Kentucky Wildcats forward Kyle Wiltjer (33) celebrates after a three in the second half. (Clay Jackson/cjackson@amnews.com)
By LARRY VAUGHT
As I was looking back through some of my NCAA Tournament basketball notes and quotes, I found a conversation with freshman Kyle Wiltjer where he revealed something very insightful about Anthony Davis that I never had a chance to work into a story.
He was explaining to me why the team’s success had really not been a shock to him or anybody on the team when I asked him if he had ever seen a selfish side of Davis or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Here’s what he said:
“Something that jumped out at me is during Senior Night Anthony he (Davis) subbed himself pretty fast a couple of times to get Eloy (Vargas) in there in his last home game. That just shows their character and they are both great guys and hard workers because Michael would have done the same thing,” Wiltjer said.
“It just shows their character and how good of guys they are. Cal does a good job recruiting those guys and that really helps our team bonding as well. It is one of the closest teams I have ever been on in my life and I am honored to be on such a great team and just little things like Anthony did for Eloy is what makes this team special.”
11 Responses to Looking back at how Kyle Wiltjer explained why one caring move by Davis showed why Cats were special
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i hope cal keeps gettin these kinda guys.when i watched the cuzins/wall team i didnt get the fillin that ive had with cals last 2 teams…the last 2 teams there have been good kids that the state can b proud of
I think Wall and Cousins et. al. were very much a team. Look at how Patterson stepped back to let the young guys develop their game. Patterson is an incredible basketball player and he’s getting paid well for that ability now. Not many NBA bound players step back to that role when they have been a star and they know they can be a scoring machine when they want. Patterson had an incredible shooting percentage at UK (59%). He shot over 60% as a sophomore but he took less shots as a junior. If that isn’t team work I don’t know what is. Wall scored well because he’s John Wall. But he also averaged 6.5 assists per game. Then there were the seniors on that team. Those guys were actually pretty good players. I’m talking about Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris. Perry in particular shot almost 58% for his career at UK and scored over 600 points. Considering he rarely played as a senior that’s pretty good. I’m not saying those guys were as talented as the Cal players but they knew it and AFAIK there wasn’t any problem from them about becoming deep bench players. Both had played quite a bit the year beore but they accepted their new role with grace IMO.
Then there was DeAndre Liggins. No one seems to know why he sat out so long that first year but he learned to be a great team player somewhere along the line. And it paid off for him too. He worked his way into being a first round draft pick too. Teamwork pays off and UK players are really learning that lesson under Cal.
Maybe they weren’t the “team” like the Cats had this year but they certainly were good. They played together from the word go and they played that way the entire year. I’ve heard the rumors that there was some turmoil but I’d like to point you ack to Smith’s “Team Turmoil” and “Team Turmoil 2″. They were famous for not getting along. If there was tension on the 2010 team it was kept very quiet. And from what I saw they played as a team very well.
I do have to say that I think the Cats lost to WVU because one player shot too much but I think the coach was responsible for that. That young man was very, very coachable and he wouldn’t have done anything to go against what his coach told him to do.
I think Cal is a genius at getting great players to play as a team. That’s a rare talent actually. It separates the good from the great too. And IMO UK has been great since Cal came to town.
Is amazing how this team came together and what good guys they really are
Wiltjer will be that kind of teammate too when the time comes for him to step aside to give another player their chance for glory. Guess that’s why we still love reading the stories about this very special team. Yes, we have to give Coach Cal credit for recruiting great young men!
