Keegan Bell hates robots

Let me preface this by saying that I'm a big fan of Keegan Bell and wish him nothing but the best at UT-Chattanooga. He has a passion for the game of basketball, a "gym rat" if you will, and I have no doubt that he will have a fine collegiate career.

Still, I couldn't help but laugh when I came across this article from The Huntsville Times. Let's try to attack this piece Fire Joe Morgan style (lines from the actual story in bold).

Unhappy with Vandy's 'robotic' style, he seeks freedom at new school.

Basically, coach Kevin Stallings is a big fan of The Jetsons and made his players watch old episodes instead of game film to become more like robots on the court. Also, he got a kick out of handcuffing Keegan to one of the baskets after practice so it's easy to understand why the point guard desperately wanted to be free.

Despite the allure of playing SEC basketball, point guard Keegan Bell needed a change.

Plus he really wanted to give the Dores an extra scholarship to sign point guard Brad Tinsley.

Though he was in line for a starting role with the Commodores next season, Bell didn't feel suited for Stallings' style of play.

"(The guards) became more robotic, more slow style," Bell said. "Fast-break and more up and down is what I want to do. I have a certain style of how I play."

Yeah, remember when Jermaine Beal was in the middle of executing a fast-break and stopped on a dime to do the robot? That was tight.

And what style is that exactly, Keegan? The one where you make 32 percent of your shots and hoist ill-advised 3-pointers? Or the one where you get beat so badly off the dribble that you force the team to play zone, which makes it harder for you guys to rebound and therefore fast-break?

And one more thing. I came across an old interview where you said, "And then the style of play, I really liked how they push it up." Except that you weren't talking about UT-C; you were talking about those robotic Dores. Weird.

After Stallings granted Bell his release, the transfer drew interest from Notre Dame, Oregon and Oklahoma State. But an April meeting with University of Tennessee-Chattanooga coach John Shulman won over Bell and convinced the Hazel Green High graduate that he could thrive at a mid-major.

Riiight. And besides, those other schools play like robots anyways.

"I mean, Keegan was a top-20 point guard in the nation, a starter on the varsity since eighth grade, and the big boys were after him," Shulman recalled. "He was like a high school folk hero."

Yup. Just like Tim Tebow. Only better.

Toward season's end, however, he felt Vandy's guards were given less freedom to create.

I always thought the reason for Vandy's struggles were because its guards couldn't defend, but what do I know?

"You can't argue with the success Coach Stallings has had there, but Vandy's very structured, and we're not as structured," Shulman said.

By not as structured, I think you mean not as good, but whatever. And, Shully, please don't go where I think you're about to go. If you watched Vandy play AT ALL, you would know that it no longer runs the offense that begins with "P."

Consider this fact: the Dores had the third highest adjusted tempo/pace in the SEC, behind only Tennessee and Ole Miss. Or how about this: the Dores were second in the SEC in scoring with 80 points per game. So again, I'm warning you.

"We're more of a ball-screen, motion team - not the Princeton offense that Vandy runs."

As Mark Jackson would say, "You're better than that!"

"With us, we can ball-screen for Keegan, and he can create and make plays."

Exactly. Because Stallings would fine players for setting ball-screens for Keegan (once he made Keegan's roommate and good friend A.J. Ogilvy cry after he fined him $3,200 for setting 32 screens in one practice). And, of course, "making plays" was out of the question.

Bell absorbed message-board criticism on a Vandy fan site after calling himself "a flashy player," comparing his style to Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, and saying that Stallings wasn't receptive to plays such as "between-the-leg passes."

Hey, he's talking about us! We're famous!

That confidence didn't fluster Shulman, who on two occasions Tuesday referred to Bell as "a Steve Nash-type player."

In all seriousness, please stop with the Steve Nash references. Yes, they are both white. We get that. But, Steve Nash is a two-time MVP and a future Hall-of-Famer, one of the best point guards to ever play the game. Keegan Bell is ummm....not. And besides, Nash said he's a big fan of Astro.

Bell expects wide-open game at Chattanooga [Huntsville Times]
Photo [USA Today]

Keegan Bell transfers to UTC

Freshman point guard Keegan Bell, who surprised the Vanderbilt community a month ago by announcing he would be transferring after the semester was over, has decided to play at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga of the Southern Conference. Bell will be eligible to play again in the 2009-2010 season.

