HOUSTON — It’s been a busy, busy last few days here in Houston. I’ve done my best to cover a sliver of what has been going on at the Final Four this week, but there is no way I could even begin to touch half of the storylines. Here’s my best and final attempt to touch on the storylines I missed this week and some of the pregame talk on the day of UK’s first Final Four since 1998.– I thought John Calipari summed up the relationship of him and Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun pretty well: “People are going to make more of that than they really should,” Calipari said. The two won’t be sending each other Christmas cards this year, but I don’t think it’s as frigid of a relationship as everyone thinks. You’re not going to be friends with everyone in the coaching business. The two were very cordial with each other this week. They’ll coach a game against each other Saturday, shake hands and then move on. What else do people want? “We’re both going to want to win the game, but this isn’t about us,” Calipari said. “I’m not on the court and neither is he. It’s about how we get our teams to play. He takes great pride and so do I. We’ll see what happens.”
– Both coaches are pretty big on enjoying the moment this week. The teams are down here to win a national championship, but they’re also student-athletes, and they should be having fun. “My advice is … is to enjoy the moment, enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy the Final Four and then go and try to win two games,” Calhoun said. The Huskies were scheduled to visit “Bracket Town” in downtown Houston, and Calipari was hoping to take the guys to a movie and dinner.
– Having said all that, the easy-going, laidback Cats that we saw the first two days in Houston changed to a business-like approach Friday. The players were a little quieter, a little more focused. Calipari said they’re treating UConn just like it was a regular-season game, meaning not a lot of film for the players and a lot of focusing inward. Said Brandon Knight: “It’s still a business trip. We’re here to win a national championship.”
– Reliant Stadium is huge – I mean gigantic. The Astrodome, once tabbed the eighth wonder of the world, sits right next to the stadium and looks like it could fit inside Reliant. Inside Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, the place is extremely cavernous. That could make shooting sightlines extremely difficult. It’s been a factor in past Final Fours in domes, but I didn’t notice any shooting difficulties at Friday’s practice and none of the UK players thought it would be a factor for this happy-shooting Kentucky team. The floor itself is built on risers and sits above media row. A couple of reporters said they felt more spring in the court, but Knight said he didn’t notice.
– Of course, when you have a stadium that seats more than 70,000 fans, you’re creating a situation for Big Blue fans to take over. The city of Houston is spread out, so it had been difficult to get a very good gauge on the turnout until Friday. At Friday’s practice, Big Blue fans packed the stands to see a glorified 50-minute UK shoot-around. And then, Friday night, UK fans started to fill into the team hotel by the hundreds. From what I’m told, most UK fans didn’t plan on arriving until Friday. It looks like most of them have showed up now, which should make for a pretty UK-dominated crowd.
– John Calipari’s father was in attendance at Friday’s practice and even spoke to a few reporters while he sat courtside. I caught Calipari smiling a couple of times when he looked over at his father talking to the media. As most of you know, Calipari’s mother passed away Nov. 28. Calipari said his father and mother were married 54 years. “It’s been really hard,” Calipari said. “He hadn’t left the house in a while. The SEC Tournament, he came to Atlanta. We had a great time. He came to Florida, came to Newark. He’s here. Really, getting to spend some time with him, you know, letting him enjoy and take his mind off the grief that he’s going through right now. … For me to spend time with my dad, with his grandson also – they’re staying in rooms side-by-side with a combining door where they can see each other – it’s good stuff. It’s really good stuff.”
– DeAndre Liggins backed off his comments from Thursday that last year’s team had “too many egos.” Said Liggins: “Last year’s team was close, too. It was like me isolating myself a little bit. That’s part of my personality. That’s no offense to the players last year. But we were brothers last year on the team, too. We were close a lot. That’s how we won how many games we won. We reached the Elite Eight. We were close.” I, for one, don’t think egos are what prevented UK from making the Final Four last year. After all, the team was 35-3. But I get what Liggins said Friday and believe it. We didn’t see Liggins talk or associate with his teammates a lot last year. He was still in an emotional shell and didn’t open up like he has this year. I think that could be where those comments stemmed from.
– We’ve discussed the early season matchup between UK and UConn in great detail this week, but a couple more differences that should be noted. Knight was 3 of 15 from the floor with five turnovers in the EA Sports Maui Invitational finals. Josh Harrellson was held scoreless UConn freshman Jeremy Lamb scored just two points in 12 minutes. Here’s guessing all three play much, much better Saturday night.
– All four experts in Saturday’s Houston Chronicle picked UConn to beat Kentucky. The more doubt, the more this team seems to thrive.
– UK is 7-2 in national semifinal games.
– Kentucky’s defense, as it has been all season, is key. The Cats are 26-0 when holding the opponent to 67 points or fewer. UK is 47-0 under Calipari when holding an opponent to 67 points or fewer.
– A win would move Kentucky into sole possession of first place in all-time NCAA Tournament wins. UK is currently tied with North Carolina at 105 wins.
– UConn is 12-0 in neutral site games this year. UK is 10-1, the lone loss coming to Connecticut.
