Kentucky's point guard of the future decides he's ready to play, and Gillispie agrees

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December 1, 7:56 PM

by Jacob Osterhout, College Sports Examiner

 

Liggins didn't play in order to protest not playing enough.

So it's a good thing that point guard DeAndre Liggins has decided to play again.

Liggins, a freshman from Chicago who shares point guard responsibilities with junior Michael Porter, was pulled from last Friday's game against Kansas State for committing a turnover after only two minutes of playing time.

When coach Billy Gillispie attempted to put Liggins back in the game minutes later, the 6-foot-6 point guard refused. Liggins apparently was upset that he hadn't played enough in front of his family and friends who were in attendance for the Las Vegas Invitational.

(Now that's some freshman logic. The young man protests not getting enough playing time by not playing. Joseph Heller would be proud.)

Fortunately for Kentucky, the team didn't need Liggins to beat Kansas State, as the Wildcats slipped by their opponents 74-72.

But give Liggins and coach Gillispie credit, after the game, they both found ways to move on. The player admitted he made a mistake and the coach allowed for his young point guard to make a mistake.

The very next day after Liggins refused to play, Kentucky faced off against West Virginia in the tournament finals and the freshman guard played 27 minutes, scoring four points and dishing out three assists. And what's more, Gillispie liked what he saw of Liggins in Kentucky's 54-43 win.

According to the AP article:

"He was a commander at the position and that's the best I've seen maybe in the two years I've been here," Gillispie said. "We had an offensive and a defensive presence that I thought we probably never really had."

Now, God knows I'm no fan of Billy Gillispie. The man oozes sleaze worse than Slimer from Ghost Busters. But letting bygones be bygones was a brilliant move here. Kentucky can only become so good a team with Porter at point. With the lithe Liggins as floor general, the Wildcats have much greater potential.

Don't believe me?

Just listen to how Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson described Liggins'' play against the Mountaineers:

"He was an animal out there on the defensive end," Patterson said. "On the offensive end, he was taking control of the game, slowing down the pace of our offense, just making sure that we executed our plays."

Or check out Liggins' hops:

The big difference between college and professional basketball is the learning curve. College players are student-athletes, whereas professional players are just athletes. It's nice to see a coach take advantage of a teachable moment and motivate his player to elevate his game, not simply by punishing the young player, but by giving him a second chance.

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