seen have us taking Alec Burks or Brandon Knight. Of the two, I’d leaning towards Burks but Knight is very intriguing on so many levels.” [Stepien Rules]

–

Finally, Orlando Cabrera missed Thursday night’s game as he returned to his home in South Carolina to obtain his U.S. citizenship, “The bureaucratic process of naturalization takes months, but becoming a citizen requires years of preparation. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Indians manager Manny Acta knows what Cabrera has been going through. Acta became a U.S. citizen in 1999.” [Big League Stew]

While We’re Waiting… Danger Time for Tribe, Clipper Checkups, and Kanter skips team interviews

waitingfornextyear.com

Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: How Far Can This Team Go?

At the beginning of this year, when Enes Kanter was presumed to be eligible at some point for the Kentucky Wildcats this season, fans had very high hopes -- even Final Four hopes -- for this team, which did not seem all that unreasonable.  Add great shooting, great passing, and great talent to a major force in the paint and the sum often comes up to NCAA championship contender.

But something happened on the way to the Final Four for Kentucky, and that something was the NCAA declaration that Enes Kanter is not, nor will ever be, eligible to play basketball for an NCAA institution, except for an intramural team.  When the appeals were exhausted, so were UK fans' patience.  But in the end, that particular Final Four contender was a dream that will never be realized.

The fear, though, that Kentucky might not have enough of a post presence to compete has been dispelled by the excellent rebounding and solid interior play of Josh Harrellson and Terrence Jones.  So far, everyone on this team has been what they were supposed to be this season with the possible exception of Darius Miller.  As a junior, many expected Miller to be much more of an impact player than he has been, although he has shown some signs of becoming that player in the last two games.  But aside from that and the revelation that is Harrellson, there have been no real surprises on this Kentucky team save for one other very important one -- a 3-6 road record (I'm counting the Portland Pilots in the Rose Garden as a road game).

We have already examined in detail what the statistics say, and they tell a reasonably convincing story that Kentucky has lost on the road not because they shoot poorly, or because their offense is substantially worse, but because for whatever reason, the Wildcats have not been able to stop opponents in their own gym.  Cases in point:  Mississippi Rebels, a season 35% 3-point shooting team, racks up 8-17 for 46% against UK, their fourth-best output of the season, and all the other teams they shot better against were terrible.  Florida Gators, a 66% free throw shooting team makes 18-22 versus Kentucky (82%), their second-best percentage all year.  Vanderbilt Commodores, 11-20 from 3 for 55% against UK, their best showing of the year, to go along with 20-23 from the line, their second best percentage this year.

The bottom line is, and has been, that UK has struggled with hot opponents on the road.  SEC opponents in particular have made 3-point shots at a very high percentage, as well as an uncharacteristically high percentage of free throws.  In other words, Kentucky's opponents have simply played some of their best basketball against the Wildcats, and even though Kentucky played well in every one of those games, they didn't play quite well enough.

What a coach sees, though is that his defense is not performing on the road.  You know you aren't going to get the benefit of a friendly whistle in most SEC road games, and so you have to make up for it by forcing bad shots.  But when you do that and the team makes them, it's tough to take.

Kentucky will now travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in an attempt to win their third SEC game in a row and first road win in over a month.  Of course, Kentucky needs this to continue their march toward a top four seed, and another road setback, particularly to the low-RPI Hawgs, would do great violence to that hope.  Joe Lunardi of ESPN currently has Kentucky a 5-seed, but more than one more loss before the SEC tournament could easily put the 'Cats closer to a 6 or 7 than a 5, although that may not be a bad thing considering the 6 doesn't face the 1 until the regional final.  A 5 gets the 1 seed in the Sweet Sixteen.

So how far can Kentucky go?  Here is a brief SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis:

Strengths:

1. 3-point shooting.  Great perimeter shooting is always a huge advantage in the NCAA tournament.  Kentucky is over 40% on the year and almost 40% in conference, good enough for 10th in the land and 3rd in the SEC.
2. Good free throw shooting.  Kentucky is now up to 71% overall, 73% in conference.  That's solid.
3. Guard play.  Kentucky's guards are really skilled and don't turn the ball over.  The Wildcats are currently the 10th best ballhandling team in the nation.  They can beat you off the bounce, at the rim, and just about everywhere else.
4. Terrence Jones.  Terrence Jones is just a man-child that is close to getting the "beast" classification hung on him.
5. A shut-down defender in DeAndre Liggins.

Weaknesses:

1. Depth.  Seven deep is barely deep enough in the NCAA tournament, but currently, UK is getting very few minutes from the seventh man.
2. Rebounding.  Despite a good overall effort from Harrellson and Jones, Kentucky is only 99th nationally and 9th in the SEC in OR%
3. 3pt shooting defense.  The stats don't lie.  Kentucky is currently allowing 35.5% 3-point shooting in conference games, and that's 9th in the league.  Yes, some is due to otherworldly percentages as I mentioned above from a few foes, but it has to be considered a weakness.
4. Size.  Even with Harrellson and Jones in the game, Kentucky is not a big team inside.
5. Post play.  Unlike last year, Kentucky cannot pound the ball into the paint at will, and others can.

Opportunities:

1. Win out, especially considering UK would have to beat 2 current top 25 teams to do it,  and Kentucky has a chance at a 3 seed, which is a good place to be if you can't be a 1 or 2.
2. Tournament setup.  A middle seed this year might not be a bad place to play in the tournament.  Kentucky has easily handled teams that will wind up in this range all year.
3. Defensive improvement.  If Kentucky improves as little as 5% in defensive efficiency, it will be a very dangerous team come tournament time.
4. Neutral court games.  Kentucky has played very well versus opponents on neutral courts.

