ACC Roundup - Kenny Payne’s Last Stand?
Getting blown out by Kentucky will not help the cause
Let’s start this edition of ACC Roundup with some concerning news: former Virginia coach and point guard Jeff Jones suffered a heart attack in Hawaii Wednesday.
The good news is he’s expected to fully recover, but it’s still serious.
Jones and his ODU team is in Hawaii for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. He will not coach in that event. Here’s hoping he bounces back quickly.
You know who may not bounce back so quickly?
Louisville’s Kenny Payne.
He was already facing pressure and speculation that he was a short timer, and there’s no better accelerant for that at Louisville than losing, and losing badly, to Kentucky.
And that’s exactly what happened as Kentucky dominated the ‘Ville, 95-76. Kentucky shot 51.5 percent overall, 48 percent on threes and had eight blocks to basically punk the Cardinals.
At one point, Antonio Reeves hit nine straight shots.
It’s not like Louisville didn’t compete. They did try and Brandon Hatfield-Huntley shot 8-8 and grabbed 11 boards.
But there is a vast talent gap between these teams and that’s not going to change anytime soon.
After the game, Calipari defended his former assistant and it’s a pretty emphatic endorsement.
It may be too late to make a difference though.
Most of the games were the sort of glorified scrimmages that most teams schedule over the holidays, with one exception: Georgia Tech played, and beat, UMass, 73-70 in the Diamond Head Classic.
To be clear, UMass is not a great team right now, but it’s a competent A-10 team so that counts for something.
The Yellow Jackets did something you wouldn’t have seen often, if ever, under former coach Josh Pastner: they came back from an 11-point deficit fairly late and finished the game on an 18-6 run.
It’s still early, but you have to give coach Damon Stoudamire a lot of credit: he’s rapidly changing the trajectory of his program.
Baye Ndongo continues to impress, shooting 6-6 and pulling down eight boards, but Kyle Sturdivant came off the bench to score 21.
The other games were not impressive opponents. Wake beat Presbyterian 91-68, Syracuse took out Greg Paulus’s Niagara team 83-71, BC clipped Lehigh 85-69, Virginia Tech smoked American U. 77-55, Miami broke Stonehill 97-55.
What can you say about any of them? The ACC teams won, which is great, but what do you gain?
It took Wake a little bit to pull away, but pull away they did in the second half.
Claudell Harris hit seven threes against Lehigh, but Lehigh is 2-8. So what? Lynn Kidd shot 14-15 for 31 points, but it was against American. Who cares? Mike Young opted to rest Sean Pedulla, who is still recovering from an injury, and started Brandon Rechsteiner and the freshman did well, passing out 11 assists to just two turnovers. But it’s against American, so again: so what?
Miami beat up on Stonehill, but that team is 2-7 and ask yourself two questions: 1) what is their nickname and 2) what is their conference?
These are tuneups, nothing more. And it’s not like Duke never does this. Of course they do. But these games just don’t mean much. That’s not to say they’re pointless. Getting experience for Rechsteiner is useful and you can practice your sets and so forth. But broadly speaking, none of these games are even in the same zip code as Georgia Tech vs. UMass, much less Louisville vs. Kentucky.
Four games on tap for Friday as Queens visit Clemson, Winthrop flies down to Florida State, Marist goes to Notre Dame and Georgia Tech takes on Hawaii.
Of those, the Notre Dame game is probably the most interesting. You’ll recall that Micah Shrewsberry went thermonuclear on his team after losing to the Citadel, even offering to help anyone who wasn’t fully invested to transfer. Seeing what the Irish do there is going to be really interesting.
Friday’s ACC Action
- Queens @ Clemson || 6:00 || ACCN
- Winthrop @ Florida State || 7:00 || ESPN+/ACCNX
- Marist @ Notre Dame || 8:00 || ACCN
- Georgia Tech vs. Hawaii || 11:00 || ESPN2
- Eric Crawford on Kenny Payne’s future, after Louisville’s loss to Kentucky
- BOZICH | Louisville outrun by Kentucky, 95-76, but Cards impress Calipari
- Everything John Calipari said after Kentucky basketball rolled to a win at Louisville
- Kenny Payne saw firsthand what this Kentucky team is capable of. ‘They’re a machine.’
- Louisville basketball has bottomed out. Will Kenny Payne get any more time to lift it up?
- ‘Downtown is hurting’: Poor attendance for Louisville basketball costing Whiskey Row
- Kentucky makes the Yum! Center its home in rivalry blowout over Louisville
- ‘The gap is closing.’ Kenny Payne talks after Louisville basketball’s loss to Kentucky.
- Calipari urges more time for Payne amid Louisville struggles
- 34-8 second-half run catapults Wake Forest over Presbyterian
- Deacs Catch Fire in Second Half En Route to Dominant Final Non-Conference Outing Over Presbyterian
- Wake Forest ends nonconference schedule with easy win over Presbyterian
- Syracuse Tops Niagara For Fourth Straight Win
- Adrian Autry not happy after Syracuse’s win over Niagara: ‘Our immaturity showed’
- Purple Eagles Defeated by Syracuse
- Adrian Autry postgame vs. Niagara
- Offense Flows Well For Virginia Tech in Victory Over American
- Lynn Kidd Dominates as Virginia Tech Beats American
- Virginia Tech Basketball: Lynn Kidd’s career-night leads Hokies over American
- Claudell Harris Jr. Propels Eagles to 85–69 Win Over Lehigh
- Claudell Harris Jr. on target as Boston College handles Lehigh
- Claudell Harris Jr. on target as Boston College handles Lehigh
- Poplar scores 24, Omier delivers big double-double in Miami’s 97-59 rout of Stonehill
- All five Hurricanes starters score in double figures as Miami routs Stonehill 97-59
- Men’s Basketball: Miami Dominates Stonehill, 97-59 - CanesCounty
- Miami basketball earns dominant win over Stonehill.
- Georgia Tech edges UMass in Diamond Head Classic
- UMass men’s basketball falls to Georgia Tech 73-70
- Georgia Tech Basketball Beats UMass 73-70