‘It didn’t look good.’ Former Kentucky stars recall slow starts to seasons.
A 1-2 start to a season is rare for Kentucky basketball, but it’s not unprecedented. In the 93 seasons since 1927, UK has had a losing record after three games eight times. It happened most recently when Billy Gillispie’s last team started the 2008-09 season with two losses.
A loss to Georgia Tech on Sunday would mark only the fifth time since 1927 that Kentucky has had a losing record after four games.
The nadir for starts to a Kentucky season since Calvin Coolidge was president came in 1984-85. After defeating Toledo in the opening game, UK lost at Purdue, to SMU and at Indiana and Louisville.
“It didn’t look good,” the leading light of that team, Kenny Walker, recalled.
Walker added that he felt sympathy for his coach, Joe B. Hall, who planned to retire after the previous season, but then decided to return for one more season after the disappointing loss to Georgetown in the 1984 Final Four.
Kentucky’s fortunes changed when Hall called Walker into his office after the 1-4 start. The coach’s message? “I’m really going to need to ride you this year,” Walker recalled Hall saying.
The pivotal moment came in a 92-89 victory over No. 12 Kansas in Louisville on New Year’s Eve. Walker scored a career-high 36 points. Incidentally, a fellow named John Calipari was an assistant coach for Kansas.
“That game gave us life,” Walker said.
Kentucky did not steamroll through the rest of the season. But led by Walker, who averaged more points (22.9) than the next three highest scorers combined, UK got a bid to the NCAA Tournament despite a 16-12 record. Then the Wildcats went on a mini-run to the Sweet 16. With this uptick, Hall was content with retirement.
Jack Givens blamed the thrill of a run to the 1975 championship game for Kentucky’s 0-2 start the following season.
“There’s no doubt we were kind of living off what we had accomplished,” he said. “And what we found out very quickly was … that just fired up (opponents) even more.”
After 20 games, Kentucky had a 10-10 record in 1975-76. Givens, one of the captains, called a team meeting. “Players only,” he said. Senior Reggie Warford demanded accountability.
“We had to learn how to play all over again,” Givens said. “When you’re young, you think you’re playing hard. … We had to win by defense, not by offense.”
Kentucky won its last 10 games, which included the 1976 NIT championship.
“I don’t think we win the (1978) NCAA Tournament without winning that NIT,” Givens said.
Kevin Grevey endured two 1-3 starts: in 1972-73 and 1973-74.
“It’s like pulling a chair out from under (the person about to sit down),” he said.
Losing to Iowa, Indiana and North Carolina after winning at Michigan State that first season was nothing to be ashamed about, Grevey said. But Hall, who was beginning the unenviable task of replacing Adolph Rupp, was not happy. Grevey recalled “intensity” and “anger” in practices. Hall asked the players if the 1-3 start reflected how they wanted to be remembered.
“Boy, it was very, very tough,” Grevey said. “It was gloomy.”
Kentucky won 10 straight down the stretch and advanced to within one victory of the Final Four.
“It was magical,” Grevey said, “one of my fondest memories.”
The next season saw no such revival for Kentucky. A 1-3 start and a 1-4 finish bookended a 13-13 record.
When asked if pressure mounted, Grevey said, “We felt it, baby.”
As Grevey recalled, Kentucky fans did not increase the pressure. “They never turned on us,” he said. “I never heard a boo. They just kept trying to encourage us.”
Givens spoke of a similar boost from UK fans in the 1975-76 season.
“They got us through a bunch of games, including the last game in Memorial Coliseum,” he said of Kentucky’s 94-93 overtime victory over Mississippi State. “We don’t win that game with a couple thousand people in Memorial Coliseum.”
Of course, the coronavirus pandemic robs this season’s teams, including the current Cats, of this facet of a home court advantage. Attendance in Rupp Arena is capped at 3,075.
“That was a powerful tool they just don’t have right now,” Givens said of a large crowd. “That’s 10 points a game that the crowd just kind of takes from the other team and they give to the home team. So, they’re going to miss that.”
