I was 5th row In The Indiana section at Freedom Hall when Mike Davis threw his fit on the court! It was epic.
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I went to the coaches clinic when Gillispie was here. (I'm not a coach, I just paid to get in.)
I came away truly impressed. He was a madman. He had guys diving into water coolers and stuff. It was ridiculous.
BUT he bullied poor Joe Crawford. At one point he told Ramel and Crawford that he refused to let the two of them destroy the team. Crawford limped badly through the whole practice, was clearly hurt. Gillispie said nothing about it.
I came away thinking that he was kind of an old-school maniac sort, a kind of upgraded Bobby Knight. And that turned out to be...true. But not in a good way for us.Comment
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It was crazy. Far crazier than I can even recall, because it's been a few years at this point. But I remember feeling terrible for him.
However to Crawford's credit, he didn't say a word. Just kept practicing (and limping).
I guess the main reason I was impressed (not with the Crawford stuff, just generally) with it is because we'd come off something so opposite from that. Tubby was not known as a drill sergeant sort, and I thought here we have this driven wild man who's going to basically eat nabs and not take anybody's crap and just be a kind of genius tyrant.
It didn't turn out that way, obviously. Not even close.Comment
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The interesting thing about that stuff is that, to this day, Crawford and Bradley won't talk bad about Billy.
The last time he was interviewed, Crawford talked about him fondly, which seems strange, considering he was, by all accounts, an alcoholic maniac.Comment
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That was such a good game.
Mine is probably Indiana vs. Kentucky, 1993. They were ranked #3 and #4, I think. Jamal Mashburn, Calbert Cheaney, Travis Fod, and Alan Henderson starred in that game. They all finished with 29 points each. Roderick Rhodes shut down Cheaney in the last portion of that game.
It was at Freedom Hall with an evenly split crowd. That sort of split crowd, like at good SEC tournament games, adds a great dimension as a fan in attendance.
College basketball will never be that excellent again, I think.
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That’s also one of my favorites. That game wasn’t even as close as the 15 point final margin would suggest. His overall career at Kentucky was a disappointment, but I still vividly remember Antwain Barber throwing down a reverse dunk to punctuate a run and basically declare that game over. That’s the rowdiest I ever remember Rupp, and I’ve seen several big games.
Another somewhat forgotten game that’s on my short list is the Maryland game in 1998. They came in ranked #2 and undefeated, but we pretty easily handled them behind a career night from Heshimu Evans. Atmosphere was electric that night too.
Even though the game itself was slightly lower stakes that season, my all-time favorite memory might still be the North Carolina game in 2001 though. When Tayshaun hit that 5th shot in a row from near half court, the whole place went nuts. That’s probably still the most incredible individual feat that I’ve ever seen live.Comment
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I'll always have a soft spot for Barbour because he had a huge game against Alabama...the night before my son was born.
Heshimu is my favorite UK player.Another somewhat forgotten game that’s on my short list is the Maryland game in 1998. They came in ranked #2 and undefeated, but we pretty easily handled them behind a career night from Heshimu Evans. Atmosphere was electric that night too.
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