Not Jerry Tipton's Friday Basketball Notebook

The 2013-14 season is here, and Kentucky will spend the entirety of it trying to atone for the disaster was the 2012-13 season. John Calipari’s team is trying to do something that no team in the history of college basketball has ever done: Win a national championship relying primarily on 6 freshmen who were McDonald’s All Americans. With a disappointing loss to Michigan State, the team will fail to reach its ultimate goal of perfect season, and will instead try to console itself with a national title. To stay apprised and educated, follow me on Twitter @NotJerryTipton. Here’s the weekly notebook: *Till I Gain Control Again: During its furious comeback against Cleveland State, several UK players (namely the Harrison twins, James Young and Julius Randle) could be seen and heard calling for the ball. To hear some Kentucky fans tell it, this is a good thing, as it evidences the fact that these players, though less than a month into their college careers, are already showing the leadership and fearlessness it takes to be champions. However, there is also a contrasting view. A more accurate view. The correct view. This view is that this UK team is populated by selfish, me-first players who want nothing other than to shoot, to score, and to end up on SportsCenter. It may be different if players were calling for the ball so that they could get an assist. Or if they were demanding to set a back screen. Or that they were asking to come out of the game so that one of their teammates may get an opportunity to shine. But by asking that they be given the ball so that they could score suggests that the critics who averred that the team would implode due to a lack of chemistry and team first players were exactly right all along. I bet those critics feel pretty smart right about now. *Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain: After losing to Kentucky, Cleveland State assistant coach Jermaine Kimbrough pointed out on Twitter that the Vikings got “cheated” in Rupp Arena. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Notoriously objective Doug Gottlieb also voiced his displeasure at the officiating, by sarcastically mentioning that ”it is now illegal to post up against Kentucky.” He also accused UK’s guards of ”hooking… gross” and even went so far as to call Kimbrough ”a hero” for pointing out Kentucky’s rule-breaking. Gottlieb wasn’t alone, either. Professional journalist and handsome man-about-town Pat Forde said that Kentucky’s “win” was tainted, and said it was ”not a good look” for the Cats or college basketball as a whole. Forde was so outraged over the whole affair that he tweeted about the UK game 4 times on Monday, while remaining completely silent about Louisville’s loss the day before. It’s one thing when opposing fans complain about poor officiating, but when impartial pros like Doug Gottlieb and Pat Forde are weighing in on it, well, that’s not a good look. *Look What Thoughts Will Do: On Monday, UK rallied from a 10 point deficit in the final 8 minutes to beat Cleveland State, 68-61. This does not bode well for Kentucky. The Cats played awful for the first 32 minutes of the game, so by winning, they will assume they can do this every time out. Had they lost, however, they would have learned a valuable lesson: Play better. Examples of beneficial losses can be found throughout college basketball: Duke loses to Kansas, then they turn around and beat Vermont. UNC loses to Belmont, after which they dismantle Louisville. Florida gets drilled by Wisconsin, then they return the favor to Arkansas-Little Rock. UK, however, has yet to win a game since squeaking by CSU.* Past Kentucky teams have benefited from losses as well. The 1996 Cats lost to UMass and Mississippi State, then they went on win it all. The 1998 UK team lost at home to Ole Miss, and as a result of that, won the title. The 2012 Kentucky team brought home banner #8 because it lost to Indiana. This current group of Wildcats needs to brush up on its history. *Not including Eastern Michigan. * On this date: On this date in 1957, Kentucky was on its way to the school’s 4th national championship but it didn’t really count because it was before basketball was fully integrated.