LEXINGTON - Bless Ramel Bradley's heart. After the Louisville Cardinals dismantled Bradley and the Kentucky Wildcats, 89-75, Saturday at Rupp Arena, Bradley blamed himself, at least in part.
Bradley, Kentucky's beleaguered senior point guard, said he was much to blame for a 9-0 Louisville run that started the second half, giving the Cardinals the lead for good, and leading U of L on to the big victory.
Louisville cranked up a full-court zone press that gave Kentucky fits through the first 10 minutes of that second half. UK led this one, 31-30, at halftime, but then trailed as many as 22 points down the stretch. The Cardinals could have won this game by 30 but chose not to.
"The way we started the second half wasn't good at all," Bradley said. "They just came out and jumped on us, and we didn't hit back. That was the turning point in the game."
Why did Louisville's pressure cause so much havoc for Kentucky?
"I would say it was my fault a lot," Bradley said. "I didn't get open like I should have. Initially, when we first take the ball out, we didn't get the right person taking the ball out that we wanted to every single time. I think I had a lot to do with that."
You would get the impression that Bradley had a lousy game based on those comments. In fact, he had 27 points, two rebounds, five assists and four turnovers in 40 minutes.
And yet, Bradley himself didn't give you the impression he played well at all.
Maybe that's because he listens so well to Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie, who dishes out a lot of blame to his players but rarely says anything that leads me to believe that Gillispie himself might be in part at fault for this train-wreck start to the season.
Kentucky is now 6-7 and headed towards oblivion this winter. Louisville is 10-4 and headed towards great things if the Cardinals improve their health and their discipline.
U of L played without sophomore big man Earl Clark Saturday. Clark was serving a suspension that Coach Rick Pitino says should end at one game. Clark should be back when the Cardinals host West Virginia Thursday night.
Two other standout Cardinals, senior big men David Padgett and Juan Palicios, are playing very well despite injuries.
Before I leave the issues of Bradley and blame, however, let me mention that Kentucky's other senior, swing man Joe Crawford " another beleaguered one " added 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists and seven turnovers in 35 minutes against Louisville.
Yes, those seven turnovers raise an eyebrow to be sure, but maybe Crawford wouldn't have so many turnovers if he had teammates ON THE COURT who could get open. And maybe more teammates would be open if Gillispie had different substitution patterns. I would suggest Gillispie start by giving freshman forward A.J. Stewart more playing time.
Oh, I forget, Stewart has a mysterious injury. We'll learn soon, we can only hope, if Stewart will be available for more playing time.
But, I digress. Let's move on to Gillespie's assessment of the play of his two beleaguered seniors " Bradley and Crawford.
A reporter made the mistake of using the phrase "step up" to Gillispie in describing the play of Bradley and Crawford against Louisville, violating one of Gillispie's first laws about his beleaguered seniors " don't say anything positive.
"They had big numbers in scoring, but stepping up for us right now would be really running our team for the entire time," Gillispie said of Bradley and Crawford. "They had really good numbers in scoring and they tried hard (I admit, that almost sounds positive, doesn't it?), but as far as really stepping up I guess that's a relative term."
Okay, here's the issue I'm dodging around here: Make the best of what you have. That's what a good coach does. Joe Crawford will never be a great defender and Ramel Bradley will never be the second coming of Jason Kidd. But, hey, guess what? Those are the players Kentucky has to go to battle with right now.
I cannot understand why Gillispie starts some of the lineups he does and in general gives minutes to some and ignores others.
You won't get an answer from Gillispie.
For example, a reporter asked Gillispie Saturday why he didn't start sophomore guard Derrick Jasper after the strong game Jasper had this past week against Florida International.
"Chose not to," was Gillispie's response.
I'm not sure what bothers me more, or what bothers the Kentucky fans more at this point " the losing, or Gillispie's arrogance, as displayed in an answer like that one.
And yet, despite all this, I still believe it's more likely than not that Gillispie will eventually have the Wildcats back on a glory road. His track record leading up this year says so, and his recruiting says so. But his arrogance is making the road much more rocky than it needs to be.
Pitino was gracious about Gillispie and the Wildcats in his post-game press conference Saturday.
"Don't get discouraged," is the message Pitino sends to Kentucky fans. "He's a terrific coach (presumably, Gillispie). He's going to get the talent in here. He's a tireless worker and a great recruiter. Down the road " this is going to be a journey for him " just stay positive. You're going to have a program like the old days."