My companion piece for SECNetwork's Southern Hoops: A History of SEC Basketball Part V (1990-1998), originally aired Monday February 27, 2023.

Start of 🧵...

@SECNetwork @SEC First the previous four episode reviews are available at links below:

Part I (1930-1959):
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1622108…

Part II (1960-1969):
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1624860…

Part III (1970-1979):
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1627849…

Part IV (1980-1989):
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1629980…

My companion piece/review of @SECNetwork Southern Hoops - A History of SEC Basketball - Part IV (The Entertainers) 1980-89 aired on February 20, 2023.

Previous reviews for Parts I-III are available at:

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1622108…

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1624860…

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1627849… 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.

My review of Part III of @SECNetwork series on Southern Hoops in the SEC, which aired Monday Feb. 13, 2023 covering the 1970s.

If you missed them, previous reviews of Part I (1930 to 1959):

https://twitter.com/bigbluehistory/status/1622108498971574274?s=20

and Part II (1960s):

https://twitter.com/bigbluehistory/status/1624860234614185984?s=20

Begin 🧵... (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."

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).

My review of episode I is available here:

https://twitter.com/bigbluehistory/status/1622108498971574274?s=20&t=A31Urth4xmK4ORwMhTiraA

Begin🧵.....

@SECNetwork (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.

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.

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

UK's 1-5 start to the season has led many to race to the record books looking for the last team to start so poorly.

This has led them to the ill-fated 1926-27 season, a team that started 1-8 & went 3-13 overall.

bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/…

Thread... 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.