The more we read about the things that went on behind the scenes for this team, it becomes apparent just how very special these guys were. I’m not downplaying any other of Cal’s other UK teams, but this year’s team was so unselfish that it’s hard to describe.
im jus big on cuzins….there were good guys on that team….there were times i felt like i didnt no what cuzs would do.there was a side to him every1 had to like but there was another side to
Cuz dealt with more abuse than any 3 players I’ve ever seen play the game. Teams vowed to get him ejected. They never did. He got punched in very bad places. He got kicked in the head. And through it all he kept smiling. He went along with the joke when his cell phone # was made public. He didn’t throw a fit. He just turned it back on the other team telling them to call him after he had dominated the game. That was a joke. He wasn’t a sore head like so many other players I’ve seen including some recent UK players (not since Cal came to town). Cuz was great IMO and he still is. He’s turning into a star in the NBA with his great hands and great feet. It’s said he has the widest reach for the ball in the league. In other words he can catch passes and rebounds that would be too much of a stretch for most centers. And he has endured the abuse of his own coach telling the world he wanted to be traded when apparently he never said that. IMO Cuz has always handled the bad rap put on him with a great attitude and ability. He doesn’t deserve any of the bad press aimed at him. When I look at players like Ron Artest and more recently Metta World Peace and then I hear that Cuz has a bad attitude I just can’t keep from laughing.
King you are right about the abuse Cuz received from the other teams. It was unbearable to see the jabs and hits and it would just take it, except for one time when he retaliated and was accused of being the instigator.
When you think of the 2012 Basketball Wildcats, there is only one way to describe them…team. You can’t think of anyone player without thinking about the other ones and the played so well together they blended into the model of a TEAM.
We all know how unselfish MKG was asking Cal to let Darius start on many occasions. We now know why AD needed so much ‘rest’ Senior Night.
I have always felt someone should write a story about Cal’s first team, the trials, the tribulations of those players and homelessness of one of them. What they overcame to become the team and people they did. That book should also contain a chapter on the Patterson’s and all they did right for their son.
The next book should be written as a continuation of the UK Wildcat Basketball Story with someone delving into how and why this team became a team, became brothers for life with respect and love for each other. I think they have a lot to teach people in this day and time. You could put any name on it, not mention the UK connection and it would still be a best seller and I think teachers would use it to show how to treat other people and a guide post for success in life.
I’ve just been watching the recording of the championship game Linda. It’s flat out amazing how well this bunch of guys played together as a team. They knew exactly what each other would be doing in almost every situation. It was a thing of beauty to behold. In the first half of the game when Kansas made the mistake of trying to run with the Cats it was like a machine just chewing up the basketball floor. After a rebound it was about half a second before the ball was passed to a guard for a runout or to MKG, the best transition player I’ve ever seen at UK. It’s like he just exploded to the basket when he got even half a lane to go to. And when he got to the basket wow did he know how to finish.
The more I watch the game tapes the more I realize just how special this team was. They were just plain incredible. They didn’t have a weakness I could see. And to be able to play the kind of defense they did without getting into foul trouble was mind boggling. I still don’t know how they did that. It’s just not supposed to work that way. But when Kansas took the ball inside the Cats either ripped it away from them, blocked their shot or got a rebound and then – bam – them were gone out on the break.
That was genuine UK basketball IMO. I got so tired of that slow down stuff under a certain recent coach that I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t understand why someone with the best talent didn’t want to push the pace and exploit their advantage. This team did NOT have that problem. Not by a long shot. This was Rupp style basketball. He invented the fast break as we know it BTW. I’m just glad I have copies of the games tow watch because it may be a long time before we see another team like this one. But it could be next year if the Cats sign a couple of key players. It sure feels good to have the real UK basketball team back again.
That game and this team left me in awe all season. Even with TJ’s problems and some zero shooting from other players, it was just pure amazing. What an example of a fine tuned team and one with a motor that wouldn’t stop.
The real genius of Cal is not that he merely recruits great athletes. He, in reality, recruits CHARACTER. His utilization of the “one and done” rules, handed down by others and not to Cals’ desires, absolutely require recruits to be team players due to the often short time to teach them defense and sharing the ball. Without personal character, his system would descend into selfishness and a me-first attitude. He has passed on a number of superior athletes the last three years and I am certain it is very often due to issues of maturity on the part of the athlete; especially, when I see them perform at other schools. Cals’ system, I feel, requires personal integrity on the part of his athletes and his most recent team is a case study in recruiting the best possible men, not just the best athletes.