Threats:

1. Injury.  This Kentucky team is thin, and every player is needed for it to succeed.  An injury to any one of the top six players is a major threat to this team's success.
2. Continued overachievement by opponents.  We have run into several buzz saws, but that might not be the last of them.
3. A bad loss.  Kentucky's worst loss so far was to Ole Miss on the road, but a bad loss to a weak team (either Arkansas or an early SEC tournament round) could really hurt this team's NCAA seed.
4. Two road losses.  If Kentucky loses its remaining two road games, a top four seed will not happen

It is pretty optimistic, at this point, to think Kentucky might get as far as the Elite Eight, but there is plenty of upside left in this Wildcat team, particularly defensively.  If the 'Cats can up the defensive part of their effort without sacrificing much offense, there is really no telling how far they can go, although a lot will depend on the matchups they draw in the tournament. 

Luck is always a factor in any one-and-out tournament.  Kentucky is due for a little of that.

Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: How Far Can This Team Go?

by Glenn Logan 

aseaofblue.com

Harrellson's double-double powers Cats over Cards 78-63

LOUISVILLE — When it came to first impressions, Josh Harrellson did not make a strong one with Kentucky teammate Terrence Jones. The freshman heard the coaches complain in the summer about Harrellson's unwillingness to work hard or even pay attention.

From what he saw firsthand, Jones rolled his eyes at the thought of a goofball like Harrellson as starting center.

"Oh, man," he said of that first impression. "I hope Enes can play."

The NCAA still has not — and may never — "free" Enes Kanter from permanent ineligibility. But Harrellson's play in Kentucky's 78-63 victory at Louisville on Friday made that possibility seem less of a death sentence on this season.

Helped immeasurably by Louisville's defensive attention on Jones, Harrellson scored a career-high 23 points, equaled a career high of 14 rebounds and even made his first three-pointer in more than a year (Dec. 21, 2009 in the 2,000th-victory celebration against Drexel).

With victory secure, Harrellson left the game late in the second half and received a bear hug from UK Coach John Calipari.

"At first, he didn't say anything," Harrellson said when asked what Calipari had to say. "He looked at me like, 'Did you really do that?' "

Then as Harrellson recalled, Calipari said, "Good job, kid."

In a game demanding blue-collar contributions, Kentucky's humble tradesman excelled.

Kentucky (11-2) won in large part because it out-scrapped Louisville 34-25 on the boards and out-executed the Cardinals.

"It doesn't take a smart answer to figure out they were the better basketball team, by far," U of L Coach Rick Pitino said. "Better on the glass. They were better executing."

Harrellson played a big part on both ends of the floor.

Offensively, he took advantage of Louisville's concern with Jones, UK's leading scorer (18.2 ppg) and rebounder (9.3 rpg).

"We have great respect for him," Pitino said of Harrellson. "We, obviously, want to take away Jones in the post. We did a good job. We just didn't rotate to Harrellson."

Time and again, Jones found Harrellson in position for layups and dunks.

The Cats had worked all week on playing off Louisville double teams of Jones, Harrellson said. "Sealing the weak-side guy and being available and finding the open spot. ...

"They kept doubling, and I kept making myself available to him," Harrellson said. "He kept feeding me the ball, and I kept finishing."

Jones was reluctant to take credit for the scoring by Harrellson, whose previous career-high was 15.

"I didn't help him get 14 rebounds," Jones noted.

Louisville guard Chris Smith acknowledged the out-of-nowhere quality to Harrellson's productive game.

"I wouldn't say he caught us by surprise because (Pitino) told us he was a good player," Smith said. "But maybe we did underestimate him a little bit. He went out there and did his job."

Harrellson also contributed to a UK defense that made Louisville scrap for almost every point. Except for a second-half flurry by Preston Knowles, the Cardinals seemed out of sync all afternoon.

Knowles scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half. That only kept the final score respectable as Louisville fell to 11-2.

The Cats trailed early. And when Doron Lamb went to the bench with his second foul at the 14:33 mark, it appeared it might be a long afternoon for UK.

Darius Miller helped turn the game in UK's favor. His post-up basket over Kyle Kuric gave Kentucky its first lead, 15-14, with 11:22 left in the first half. That also marked his first points against Louisville in 

three career games.

Harrellson's three-pointer from the top of the key — his first three-point attempt of the season — put Kentucky ahead 44-26.

With Knowles scoring 13 points in a span of less than five minutes, Louisville got as close as 54-45. Almost 10 minutes remained.

Jones and Harrellson saw to it that Louisville got no closer. The pair collaborated on eight straight points to push Kentucky to a 69-52 lead inside the final five minutes.

Afterward, Calipari reflected on the ugly swan that developed into a beautifully productive player.

"He taught me a great lesson," Calipari said of Harrellson. "What we coaches like to do is just work with the good guys. The guys that are struggling, sometimes you push aside.

"What he showed me is, every kid deserves everything we have to help them get better."

Of course, Harrellson got the extra attention after he tweeted about his frustration with Calipari's lack of encouragement. That earned Harrellson a steady diet of extra running, which, ironically, made him better conditioned and better able to perform.

According to Calipari, Harrellson saw his performance against U of L as a chance to resume tweeting. "Are you kidding me?!" a smiling UK coach said of his answer.

This came as news to Harrellson.

"He might have heard me say something," he said of Calipari. "I didn't ask him face to face."

After a pause, Harrellson added, "I might now."

Jerry Tipton

kentucky.com