The Road To Houston by Maple Street Press

The Road To Houston Go West, young Wildcats! by Ken Howlett

niversity of Kentucky head coach John Calipari must be experiencing a strong sense of déjà vu. During the 2009–10 basketball season, Calipari was famously charged with forging common cause among his six newcomers and seven returning players. Melding a group of youthful, elite players into a unit able and willing to give up minutes and press clippings in the interest of winning is a tall task indeed. But one must consider Calipari’s task successfully completed, evident by the team’s 35–3 record, SEC tournament and regular season championships, and Elite Eight appearance. Calipari’s demonstrable ability to bend the wills of superstar high school players like John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe into one-for-all camaraderie is certainly one of the primary reasons UK basketball was placed squarely back in the warm glow of the national spotlight, after four years of living in the darkness-filled abyss.

The dawning of the 2010–11 Kentucky basketball season reveals more questions than answers for the head coach and his neophyte ’Cats. This year, instead of seven returnees, the ’Cats bring back only four players: little-used senior Josh Harrellson, junior DeAndre Liggins, junior Darius Miller, and sophomore Jon Hood. Mix the four returning veterans with the arrival of seven newcomers, and the ’Cats are faced with yet another season fraught with uncertain expectations among the fan base, uncertain chemistry among the team members, and uncertain leadership on the floor. That is an inordinate amount of uncertainty permeating this edition of the Wildcats, especially for a program that is expected to challenge for a Final Four spot on a yearly basis. But, that is the predicament John Calipari and his latest group of players find themselves in. There is hope, though. There is a way. There is a path. There is an agenda that, if completed,

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The Sacrifice “He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would accomplish much must sacrifice much.” —James Allen, New Zealand statesman and former minister of defense (1912–20) With a recruiting class rated the consensus best in the country, John Calipari brings to Lexington the epitome of high achievers. Calipari’s star-studded class includes: Rivals.com thirdrated player in the land, Enes Kanter; the sixth-rated Brandon Knight; #13 Terrence Jones; #21 Doron Lamb; #33 Stacey Poole; and junior college transfer, and former Florida Gator, Eloy Vargas (the 26th-ranked high school player in 2008). That is three of the top 13, and five of the top 33 high school basketball players in the land. The potential downside to signing such a star-studded class, though, is the fact that Calipari must tamp down six separate egos, six separate motivations, and six separate designs on stardom. And with the “me first” attitude prevalent among today’s top-flight talent perpetuated by an ineffective AAU system designed for the individual to bedazzle, a coach possessing Calipari’s recruiting acumen is faced with what can be a defiant, selfish accumulation of talented performers. Unfortunately, what some of these young stars fail to comprehend is what famed motivational speaker Zig Ziglar professed with these words of wisdom: “You can have everything you want in life, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Simply put, Calipari must convince each new Wildcat, through his considerable powers of persuasion, to sacrifice individual glory in the interest of winning. Calipari must persuade each player to accept fewer minutes, fewer shots, and therefore fewer individual accolades. With playing time being the ultimate goal of any blue chipper worth his weight in Nikes, Calipari must overcome his Alpha male charges’ natural instinct to be the star, be “the man,” be the focal point of the offense—a foreign, unwelcome Coach John Calipari must

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concept to most adolescent overachievers. So, Calipari must convincingly convey to his team that it is winning that brings the ink, winning that will bring the bright lights of Houston into focus, winning that brings along with it high draft choices and seven-figure happiness. Because today, for better or for worse, that is what college basketball is all about. After Calipari’s ’Cats embrace winning above all else, the next key component to attaining the elusive Final Four appearance is discovering…

The Leader “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” —Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, and business management expert How does one earn the ability to influence others? Through hard work, through selfless dedication to the common cause, and through achievement. Today’s players can see through false bravado, halfhearted effort, and disingenuous rally cries designed to lift up the individual instead of the team. The 2010–11 ’Cats are in need of the genuine article: a leader without stipulations. And what the ’Cats don’t possess, and what could prove to be a hindrance in reaching the pinnacle every team hopes for, is the established leadership of one of the most selfless players to ever wear the blue and white of Kentucky, Patrick Patterson. Losing the exceptional talent the ’Cats lost to the NBA Draft only begins to tell the tale of how difficult it will be for

mold the 2010–11 Wildcats like he did the 2009–10 team.

Photo on previous page: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Photo this page: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

will result in the ’Cats clearing a wide swath to Houston for Kentucky’s first Final Four appearance in 13 frustrating years. And it all starts with...

