Billy Gillispie fired - breaking news

LOL, got ya!! Not yet. Rumors are that UK will be holding a press conference today. I have been a backer on firing Billy. With that said, I am now sort of defending him. If UK hires a coach equal or less of his ability, the AD should also be fired. UK needs a top notch coach; nothing more, nothing less.

Future of Gillispie unknown

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290840087

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- By the time Jodie Meeks got going for Kentucky, Notre Dame was all but packing its bags for New York.


The Irish were up by 15 points before Meeks made his second basket, on just his fourth shot with 12:18 left in the game, and the Irish survived a 17-5 run late by the Wildcats to end a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky with a 77-67 victory Wednesday night to advance to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals.

"They did a great job of guarding him," said Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie, whose focus over the last week has been tested by talk of his job being on the line. "You think about what he's been through all season, as far as the physical stress, the mental stress, he's handled it well."

Kentucky president Lee Todd, who attended the game, declined to comment on Gillispie's job status. A Kentucky source tells ESPN.com that "nothing should happen Thursday" in terms of an announcement on Gillispie's future.

Todd is not departing South Bend until Thursday, which would seem to be a prime factor in why no announcement on Gillispie would come before Friday, a Kentucky source told ESPN.com's Pat Forde.

Gillispie said the speculation about his job security wasn't a distraction.

"I do one thing. I always stay focused. I take care of my task at hand," he said. "That's what I always have done and that's what I will do."

Asked about how he feels about all the judgment he's facing after posing a 40-27 record in two seasons at Kentucky, Gillispie said: "There's only one judgment I'll ever be concerned about, and I hope I pass that judgment. That's the only one I'll ever be concerned about, and I'm really proud that that's the only judgment that will ever have a real effect on me, and I hope I pass that one with flying colors."

Gillispie declined to answer when asked whose judgment he was referring to, saying it was obvious, apparently referring to Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart.

On the court, Kentucky had no answer for Luke Harangody, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds for Notre Dame (21-14).

"He was pretty much scoring all over the court," said Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson, who guarded Harangody.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, meanwhile, said the Irish threw a variety of defenders at Meeks, who finished with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, although Ryan Ayers had the most success against Meeks.

"He only had three shots in the first half," Brey said. "But a guy like that, he got going a little bit in the second half. But overall I thought we did a really good job."

Kentucky (22-14) cut the lead to 67-62 on a slam dunk by Perry Stevenson with 2:42 left. But the Irish were 8-of-8 from the free-throw line over the final 1:29 to end the game on a 10-5 run to hang on.

"We're all super excited," said Notre Dame guard Kyle McAlarney, who added 15 points. "This was our goal coming into the NIT. We put all the talk about us getting to the NCAAs way behind us and we focused on getting back to New York."

The Irish, who hit 12 3-pointers in the win, will face Penn State (25-11) Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

A large number of Kentucky fans, including its pep band, made the trip to South Bend, which is about 325 miles away from Lexington. It appeared about a quarter of the 7,636 fans were wearing Kentucky blue. When Meeks hit a pair of 3-pointers midway through the second half to cut Notre Dame's lead to 52-41, the Kentucky fans started chanted "Go big blue."

They were quickly drown out by Notre Dame fans chanting: "Let's go Irish."

"They brought their band and cheerleaders like a high school game," Harangody said. "It was kind of fun, the fans going back and forth. It was neat. It was a good crowd."

The scene was reminiscent of when red-clad Nebraska fans filled about a third of Notre Dame Stadium for a football game in 2000 and chanted: "Husker, home game!"

It was Notre Dame's first win over the Wildcats since an 80-67 victory in 1990 during Rick Pitino's first year as Kentucky coach.

UK loses to UGA - fire "Coach"

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090305/SPORTS03/903050448/1002/SPORTS

What a joke. Fire Billy Gillispie. He is better off in Texas. He seems to better at getting DUI's than winning games in a Elite Conference.

Gillispie needs to coach at a Mid-Major Conference. Maybe there he could coach and win games. Tubby may not have taken UK to Final Fours, but at least he could win 20 plus games a season, make it to the sweet 16 and win SEC titles.

UK Needs a New Coach - Fire Billy Gillispie

Seriously, this guy is not the man for UK. Send him back to Texas. I am sick of people still blaming Tubby.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090204/SPORTS03/902040499/1002/SPORTS

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- That perfect league start seems like a faded memory.

The University of Kentucky men's basketball team suffered another head-scratcher last night -- a 66-57 setback to Mississippi State, which had not won in Lexington since 1995.

The announced Rupp Arena crowd of 21,940 booed the Wildcats, who trailed 37-24 at halftime and saw their second-half comeback fall short.

Now the team is searching for answers.

UK (16-7) started its Southeastern Conference schedule 5-0 but has followed with three straight losses -- at Mississippi, at home against South Carolina and now this.

It was painful game all around for the Cats. Forward Ramon Harris left in the second half with a left shoulder injury, although coach Billy Gillispie said he could have returned. Star guard Jodie Meeks broke a tooth before exiting late in the game. Michael Porter is wondering about the team's heart.

"Right now it seems like we don't care out there," the junior point guard said. "Like we're not playing with any heart and desire. We're not competing. If we can change that maybe things will turn around. We just have to care a little bit more and have a little more fight in us."

Gillispie said on Monday that the Cats needed to take competing more personally, but last night Mississippi State (15-7, 5-2) displayed a lot more bite.

