(1:05) Mentions #9 Arkansas vs. #8 Kentucky game on 25-JAN-1992. This was 1st year Arkansas entered the SEC after leaving Southwest Conference. Previously they had been in NCAA Final 4 four times: 1941, 1945, 1978 & 1990, finishing in 3rd place each time.
This was more than any other SEC team besides Kentucky. LSU had been in three Final Fours previously (1953, 1981, 1986) but had never won the title either.
This was 1st game between UK & Arkansas since 1978 National Semifinal game, when Eddie Sutton coached the Razorbacks.
The game was wildly anticipated, seeing UK's free-wheeling three-point attack vs. the Hogs' '40 Minutes of Hell' pressure defense. In the end Arkansas ran away with the game 105-88.
(4:00) Mentions 1992 SEC Tournament in Birmingham. In 2nd round Tennessee's Carlus Groves grabbed & fouled Shaquille O'Neal which led to a bench clearing fight, with Groves swinging at LSU coach Dale Brown.
LSU won the game 99-89, but following game against Kentucky Shaquille O'Neal had been suspended by league office because of fight. Kentucky won the semi-final game 80-74.
(8:40) Mentions the Sports Illustrated "Kentucky's Shame" cover. Looking at it, I'm always struck by how strange it is. The jersey is backwards, with the name of school on the backside. SI had to specially make this, then hire someone to pose in it, all to try to humiliate UK.
(10:05) Mentions 1992 UK-Duke East Regional game which is considered one of the classic games in NCAA tourney history.
One of my 1st webpages discusses the final shot. Still believe instructions were fine, but defensive execution was poor.
BTW, this reminds me, I still can only laugh at the Sports Illustrated drawing of the final shot, where the illustrator attempts to portray the 6'-11" Christian Laettner posting up against the 6'-7" Deron Feldhaus.
Proportions just a 'little' misleading.
The show goes on to focus on Corliss Williamson & Arkansas, as they should, but they do completely skip Kentucky's 1993 Final Four run with Jamal Mashburn & Travis Ford. UK ended up getting beat by the Fab Five of Michigan. Probably worth mentioning I'd think.
(18:54) Florida's Dan Cross: "We cut down one side of the net, & you're supposed to go down and cut down the other side of the net. We forgot to, just because we weren't used to cutting down nets."
That's because Kentucky won the 1994 SEC Tournament Championship over Florida.😉
(23:15) Derek Anderson: "I did always shoot this for my free throws, one dribble for my mom, one dribble for my dad. I was always saying I hoped to see them again."
Makes the technical free throws Anderson shot vs. Minnesota in 1997 Final 4 even more poignant.
Even though going back to look at video, Anderson dribbled three times, so maybe he had a third person in mind?
Anderson, who was out with a torn ACL injury came into the game to hit both free throws.
(26:15) Narrator "Derek Anderson's college career would start out at Ohio State. But after two seasons, he transferred to Kentucky."
Not mentioned was Anderson faced Kentucky while with the Buckeyes in Maui, scoring 23 points in losing effort.
In fact, the only two teams to beat Kentucky that season (Massachusetts & Mississppi State) were themselves Final Four participants.
The 1996 Kentucky National Championship team is considered to be one of most talented teams in UK & NCAA history.
(48:10) Narrator: "While in Ky, the evolution of the SEC would be personified by a new face of the Wildcat program (Tubby Smith), a son of sharecroppers who would make history of his own."
Episode says 1998 but presumably they'll talk about Tubby's 1998 championship next time?
Like 1980s episode, this was more enjoyable than earlier episodes, largely because it wasn't filled with gross factual errors. Still seemed to gloss over many areas & too myopic on some storylines. Maybe because short on time?
No mention at all of South Carolina joining league?
Many great SEC players were not mentioned, including:
Arkansas' Pat Bradley
Auburn's Wesley Person
Florida's Stacey Poole & Andrew DeClerq
Georgia's Litterial Green, Shandon Anderso & Carlos Strong
Kentucky's Rodrick Rhodes, Travis Ford & very slight mention of Jamal Mashburn..
