Coach’s Son Hears Cheers and Boos

Although Kentucky’s Saul Smith expects to be taunted by fans on the road, he’s also hearing plenty of noise from the Wildcat faithful at Rupp Arena.

Several times this season, the son of Kentucky coach Tubby Smith has entered or exited a game to a chorus of boos from the home crowd.

“I’m human, of course--you hear it,” the younger Smith said.

The Lexington newspaper and Kentucky’s fan magazine often are full of letters to the editor blaming him for everything from the Wildcats’ uncharacteristic 12-7 record to global warming.

“I’m an easy target. It’s just a small group of people who can make a lot of noise,” he said. “The other 95 percent of the Kentucky fans are tremendous.”

On the road, he hears chants of “Daddy’s Little Girl,” and sees his face superimposed on posters bearing a woman in a dress in arenas throughout the Southeastern Conference.

The razing was long and loud Wednesday night, when the 6-foot-2 point guard returned to his hometown of Athens, Ga., for the Wildcats’ 85-70 victory over No. 25 Georgia.

Heckled throughout the game by fans still smarting because he followed his father to Kentucky after publicly saying he would attend Georgia, Saul delivered a message in the game’s closing moments.

With the outcome firmly in hand, Smith held up eight fingers to the raucous crowd -- the number of times he’d beaten the Bulldogs in his four years at Kentucky.

“It was a hot crowd,” Smith, the Wildcats’ only senior, said following Wednesday’s night’s game. “They were on me, as expected. I had to let them know what my record is against them. I told them, ‘8 and 0, 8 and 0.’ ”

During the Wildcats’ last home game, an 86-75 victory Saturday over Vanderbilt, Smith was booed when he replaced freshman Cliff Hawkins, who had scored a layup, taken a charge and converted a steal into a dunk during a 13-0 first-half Kentucky run. As always, Smith did not acknowledge the crowd’s reaction as he stepped on the floor.

“Those people obviously weren’t watching the game close enough because Cliff was the one wanting to come out,” Smith said.

Smith had only two points by halftime, but rebounded with 16 in the second half for a career-high 18 to help Kentucky hold off Vanderbilt 86-75. His two assists also moved him into 11th place on the Wildcats’ career list with 303.

Despite his shooting woes this season--he’s hitting only 33 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range--Smith made six of 10 shots, including three of six 3-pointers, against the Commodores.

“I chuckle every time I hear the crowd get restless with him because he is a very good player,” said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. “There are a lot of teams in this league, ours included, who would love to have him on their team.”

Following the game, Smith shifted uncomfortably as he answered question after question about the crowd’s negativity toward him.

“My parents raised me to be a classy person, and that’s how I’m going to be,” he said. “It’s never me versus the people who criticize me. I’m not worried about that.”

Smith is averaging 7.2 points, 4.2 assists and 1.8 steals this season--all career-highs. His assist to turnover ratio of 2.3-1 also is the best of his career.

On Wednesday, Smith had only four points but contributed six assists and had only one turnover in 32 minutes.

“Saul makes all the right plays for Kentucky,” Georgia Coach Jim Harrick said. “The thing I like about him is that he always hustles and he really works hard. He’s over 2-to-1 in his assist-to-turnover ratio, he leads the team in steals.”

Smith’s father has had to endure a growing number of jeers this season as well--criticism he rarely heard when his oldest son, G.G., played for him at Georgia.

Kentucky opened the season 3-5 and remains unranked despite one of the nation’s toughest schedules and victories over four ranked teams. The Wildcats’ continued up-and-down play has fans, unaccustomed to such mediocrity in college basketball’s winningest program, looking for someone to blame.

“It’s totally different for Saul,” Tubby Smith said. “Nothing compares to Kentucky as far as the number of people that follow the program and the rabid fans that we have. They want to find a reason every time you lose a game, or even when you win a game.”