Former Duke player and assistant coach and current ESPN College GameDay analyst Jay Bilas took a few minutes out of his time Friday afternoon to answer some questions about the UK basketball team.
Bilas and the GameDay crew are in town setting up Saturday’s live broadcast from Rupp Arena. The UK-Tennessee game is the featured game of the GameDay broadcast.
Cat Scratches: It’s always a big deal when GameDay comes to town for any city, but this has to be kind of big for you all coming to a potentially sold out arena.Jay Bilas: I can’t believe it. I’ve never heard of anything like that. It just shows what fervor there is for basketball here and how great this place is. I don’t know if anybody remembers it, but back when this job came open after Tubby Smith left, there was a bunch of discussion about how good the Kentucky job is. I was like, ‘Are you kidding? This is the best job in the country.’ Without argument it’s top five. A lot of people were saying Billy Donovan should take it. People were saying Florida is a better job. No. Whether he takes it or not is a personal decision, but there is no way Florida is a better job than this. The support this place gets is second to none.
CS? How important is it for Kentucky to be back on the national scene for the sport of college basketball?JB: It’s helpful anytime the traditional powers are strong. It’s kind of like golf with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson when they’re playing well. In baseball it’s always better when the Yankees are good. It means more when you beat them.
CS: Last year at this time you all were probably on a set somewhere else debating about whether or not Kentucky was even going to be in the NCAA Tournament. Are you surprised at how quickly things have turned around here?JB: Yes, I am. I’m not surprised that John (Calipari) is doing so well, but how quickly and whatever the number of wins is vs. one loss is stunning. I’ve been on record as saying there aren’t any great teams this year. I don’t think it’s a great year for college basketball teams. That shouldn’t diminish how good Kentucky is because they’re Final Four good; they have a legitimate shot to win this thing. If you took the same team and put them in last year’s field I don’t think it would be the same, but it’s not – it’s now. It’s remarkable of what they’ve done.
CS: Specifically, what has Calipari done to rejuvenate this program?JB: He’s recruited. He’s a great salesman, and I mean that in a positive way. You don’t get this kind of response without players, and he’s got players. They’ve got more talent than anybody. It’s the most talented team in college basketball without question.
CS: You’ve been a big supporter of Calipari’s even when critics were hammering on him. Do you think the position and the seat he holds is the reason people are able to take more shots at him? Is that fair?JB: Nothing is fair, but that’s kind of the way it is. John is one of the best in the business. I don’t see how he should get treated different whether he’s at UMass or Memphis or Kentucky, but there are more eyes on him here, so anything that happens is going to be a bigger deal, positive or negative. I’m fine with that. The scrutiny is fine as long as it’s fair. I think for the most part it has been. Reasonable minds can differ on some of the issues. The only issue I’ve had with the way things have couched is when people say, whether they’re media or otherwise, ‘Well, the last two places he’s been they’ve had Final Fours vacated.’ That isn’t his responsibility. That is unfair. There are things coaches are responsible for and there are things they aren’t. Whether a kid takes money from an agent or signs a contract with an agent, I just don’t see how you can hold a coach responsible for that. The NCAA didn’t hold him responsible for that or make allegations against him in either case. The same thing at Memphis. We’re talking about a kid who was in high school. No coach can police a kid in high school. That’s unreasonable. I thought the way that was couched was unreasonable.
CS: Does Kentucky’s freshman class remind you of any other freshman class of the past?JB: The Fab Five maybe, but they’re not as good as that. A couple of them are, but going across the board with what those guys did in that era, because you’ve got to remember that was 17 or 18 years ago. I was an assistant coach back then and we played against the Fab Five. When you remember most of college basketball then, it was juniors and seniors. That’s not the case now. The game is so different. I think the players are generally better than they’ve ever been. Great players will be great in any year. But the teams aren’t as good now as they were in the early ’90s or late ’80s because you don’t have juniors and seniors. John Wall is an amazing talent. We’re going to show stuff tomorrow about how much better he could be if he did some things that a senior would do and how high his ceiling would be. Back when I played in the dark ages in the ’80s, everyone stayed. Can you imagine? Kenny Walker stayed for four years. He wouldn’t stay for four years now. He’d be gone after his second year, maybe his first. Sam Bowie wouldn’t have stayed four years. None of those guys would have. It’s just so totally different now. We’re not seeing juniors and seniors play against each other. We’re seeing freshmen and sophomores play against each other. We’re talking about freshmen as Player of the Year candidates, whereas years ago that would be an unusual happening. It happened, but it was unusual. Now it’s the norm.
CS: Talk about DeMarcus Cousins’ play of late. He seems to be playing as well as anybody in the nation. How important is he as far as establishing balance on this team for a potential title run?JB: He’s the one player that nobody has an answer for. You can’t play him one-on-one, period. I’ve actually worked with him during the summer at the Nike Skills Academy. He’s got tools that very few people have. The only thing that can stop DeMarcus Cousins is DeMarcus Cousins. I think it’s pretty well documented that he needs to grow up, but that’s not an indictment. A lot of kids need to grow up. He’s got some maturity issues that once he straightens out, and I’m hopeful that he will, he’ll be an unstoppable force. He’s an NBA All-Star. He’s Derrick Coleman, Roy Tarpley, all those guys wrapped into one. He’s got amazing ability.
