Forty Minutes To Glory

Hall has long been criticized for being rash, but one quality of a superior coach is an ability to make correct snap judgments. Twenty-seven years ago Hall dated Katharine Dennis for only six weeks before he married her. Now he is being just as impulsive with his team.

Tuesday, Feb. 14—After practice, in which a couple of players get involved in a shoving match, Robey says, "We've got some moody people. I know it's a long season, but there're only five weeks to go. You can put up with anything for five weeks, especially when it can make a difference in your life."

Newspapers across the state all banner the same story: for the first time since December the Wildcats have dropped out of the top spot in the polls.

Wednesday, Feb. 15—Tonight Kentucky plays Tennessee in Rupp Arena and Hall has a new problem—ear complications from flying in an unpressurized airplane on a recruiting trip. At the noon team meal he comments to the players on the lurid newspaper stories. "The writers are trying to help us," he says. "Let's work together with them on this and see if we can't work it out."

Later he explains his motives in allowing practices to get rough and in downgrading his players to Reed and other newsmen: "I had to do something to shake them. We needed that practice yesterday. It was the first time in five weeks that we made a muscle."

That night Hall gets a different kind of earache. When he is introduced before the game, there are boos from the fans. They are extinguished when the Wildcats jump to a 49-34 lead at the start of the second half and coast to a 90-77 victory over a team that has always given them trouble.

Thursday, Feb. 16—Basketball players have slumps. It just happens. First thing you know you're down, you're flat. But the pressure here at Kentucky adds another factor. It's the kind that either makes you great or it overpowers you. It'll make you a player or run you out of the game.

People are criticizing me now, but I know my team better than anyone. I know who has the right attitude. My phone number is listed, and people call me up to tell me whom to play. There is no way that a fan, even if he has more knowledge of basketball than I do, knows my team better than I do. I believe that greatness comes from demanding perfection. I want my pressure to supersede the pressure of the program, because then when they get out of the greenhouse and the sun hits them, they won't wilt.

Saturday, Feb. 18—Kentucky takes a wobbly step toward the SEC title with a 58-56 defeat of Mississippi State. In the locker room Hall goes over his players' mistakes and then he tells them, "Get in your rooms by midnight, and you stay in. I'm living with you the rest of the year."

Monday, Feb. 20—A victory over Alabama tonight will just about cinch the league title for the Wildcats. Kentucky explodes near the end of the first half, running off an 18-3 splurge to take a 47-31 halftime lead. Hall all but runs down the corridor to the locker room and bursts into the room. He tousles Robey's hair affectionately and yells, "Who's going to let up? I want to know, who's going to let up?"