None of the former UK players who could identify with the current 1-2 start saw a long-term downturn. But Walker suggested another factor that will make this season a steeper climb than he experienced in 1984-85.
“One thing that Coach Cal doesn’t have is the chemistry that sometimes you build with players who stay in school two or three years,” Walker said. “You build a connection and a camaraderie. … You’ve built this confidence and chemistry with each other, and that can pull you through sometimes.”
Long shots
A watch list of 50 players for the Wooden Award (for National Player of the Year) was announced on Tuesday.
Within 10 minutes, the gambling site BetOnline released its odds on which player would win.
The site made Iowa’s Luka Garza a 5-4 favorite to win the Wooden Award.
UK players past and present are long shots.
The odds on Brandon Boston are 75-1. Terrence Clarke, Olivier Sarr, Keion Brooks and Devin Askew are all 250-1 long shots. Ex-Cat Johnny Juzang, now playing for UCLA, is also a 250-1 long shot.
Transactional
Shawn Kemp, who turned 51 on Nov. 26, was a highly regarded prospect from Elkhart, Ind. He narrowed his college choices to Kentucky, Indiana and UNLV. His choice of UK came at a price.
“I knew I wasn’t going to win Mr. Basketball,” Kemp said on The Players’ Tribune show titled “Knuckleheads.”
“(Indiana coach) Bobby Knight called me himself and told me, there’s no chance in hell I was going to win Mr. Basketball by going to Kentucky,” Kemp told co-hosts Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. “Either I reverse the decision or kiss the Mr. Basketball Award away.”
Kemp did not change his mind. Of course, he left Eddie Sutton’s UK program before the first game. He transferred to Trinity Valley Community College with the intention of joining Larry Johnson at UNLV the following season.
Then Kemp watched Magic Johnson play in the NBA’s 1988 All-Star Game. He called UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian and Johnson to tell them he was going into that year’s NBA Draft.
First impression
The “Knuckleheads” show usually begins with the hosts asking the guest to talk about how a veteran player introduced him to the NBA by kicking his (butt).
Shawn Kemp said his introduction came courtesy of fellow Hoosier Larry Bird.
Awaiting the tipoff, Bird asked Kemp about breaking his high school records. Then Bird asked if Kemp dunked on his younger brother, Eddie Bird.
After two confirmations, Kemp said Bird replied, “I got something for you.”
Said Kemp: “Larry gave me 50 (points) in three quarters.” Adding insult to this injury, Bird would tell Kemp on the Celtics’ defensive end what he planned to do on the other end.
“That’s how cold Larry Bird was,” Kemp said.
Congrats
To Mississippi State’s Ben Howland. State’s 68-51 victory over Texas State on Monday marked the 500th coaching victory.
“It’s really special,” he said after the game. “I feel really blessed, and I am really blessed. … I told our team after the game (that) the biggest thing that I feel blessed about is that I’ve found something that I love to do. I’ve been doing it my whole life. That’s what you have to find as a person is whatever it is that you love, and that you’re passionate about to make that your life. It’s such a blessing. I don’t know how many people get a chance to do that, but I’m definitely one of them.”
Condolences
To the family of former UK standout Kevin Grevey. His mother, Michaele Sullivan Grevey, died on Wednesday. She was 87. The cause of death was congestive heart failure.
“She was the matriarch the whole family revolved around,” Grevey said. “She loved Kentucky so much.”
She had two connections to Kentucky. Besides Grevey (1971-1975), his nephew Ryan Hogan (1997-99) also played for UK.
“Ryan’s teammates all knew her,” Grevey said, “and all my teammates knew her.”
Happy birthday
To UK assistant coach Jai Lucas. He turned 32 on Saturday. … To Randy Noll. He turned 71 on Saturday. … To former Auburn coach Cliff Ellis. He turned 75 on Saturday. … To Sam Malone. He turns 29 on Sunday (today). … To Eric Bledsoe. He turns 31 on Wednesday. … To former UK All-American and later Athletic Director Cliff Hagan. He turns 89 on Wednesday.