The Road To Houston

The Belief

Photo at top: Joe Robbins/Getty Images Photo at bottom: Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” —Michelangelo, Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet In order to achieve anything extraordinary in life, one has to believe they are capable of conquering the task at hand. And the best, most accomplished avenue to build belief in oneself is to outwork the competition. A player knowing he has left the sweat, blood, and pain on the floor in the interest of being the absolute best player, and by extension, the best team the existing talent allows, elicits a boost of Patrick Patterson surrendered much of his rightful team confidence that segues to a belief leadership to John Wall for the sake of the team. that winning championships such a young team to reach Houston. The other, more critical is possible. Robert Schuller, a minister with the American component, is the loss of Patterson and his team-first attitude, Reformed Church, perhaps said it best: “Spectacular achievestrong classroom performance, and singular work ethic—all ment is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” attributes that have a tendency to seamlessly transfer into the Only when the team has given itself over, completely hearts and minds of teammates. Such a strong and confident committing to the hard work necessary to build such a leader was Patterson that he gave up at least a portion of the leadership mantel to freshman point guard John Wall as the season progressed. Patterson didn’t fight the inevitable, he embraced it with a passion, because he knew the team would be the ultimate benefactor. Patterson personified the words of Edmund Hillary after he became the first climber to successfully scale Mt. Everest in 1919: “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” For most leaders it is ingrained in their nature to want to lead all the time. But last season, Patterson fought back that urge and by doing so, led with his tacit yielding of leadership to John Wall. This season, the candidates for filling the leadership vacuum for Kentucky include, well, everyone on the roster, from veteran to rookie. But Kentucky fans likely will discover that whoever works hardest for the glorification of the team, accepts his own weakness and battles through hard work to improve them, possesses the athletic integrity to play hard, practices harder, and embraces the adage that leaders are made and not born will take the helm of this crew. When the leader of the 2010–11 ’Cats finally emerges, Only if you believe, like the 1996 national championship Wildcats did, can you be your best. the next curve to be negotiated on the road to Houston is… © 2010 Maple Street Press, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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The Execution

Chuck Hayes epitomized leadership and execution for the Wildcats. true belief, will a goal worthy of the legendary Kentucky program—a national championship—be possible to embrace. If believing is half the battle, working hard enough to honestly believe is the war. The onus for ensuring the 2010–11 ’Cats put forth the effort to achieve greatness in spite of youth falls squarely into the Big Blue lap of coach John Calipari. Calipari, as he has demonstrated previously, must convince his players to respond to his demand for hard work or suffer the consequences brought on by a place on the pine. After all, nothing motivates like the bench, and to his great credit, Calipari is not averse to using a tried-and-true tactic. Regardless of how it is achieved, though, this team must display the bold confidence built from the knowledge of how hard they have worked. Mindless braggadocio, without benefit of outworking the opposition, most times finds itself on the sidelines on the last weekend of the season. So, the mantra for this year’s Wildcats is tireless effort, which will bring with it the confidence to set the highest goals. In turn, that confidence will bring a true belief that the greatness selfassured squads strive for is capable of being achieved. Now, all that remains for the ’Cats to make Houston a reality, is...

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How ironic is it that the 2011 Final Four in Houston is the home of two of the hardest working, most selfless performers in UK history? Yes, Houston boasts two former Kentucky players who personified precisely what it is the 2010–11 ’Cats must achieve in order to consider the season a resounding success: Newly drafted Houston Rocket, Patrick Patterson, and long-time Rocket, Chuck Hayes. An omen, perhaps? But considering all the things UK must do in order to reach heights unseen since 1998—from working themselves silly, to bonding as a team, to finding someone to follow—in the end game, they must execute the offense and defense at a level above which they have ever played. The physical, God-given ability required to make a serious Final Four run seems to be present on this season’s squad, but the team must grasp and execute Calipari’s dribble-drive motion offense, and man-to-man defense. One of Calipari’s favorite words when describing the dribble-drive motion offense is “unleash.” But, he is able to unleash his thoroughbreds to push, penetrate, and shoot only if the horses understand how to execute his game plan. With all of the newcomers being looked at to start, or play starter’s minutes, time is of the essence because quickly picking up the intricacies of the DDM is non-negotiable. But the exciting element amidst all of the uncertainty for UK fans should be the knowledge that this team, just as last year, is capable to putting smiles on the faces of Big Blue Nation. And with a healthy dose of dedicated practice, a smidgeon of on-floor leadership, a dash of confidence, and a little luck, Houston just might become the City of Blue for four days in April. Perhaps Mr. Einstein’s simplistic words on winning, “You have to play better than anyone else,” aren’t so elementary after all. For “playing better” encompasses a vast array of components; requirements, really, that must be met if a team is to achieve the wins that matter most. Will the Wildcats meet those championship requirements? We can’t know yet, but we do know this: All UK fans should take comfort in the fact that Kentucky has a fighter’s chance at greatness, and after all, as fans, that’s really all that can be reasonably expected. The rest is up to the athletes. MSP Ken Howlett graduated from Louisville Male High, attended the University of Kentucky, and has been a lifelong UK fan along with his entire family. Ken is an editor for the SB Nation University of Kentucky weblog A Sea Of Blue and a freelance sportswriter for Topper Nation magazine and The High School Zone magazine.

Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

“You have to learn the rules of the game, and then you have to play better than anyone else.” —Albert Einstein, German-born American physicist and winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics