Father-versus-son basketball matchups can be ‘a double-edged sword’
The opposing point guard had gotten off to a good start. Then-Kentucky coach Tubby Smith called timeout. More than 20 years later, he clearly remembered his instruction.
“I said, ‘Look fellas, I know he’s my son. But I want him shut down. You understand? He better not score again,’” Smith recalled telling his Wildcats. “It gets to the point you go, ‘Whoa, whoa. You guys are letting him (score).’
“So it’s really a double-edged sword.”
That’s how Smith recalled the father-versus-son dynamic he experienced when his eldest son, G.G. Smith, played for Georgia against Kentucky four times in the late 1990s.
UK expected to get another episode of basketball’s version of “Family Feud” this season when John Calipari scheduled a game against Detroit Mercy. Brad Calipari plays for the Titans. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the game has been postponed twice: originally set for Nov. 27, then rescheduled unsuccessfully for Tuesday.
With Detroit Mercy starting conference play next weekend, it does not seem a sure thing the teams will play this season. John Calipari said Friday that he had not spoken to Detroit Mercy Coach Mike Davis about rescheduling the game again.
During a preseason phone call, the younger Calipari said he was excited about competing against his father. “It’s going to be great to play against the old man,” he said, having obviously inherited his father’s playful sense of humor. The “old man” said Friday that he scheduled the game for that purpose.
The Smiths might suggest they be careful about what they wish for. Although Kentucky won all four times, Tubby Smith did not remember those games against his son fondly.
“I dreaded it … ,” he said. “It’s unnerving. You get butterflies because you want him to do well. You want him to have a great game. You want his team to play well. But you want to win.”
G.G. Smith, who is now the associate head coach on his father’s staff at High Point, also remembered the games as stressful.
“It was a unique experience,” he said recently, “but I wouldn’t want to do it again.”
The anticipation can be the hardest part. The younger Smith recalled that first game had a late start. “It was a long day,” he said. “A lot to think about. Once the ball was tipped, it was just a regular game.”
As with John and Brad Calipari, the Smiths’ connection included the son playing for the father. Those shared two seasons at Georgia came to mind when G.G. Smith stole a glance at his father on the opposing bench.
“There were a couple times where Kentucky messed up and he got that stare and that stomp,” the younger Smith said. “I was, like, I’m glad it’s not directed at me anymore.”
Of course, a third actor is involved in these father-son dramas. Donna Smith then and Ellen Calipari now would play the dual roles of wife of the coach and mother of the player.
“Obviously, she had both colors on,” G.G. said of his mother’s game attire including UK blue and Georgia red, “and was trying to go both ways. But I think deep down she was rooting for me.”
Tubby Smith suggested his wife wanted both father and son to enjoy the experience.
But after the game? “She might say, why did you do that to G.G.?” Tubby Smith said with a chuckle.
As for Ellen, Brad Calipari sounded confident of his mother’s rooting interest.
“I think she’ll root for me 100 percent,” he said in the preseason. “I’m her favorite son. I’m her only son, also.”
Tubby and Brad?
When it became known that Brad Calipari wanted to leave the UK team and find greater playing opportunity elsewhere, Tubby Smith had interest.
“We tried to get him here,” Smith said of High Point’s team.
Smith called UK Coach John Calipari. “I said, ‘Cal, c’mon, man, send your son down here.’”
Smith pointed out that he is not a novice at coaching the son of a coach. Besides having coached two of his own sons -- G.G. Smith at Georgia and Saul Smith at Kentucky — he said he has coached sons of Lionel Hollins and Ralph Sampson.
Mixed emotions
Detroit Mercy Coach Mike Davis knows about coaching his son. Antoine Davis is the Titans’ leading light.
But coaching against his son?
“I couldn’t even imagine coaching against my son,” the elder Davis said. “It’s got to be emotional. Is your son another player you X-and-O against?
“We want to shut him down, but you want him to make shots. It’s like you’re having two different emotions at the same time.”
Of his players defending his son’s shot, the Detroit Mercy coach said, “I can only imagine you want to contest it really hard, but you want it to go in.”
COVID survivor
Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes, 66, contracted the coronavirus earlier this year. He expressed appreciation for the advice he received from Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo, who had recovered from COVID. Izzo texted him daily to check on his condition and advise him on what to expect.
Barnes said he did not lose his senses of smell and taste during about 12 days of recovery.
“On that sixth, seventh, eighth day, I felt like maybe I was more lethargic because I was bored,” the UT coach said. “I’m not used to not doing things for five, six days.
“I took it very seriously. I was not going to leave my house. I was going to stay isolated. I got tired of watching ‘Gunsmoke.’”
‘Let’s just play’
Kansas Coach Bill Self has no objections to the entire 2021 NCAA Tournament being played in Indianapolis. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA is considering playing the entire tournament in the Indianapolis area.
“I just hope we have a tournament,” he said. “I just hope we play. We could play in Indianapolis. We could play in Florida. Alaska. New Mexico. Kansas. It makes no difference. Let’s just play. …
“Is it perfect? No. But this isn’t going to be a perfect world year.”
Self recalled the abrupt cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament because of COVID. Kansas (28-3) was ranked No. 1 by The Associated Press. Basketball Power Index and TeamRankings picked the Jayhawks to win the national championship.
“I think last year everybody would have been giddy after initial disappointment to say, OK, everybody go to Indianapolis and we’ll have a ‘bubble,’” Self said. “Everybody would have been fantastic with that.”
‘Nothing But Net’
Former UK Athletics staffer Debbie Antonelli will be the host for a podcast called “Nothing But Net” for the Field of 68 Network. The podcast will focus on women’s basketball.
Antonelli, who was UK’s director of marketing, played for N.C. State.
More recently, she has worked as an on-air analyst for CBS, Fox Sports, the Big Ten Network, NBA TV, Westwood One and the Indiana Fever. She now works for ESPN.
In 2017, Antonelli became the first woman in nearly 22 years to call a men’s NCAA Tournament game.
Kentucky reunion
The story about former UK player Derek Anderson graduating with a degree in psychology Dec. 4 triggered a memory for Tom Hammond.
“It reminded me of an NBA game I was broadcasting …,” he wrote in an email. “Derek was kneeling just in front of us to inbound the ball when play resumed. As we came back from a commercial he looked up and saw me and said, ‘Hey, Tom, how you doing?’ And I replied something like, ‘Great, Derek. How about you?’
“And Steve Jones cut in with, ‘What is this? A Kentucky reunion?’ It brought a laugh from everyone. Good memories.”
Happy birthday
To Cameron Mills. He turned 45 on Thursday. … To former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson. He turned 61 on Saturday. … To Ole Miss Coach Kermit Davis. He turns 61 on Monday. … To Kelenna Azubuike. He turns 37 on Wednesday. … To Deron Feldhaus. He turns 52 on Wednesday. … To Adam Chiles. He turns 38 on Wednesday. … To Allen Edwards. He turns 45 on Wednesday. … To former Vandy coach Jan Van Breda Kolff. He turns 69 on Wednesday. … To Nigel Hayes, the Wisconsin player who made the shot after the shot clock expired in the 2015 Final Four. He turns 26 on Wednesday. … To former UK women’s coach Matthew Mitchell. He turns 50 on Wednesday.