According to the Nashville City Paper, Bell also considered Butler, Oregon State, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

This isn't the first time UTC has claimed a Southeastern Conference guard. Stephen McDowell, who played in a limited backup role at South Carolina his first two seasons, transferred to UTC two years ago and led the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game this season in his first year of play in the Southern Conference.

The starting five for the Mocs consisted of all juniors and seniors this past season, meaning Bell could play a major role on this team in just his second year of eligibility once the 09-10 season rolls around with everyone graduating. In the meantime, Bell stated he wants to work on all aspects of his game, including becoming a more well-rounded scorer rather than just a 3-point shooter.

Bell averaged 2.7 points, 2.8 assists and 1.2 rebounds in his freshman year at Vanderbilt, playing in every game in a backup role to Jermaine Beal. His reasons for leaving mainly concerned philosophical differences with coach Kevin Stallings about his role on the team.

To read his interview about his decision to leave Vanderbilt, click here.

We wish Keegan the best of luck and congratulate him on his new school.

Q&A with Keegan Bell

After his announcement that he would be transferring from Vanderbilt at the end of the semester, freshman point guard Keegan Bell sat down to talk to the SportsVU about why he made the decision to leave, his future plans and what he'll miss most about being a Commodore.

SV: How did your teammates react when they heard the news that you were going to transfer? You and A.J. (Ogilvy) are pretty close, I know.
Keegan Bell: You know, just like I knew they would. We’re kind of a family, we’re real close and they were very supportive. They wished me luck and they knew that I knew what was best for me and that there were no hard feelings towards them. They support me, and we’re all going to stay in contact. We’re so close, we’re all kind of like best friends. They’re sad. They’re definitely disappointed and all that, especially A.J. A.J. and I have been so close, we’re kind of like brothers. He was kind of devastated, but he said whatever’s best for me that he’d fully support.

SV: You talked before about you and coach Stallings not seeing eye-to-eye. I remember you were very enthusiastic about coming here, what did you think was going to be your role?
KB: I thought it was going to be more of my style, where I’m a little more of a flashy player.

SV: Like Steve Nash, right?
KB: Right, I kind of like to do that. (Stallings) was just kind of negative about that sort of stuff, and with a number of things it just felt I couldn’t play as much my game as I thought I was going to be.

SV: Had transferring been on your mind for a while?
KB: During the season, I wasn’t going to think about it at all. After every season, I was always going to evaluate how the season went and how things went. During the year I got frustrated a little bit, but nothing like this to even think about transferring. Afterwards, I talked to my family and let the frustrations out and came to this conclusion.

SV: You said you didn’t know where you were going to go, but do you have any specific coach or program in mind?
KB: I just want a coach that knows how I play and wants to play the up-and-down style. I like positive coaches that are very enthusiastic. I want to be able to play my game. I’m a point guard. Yeah, I can score, but I really like to dish the ball. Being somewhere I could push it up and play more and more my style of basketball would be a perfect fit.

SV: That game against DePaul, is that more your style, where you had 12 points and eight assists?
KB: That is. It was more freelancing stuff, that between-the-legs pass and all that kind of stuff, I like to do that. And when an opportunity comes to be able to score more, I enjoy scoring, that’s one of the strengths of my game, I believe. So, yeah, that was more of a hint of my style and how I like to play.

SV: Do you think playing in the SEC has improved your game?
KB: Definitely. Coach has gotten me so much better, I really appreciate everything he’s done. The players have gotten me better. The league is so tough, and it’s definitely given me great experience so when I go down the road, this year’s definitely been beneficial.

SV: Obviously, you’ve got to take a year off because of NCAA regulations. What part of your game do you want to work on the most?
KB: I’m just going to work on everything as much as possible. I really want to try and add a new dimension to my game. I was very 3-point oriented this year, and I want to be able to do it all. I feel that’s what I should do, jump shots and all that kind of stuff. So I’m going to go back and work on that kind of stuff, and improve my defense, fitness, strength and just kind of work on everything.

SV: What do you think you’ll miss most about playing at Vanderbilt?
KB: The fans, the students, the guys. Definitely going to be weird not being around them and my girlfriend, Jence Rhoads, she plays here, so it’s going to be weird not being around her and seeing her progress and having her at the games. Other than that, it’s just a great program. It’s a great place, a great university, and I’m definitely going to miss it.

Commodore Banter (4/1)

We wish it was an April Fool's Day joke that Keegan Bell was instead returning for his sophomore season. Brett Hait notes that Bell's relationship with Stallings had been getting worse, and we discuss what this means.