LSU's Clarence Ceasar & Ronnie Henderson
Mississippi's Joe Harvell & Ansu Sesay
South Carolina's B.J. McKie
Tennessee's Allan Houston
Vanderbilt's Billy McCaffrey & Dan Langhi
FYI, this is more a companion piece than a critical review of mistakes. Partly because this episode doesn't focus on UK (which is my area of focus) but also because frankly by the 80's integration had largely worked out & the producer's favorite punching bag in Rupp was gone.
This episode is more in line with what the entire series should have been IMO, a celebration of the talented players and accomplishments of its coaches and teams over the years.
Even then, they skipped a lot of things which were worthy to discuss IMO.
(1:20) Author Keith Dunnavant "C.M Newton was the head coach at Transylvania College, small college in Lexington. One day in 1968 ...he's interupted with a call from Paul Bryant...Bryant wants to talk to him about becoming the new head basketball coach at Alabama."
Narrator: "Before calling C.M. Newton, Bear Bryant had called Adolph Rupp. One SEC giant asking another for a recommendation on a big hire. Rupp's answer?: C.M. Newton"
Dunnavant: "C.M. asked him 'Are there any restrictions on recruiting?' (black players) ... Bryant said no."
My review of Part II of SEC Network's "Southern Hoops: A History of SEC Basketball" which aired Monday February 6, 2023 and (loosely) covered the years 1960-1970).
(3:55) Mentions Auburn's decision to play game in Auburn Sports Arena on 20-FEB-1960. This was a refurbished Army World War II era quonset hut. UK played there once before in 1952 but subsequent games were played in Montgomery's Garrett Coliseum or Birmingham's City Auditorium.
It's true Rupp railed against the poor facilities on SEC campuses and at times shamed them into spending money to improve their arenas. Besides Auburn Rupp complained about Vandy's Hippodrome 'roller rink' & Georgia's Woodruff Hall among others.
The first episode of ESPN's & @SECNetwork Southern Basketball aired last Monday. A few thoughts on it. 🧵
First it's hard to know what this series wants to be about. Presumably SEC men's basketball but it veers heavily into other areas. (Integration and Women's Hoops).
Not that those aren't important topics, they are. But they honestly deserve their own documentaries.
Integration of basketball is important & certainly a major part of the story, but it is so much bigger than just the SEC. It's much bigger than just the South.
I haven't seen the ACC documentary but that was a 10-part 10 hour documentary on just the ACC men's tournament which started in 1954.
Usually I don't look at team trends prior to conf b/c the stats tend to be inflated early on. But this is different year so below are some historic charts, showing areas UK is struggling.
Shooting:
FG% - 41.1% worst since 1963
FT% - 66.2% worst since 2013
3pt% - 25.2% worst ever
Rebounds - OK
Blocks - OK
Fouls - OK
Steals - OK
Assists - 10.7 per game - worst since 1967 (when assists were scored differently)
Turnovers - 15.9 per game - worst since 2009
Assist/Turnover Ratio - 0.68 - worst since TO stats are available in 1972
Overall, between the poor shooting & the high turnovers, UK's efficiency is WAY down.
Points per FGA - 1.13 - Lowest since 1973
Points per 100 poss - 95.1 - Worst since stats available in 1972 (in fact no other UK team is < 100)
Net Points per 100 poss - -3.1 - worst since 1989
The 1926-27 team was raw, as the previous year UK boasted one of it's best squads ever (15-3), led by many players who helped win the 1922 High School National Championship with Lexington Senior High (James McFarland, Lovell Underwood & Burgess Carey), but had since graduated.
The top returning scorers were Gayle Mohney and Paul Jenkins, however Mohney chose to sit out the season to nurse an injury (ulcerated stomach). He ended up never playing basketball for the Wildcats again, although he was a great football star as quarterback, graduating in 1928.