It never trailed while torching UK with 14-of-27 three-point shooting.

"We have to play a lot tougher," said UK forward Patrick Patterson, whose team missed its first 10 shots. "We also have to play with a lot more heart. We have to play a lot more competitive. We have to want it more than the opposition does. We have to play together, play as a whole, play as one, play as a family."

UK used a 10-0 second-half run to get back into the game but never got closer than three points. With Mississippi State leading 45-42, the Bulldogs' Jarvis Varnado -- who finished with six points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks -- scored on a dunk and Barry Stewart followed with a three-pointer.

The momentum seemed to permanently shift in Mississippi State's favor when UK's Perry Stevenson was called for an offensive foul after grabbing a rebound. The Bulldogs got the ball back and Dee Bost scored to move the margin to 52-45.

Mississippi State then made three straight three-pointers, including one by Phil Turner while he was falling down, to push the lead to 61-45.

Ravern Johnson had five three-pointers and finished with 17 points. Turner made four threes and had 18 points. Stewart had three threes, and Bost hit two.

"When teams spread you out and make shots like they were, they usually get you on penetration and pitch," Gillispie said. "But they didn't. They got most of their threes on back screens, out-of-bounds plays and those kind of things. Those are things we should have done a better job of defending because we knew all of their plays. We weren't quite tough enough when they screened us."

For a long time, the loudest ovation wasn't for the UK basketball team but for Philadelphia Phillies pitcher and former UK star Joe Blanton. The Cats' second-half rally got the fans excited for a bit. Trailing 43-30, they reeled off 10 straight points, capped by Meeks' breakaway dunk with 11 minutes to play. Varnado broke the run with two free throws with 10:40 to go.

Meeks and Patterson finished with 15 points each. No other UK player scored in double figures, and the Cats shot just 21 of 59 (35.6 percent).

UK will have plenty of time to think about its losing streak. The Cats' next game will be next Tuesday, when they host Florida.

"We have to get back to practice," Stevenson said. "We have to practice like we know and get back to playing like we were at the start of the conference."

Michael Grant can be reached at (502) 582-4069.

UK wins on Mr. Wildcat day

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=uwire-mhoopsformerkentuckyequipm&prov=uwire&type=lgns

CSTV U-WIRE) LEXINGTON, Ky.—Familiarity.

On a day in which the Kentucky men’s basketball team honored what is considered one of the most famous faces in UK basketball history, Bill “Mr. Wildcat” Keightley, the Cats (6-3) got back to the familiarity of victory, defeating Mississippi Valley State 88-65 on Sunday at Rupp Arena.

Even Mississippi Valley State (0-10) had a face familiar to Cats fans. Its head coach is former UK player Sean Woods.

“It was awesome to come back to UK,” Woods said. “I was just glad I didn’t have to play against anyone that coached me.”

Something Woods may have noticed to be a bit different from his playing days were the uniforms the Cats wore for the game. Instead of the traditional home white jerseys, UK donned black uniforms with “Keightley” on the nameplate where individual names usually go.


The jerseys came as a surprise to the players &mdash they didn’t find out about the change until 10 minutes before the game when the alternate uniforms were hanging in the locker room. The homage to the longtime equipment manager is something sophomore Patrick Patterson said he wishes the Cats could do every home game.

“I wish we could wear black at home and white on the road,” Patterson said. “They make us look good. Plus, what can you say about the man that we honored with them? He is loved and missed every day.”

UK head coach Billy Gillispie reiterated Patterson’s comments during his post-game news conference. He said there is never too much you can do to honor Keightley, who died on March 31 from internal bleeding caused by an undiagnosed spinal tumor.

The Cats also honored Keightley with a video played before the starting lineup was announced, as well as several other videos throughout the game. Keightley’s retired jersey was re-raised to the Rupp Arena rafters, and UK coaches and staff wore a lapel pin of a No. 48 UK jersey. Keightley’s first year at UK was 1948.

“Everything today was perfect,” Gillispie said. “Well, except for these pins. They shouldn’t have made them slim-fitting. Mr. Keightley could never have fit into a slim-fit.”

While the man honored was the epitome of familiarity to UK fans, the Cats saw themes on the floor that have become familiar this season. Coming off a 73-67 loss to Miami on Saturday in which they trailed by 20 at halftime, the Cats started slow again on Sunday.

“There may have been a little bit of a hangover,” Gillispie said. “We did some good things today, but we definitely have some things that we need to improve on.”

One of the improvements was getting Patterson more touches in the post. The improvement allowed him to record his 12th career double-double, with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Jodie Meeks found his shooting stroke again and recorded 24 points.

“Coach Gillispie has a lot of confidence in me to make a play,” Patterson said. “My teammates always look for me down low and they did a better job with that tonight. I told everyone to put the ball up and I would go get it.”

While the Cats are 6-3 on the season, Gillispie said the ceiling for this team’s potential is extremely high as long as improvements are made in the right areas. Gillispie is looking for more leadership when the team is facing adversity, something he addressed in both post-game news conferences this weekend.

With six days before their next game against Indiana, Gillispie and Patterson both said they expect a hard week of practice that will translate to the improvement needed to get the Cats back to another familiar place &mdash in the top 25 and back in the talk for a national championship.

“This team is going to be really good,” Gillispie said. “Six-and-three is not a good record for us right now, but this team is improving at a fast rate.”

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