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Wildcats "get the W' even when not at their best

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LEXINGTON - Billy Gillispie continues to evolve in a positive way in his early tenure as men's basketball coach at Kentucky.
Early on, through the inexcusable losses to teams like Gardner-Webb and San Diego, Gillispie was even more arrogant/defensive than most college coaches. But just after New Year's, as his Wildcats picked up both their effort and their efficiency, Gillispie appeared to match the comfort level of his players.
Everyone in the blue and white corner seems in sync now as the Wildcats extended their winning streak to five Saturday with a pedestrian 62-52 win over Alabama at Rupp Arena.
It was far from a pretty win for Kentucky, but that, too, says something good perhaps because the Wildcats managed to get the "W' even when not at their best.
The Wildcats are playing very well defensively on a very consistent basis. That means they should be in every game and therefore should be a good tournament team, whether it's the NCAA Tournament or the NIT.
The Wildcats improved to 12-9 overall and a glittering 6-2 in the SEC with the Alabama win. Kentucky should lose Tuesday at Vanderbilt and should lose on March 2 at Tennessee. I would favor the Cats in every other game.
If that scenario plays out, UK would be 18-11 going to the SEC Tournament. Two wins in that tournament should get the Wildcats into the NCAA. Maybe even one win would do the trick. The biggest problem with the latter is that those losses to Gardner-Webb and San Diego hurt Kentucky's RPI so much.
But, back to Gillispie. Saturday after the Alabama game he went so far as to blame himself for a sluggish start against the Crimson Tide that allowed Alabama to lead most of the first half.
"The worst thing that happened is that I was a little hard on our guys coming into this game because I made them play a little tentative," Gillispie said. "Because I knew the importance of the game. And I think they played not to make mistakes because of my attitude. I told them that, and I hope I don't make the same mistake.
"But I might," Gillispie admitted.
"I want them to play with a free mind," he added. "I love guys who aren't afraid to make mistakes who aren't afraid to miss shots. It's hard for me to explain, but I know I presented too tense a guy in practice this week. I'm not making excuses and I'm not giving them excuses, but I think that had a lot to do with. Our players didn't play the way I think they can, and I think that was mostly my fault."
Kentucky got a huge lift from the return of senior guard Ramel Bradley, who had missed the last game and a half due to a slight concussion and flu bug. Bradley started slow along with his teammates but came on to lead Kentucky with 19 points and four steals in 29 minutes.
"I was just happy to be on the court," Bradley said. "It feels good to not be sick and just be playing basketball."
When told that Gillispie had blamed himself, Bradley replied, "I always agree with what the coach says. I accept his apology.
"We always go with the vibes we get from coach," he added. "Coach just really believed this was the biggest game of the year, and he acted like he was tense. He was getting after us. Every little thing was ticking him off. Those kinds of things."
Bradley's transformation from under-achievement to borderline college star this season amazes me. Even as recently as six weeks ago I could not see this coming. It's overshadowed the fact that fellow senior Joe Crawford has also become more well-rounded this winter than he ever was before.
Crawford is limited by chronically sore feet, of course, but Bradley seemingly has no limitations. His play has been remarkable.
Bradley and Crawford may not end up playing in the NBA next year (though it's not so far out of the question now), but they will make good money playing professionally somewhere, and when they do, they should send a portion of their checks to Gillispie. Gillispie has struck a chord with Bradley and Crawford, somehow.
"Ramel Bradley makes a big difference for them," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "He's huge. He's one of those guys who can control the tempo the flow of the game. When the ball is in his hands, it seems like they relax and they're comfortable and confident."
"I definitely thought he was suffering from post-concussion syndrome at the start of the game," Gillispie said of Bradley. "And he told me I could say that because he's a great kid, but I didn't think he was leading our team very well at the start. But he really picked it up after that and played great.
"And it was great to have him out there," Gillispie added. "He gives us a different level of confidence. I have confidence when all those guys are out there, but I think not only myself but probably every Kentucky fan that was in here today was a little bit more confident. I know that all of our players were."
It shows.