Within this piece, it becomes clear that Bell couldn't operate with the sort of freedom under Stallings that he hopes to earn elsewhere.

Maurice Patton offers his take of the situation and notes that Bell could go anywhere.

Foster joins Stephen Curry as a second team AP All-American.

Vanderbilt Golfer Jon Curran received SEC Male Golfer of the Week honors after a terrific tournament.

South Carolina's search for a coach to replace Dave Odom ended on Monday with the hiring of Western Kentucky coach Darrin Horn.

In case you missed our...

• Discussion regarding Keegan Bell's decision to transfer.
• Q&A's with Jamont Gordon, Caleb Cotham, Curt Casali, Merideth Marsh,Jonathan White, Christina Wirth, Shea Robin, Vijay Paul, Ryan Preston.

Keegan Bell to transfer from Vandy

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings announced Monday that rising
sophomore guard Keegan Bell will transfer at the conclusion
of the spring semester.

"Keegan Bell has decided to transfer at the conclusion of the
spring semester," Stallings said. "We support that decision 100
percent and wish him well."

Bell played in every game this season and averaged 2.7 points,
1.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest in a back-up point guard
role.

With the departure of Bell and senior Alex Gordon, Jermaine Beal
is the lone returning point guard along with football player Jamie
Graham. The backcourt is extremely thin, with George Drake and
redshirt freshman Charles Hinkle as the lone returning shooting
guards.

Here are a few stories that shed light on the reasons behind Bell's
decision:

Bell leaving Vandy basketball squad (Nashville City Paper)
Bell leaves Vandy, looks for freedom (Huntsville Times)
Bell plans transfer from Vandy (Tennessean)

What are your thoughts on the announcement and its impact on
next year's squad?

Know Your Saints: Previewing Siena

The seedings are done, the brackets are set, and now it's time to play some basketball. As always, the top teams in the tourney are household favorites such as UCLA, North Carolina, and Duke. But at the same time, there are a bunch of scrappy, lovable underdogs who burst onto the national scene by virtue of winning hallowed league tournaments such as the Big Sky or the MEAC.

Anyways, our Commodores have drawn one of those mysterious underdogs in the Siena Saints, who went 13-5 in the MAAC (no, that's not a typo, that's the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), and 22-10 overall. So, who are these Saints? And where the hell is Siena? Read on, my friends, read on...

For starters, Siena is located in Loudonville, New York, which is just outside of Albany (interesting fact: I have been going to Loudonville for Thanksgiving since I was about 5 years old. It's a pretty nice place). It is home to about 3,000 undergraduate students and, according to their website, "admission to the college is competitive." A bad omen for Vanderbilt: Siena is affiliated with the Catholic church, so they will have God on their side. Then again, we have Shan Foster.

Alright, now to the basketball. The regular season MAAC co-champs clinched a tourney seed by blowing out Rider in the championship game by 21 points. Key wins include a shocking 79-67 victory over Stanford in November, and... that's really it. The only other big-time opponents that Siena has played are Syracuse, St. Joseph's, and Memphis, and the Saints lost those contests by a combined 58 points.

Siena is young- only one senior is on the roster- and have a trio of high scoring players who average over 15 points a game. Sophomore Edwin Ubiles leads the squad with 17.3 points a contest and classmate Alex Franklin is tops on the team with 8.0 boards a game.

What Siena lacks is size, as their resident big man, junior Josh Duell, stands at a "mere" 6'7'', the same height as Andre Walker. They do have three guys that are 6'9'', but none of them are significant contributors. And Franklin, their top rebounder, is shorter than Shan Foster at 6'5''. As long as A.J. Ogilvy gets plenty of touches, we should be fine.

People on the Siena bandwagon (including that stupid guy on CBS) may point to their excellent guards when arguing for an upset. I have one thing to say to these foolish people: Please. Do they really think that Jermaine Beal, Alex Gordon, Shan Foster, and Keegan Bell can't handle anything that Siena will throw at them? As an added bonus, the emergence of Jamie Graham as a super lock-down defender and energy guy will certainly help to stifle Ubiles and company.

Siena has a pretty good basketball tradition. This is their fourth dance in program history, the last coming on 2002, where they beat Alcorn State in the play-in game. They also placed third in the NIT tournament in '94.

So, now you know everything you ever wanted to about this quaint little college in upstate New York.