Calm down everyone. Yes, Kentucky is 9-0 and ranked in the top five. Yes, Kentucky has won back-to-back marquee games over North Carolina and UConn. Yes, John Wall is amazing. However, lets don't do as Calipari warned and "drink the poison." Let's calm down and appreciate what we've done and where we're at, but still be realistic about the overall picture.Coach Cal has made every effort to remind everyone that we could very easily be 4-5 right now. Miami, Sam Houston State, Stanford, North Carolina and UConn were all games that we could have (and possibly should have) lost. Let's look closer at last night's example...
After starting the game with a 12-zip run, Kentucky went AWOL for the rest of the half. UConn settled down and started making plays and the Cats looked like deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming freight train. To compound our mistakes, we made silly fouls that resulted in early foul trouble for several players. Even Wall got saddled with an early second foul and went out with 8 minutes to go in the first half. The Cats looked out of sync for every minute he was absent. When he finally returned to the floor in the second half, things slowly improved until he finally took the game over down the stretch. However, as good as Wall was last night, he still had 6 turnovers, proving that even he has room for improvement.
Cal was disappointed in the team's play after the early run that resulted in a 12 point lead. To be honest, he wasn't very impressed with the team's overall effort at all: "We didn't respond very well. We have to get better. We drank the poison in the first half. We go up 12 and they're celebrating like they won the national championship."
And that's the problem really. Sure, Kentucky blitzed UNC and UConn with dominating stretches of explosive offense, but barely held on to win both games by a single possession. If UConn hits their free throws, they win and Kentucky leaves the Big Apple with a tough loss. This talented group of freshmen need to learn how to play tough every possession, every second of the game. If they don't, eventually our will to win will get canceled out by silly turnovers, stupid fouls, and poor shot selection, and some of these close wins will start going the other way.
My advice to the young Cats? Let's don't get too excited after a big play in the first half leaves us with a nice, but early lead... instead keep things under control and try to do it again the next possession... and the next. Don't drink the poison.
Things will get better as the youngsters get more experience and mature from it, I have no doubt. Things will also get better the more comfortable the Cats become with the new systems that Cal is trying hard to teach. In the meantime, the Wildcats should be thankful they're not 4-5 and unranked, because we could very easily be there instead of the top 5.
Just something to think about... from the dark side.
I'll take 9-0 with a "bad start" to the season. Just shows you what their upside is.
ReplyDeleteI understand your point Mike, but I still think all of the 4-5 talk is bogus. I think you just have to say this team has a will to win and never gives up. The difference is we are winning those 50-50 games that Gillispie lost. This team may not be as good as their record, but they are certainly better than 4-5.
ReplyDeleteMidge here-
ReplyDeleteThe point is we are 9-0. Sure we got lucky in a few of them, but we won those close calls. Goes to show you that this team never gives up and has a strong will to win. As far as calming down goes, I'm not going to, we are 9-0 and number 4 in the country. When was the last time we could say that, I said at the beginning of the season we would go undefeated, possibly losing just one. I'm sticking to that bold prediction, this team is unbelievabley talented and with a win tomorrow, we're looking at a 14-0 record before SEC play starts. Hell, I have a glass of the kool-aid right now, and a couple gallons of it in the fridge. I'M LOVIN IT, EVERY DROP OF IT!!
Go Cats.
Midge-