Liggins facing new ball game

Commentator: Thinking, reacting tough task for freshmen

By Jerry Tipton / Herald-Leader Staff Writer

Before and after he worked Kentucky's game against Indiana last month, CBS commentator Greg Anthony spoke to freshman DeAndre Liggins. Anthony sought to help Liggins make the seldom-easy transition from high school star to college novice.

With few exceptions, freshmen must re-learn how to play basketball. In Liggins' case, he came to Kentucky as a highly regarded prospect. But, in a sense, he'd never played the game before.

"The higher the level gets, the more difficult the game gets," Anthony said last week when asked about his talks with Liggins. "You can't impose yourself with just your physical ability. You have to think the game more."

This creates a Catch-22 situation. The freshman must play a thinking man's game. Yet thinking can lead to hesitancy and indecision.

"The game at this level is not instinctive for him," Anthony said of Liggins. "By that, I mean playing winning basketball is not instinctive for him. ... Until it becomes instinctive, you're never going to be as good a basketball player as you're capable of being."

Like most freshmen, Liggins needs time to adapt. There's no set time for players to adapt.

Liggins complicated the learning process by refusing to re-enter one game and then sitting out another game for some undisclosed brush with UK basketball justice. Anthony called these incidents "growing pains."

Anthony, who works games for CBS this season, noted how Georgetown Coach John Thompson III told him of how quickly heralded freshman Greg Monroe adapts.

Anthony likened the difference between Monroe and Liggins to two students, one absorbing the material in a textbook with one reading while the other needs several re-readings.

"That doesn't mean you can't get to the same place," Anthony said.

In part because of injuries, Jodie Meeks blossomed in his third season for Kentucky. "That used to be the norm for how guys develop," Anthony said.

Then there are instant stars like Derrick Rose for Memphis last season. They create an unrealistic expectation for other freshmen.

A point guard on UNLV's national championship team of 1990 and then an NBA player, Anthony brings a been there-done that credibility to a discussion with current players.

He wants to help players in the same way that such stars as Magic Johnson gave him advice.

Anthony spoke to Liggins before and after the Indiana game at the invitation of the UK coaches. They talked about the point guard position and how it should be played.

Anthony also spoke to the UK team.

"I told them they had the ability and talent to be one of the best teams in the country," he said. " ... That's proven to be true so far. They're deserving because they've competed and played well."

Notable broadcaster

A note last week cited a Web site that had compiled a list of the top 50 broadcasters. A reader sent an e-mail protesting that the list did not include the late, great Cawood Ledford, who called UK games for 39 seasons.

That note led former UK player Guy Strong to send an e-mail. Strong said that Joel Utley, who has called Kentucky Wesleyan games for 48 seasons, should be included in a list of broadcasting greats.

Utley, 69, modestly shied from being linked to Ledford. But he did share an oft-told story dating to his days as a fledgling broadcaster.

While attending UK, Utley worked part-time for Lexington radio station WVLK. The morning after Kentucky beat UCLA in 1961, his boss asked Utley to go to the airport and interview John Wooden before the Bruins left town.

Utley did what he was told. The interview with the UCLA coach lasted "probably not more than five minutes," he said.

In the next day or two, Utley received what was known then as an air-mail letter. It was a hand-written thank-you note from Wooden.

"I was bowled over that the coach would even remember me and write me a letter," Utley said on Friday. "From that day to this, I've been a UCLA fan."

Utley agreed that such gracious gestures are rare. "Never happened again in 48 years," he said.

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Liggins facing new ball game

Commentator: Thinking, reacting tough task for freshmen

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