Well, about the only thing nice looking about the Kentucky game on Saturday was Ashley Judd, who was sporting a John Wall tee shirt. I don't think I can remember a UK victory that felt more like a loss than a win than this one. After the game, I had a round table discussion with JLee and Austin and our critique of the game sounded more like the conversations we had countless times during the dark times of Billy Clyde.It wasn't all bad at first, Kentucky played under control and built a 19 point lead in the opening half. However, in the second half, Kentucky played just bad. There were several silly turnovers, bad shot selection, and Patrick Patterson didn't even attempt a shot.
One of my complaints all season is that Patrick isn't getting enough touches. Cal can call out Patterson all he wants, but he can't score the ball if the guards aren't passing it to him. Both Wall and Bledsoe drove the ball into the defense and threw up bad shots rather than passing the ball off to the open shooter or Patrick on the wing. Bledsoe especially was out of control, forcing several bad shots while surrounded by Auburn defenders.
One bright spot off the bench was once again DeAndre Liggins. You can just tell the kid wants to play and continues to perform with energy and passion. He hit some big shots today and played his usual solid defense. As the season moves on, it will be hard to play Harris or Miller over Liggins if he continues to perform at this level.
After the Florida game, Cal said Kentucky had to get that killer instinct that would allow them to push 15 point leads to 20 or 30, and that was needed again today. It is so frustrating to watch a more talented team blow a double digit lead because of senseless turnovers, poor defense, and silly shot selection. I know Cal doesn't like to call timeouts, but if I were the head coach of this team, I'd call a time out whenever the team gets a solid lead and really get their attention and inspire them to keep up the heat and to play smart.
Kentucky is 18-0 and they've yet to play a full forty minutes of good basketball. When this happens, watch out, because this team might be unstoppable. However, if they continue to play like they did today, allowing teams to creep back in and almost steal the win, the Cats will eventually run through their nine lives.
Kentucky playing on the road is the game of the year for these teams. They are going to have friends and family there, alumni from the past, and major pep rallies starting the week of the game coming up. Do you really think anything is going to be easy for UK on the road? They may have more talent, but the teams are ready and they all want to be the one that gives UK there first loss. Watch the games in the SEC when UK isn't there, and you will see that the stands are really empty. The games are going to be ugly and hard fought. Don't expect the whistle in our favor on the road, and hope we win and nobody gets hurt. That's all you can ask for right now. At least we have our pride back with BCG gone, and the future looks brighter than it has in a very long time. Enjoy the ride, and when we finally do lose one, it isn't the end of the season, just the perfect streak. March is what this is all about, and hopefully we will be ready by then. These guys will have ran the hostile environments of the SEC and will be seasoned and ready for the NCAA tourney. Unlike last year, when we didn't even smell the popcorn from it.
ReplyDeleteYour post has nothing to do with the article in that it breaks down OUR mistakes, not that the other team played hard. We damn near bet ourselves yesterday because of boneheaded plays and selfishness.
ReplyDeleteYes, we did almost beat ourselves, but let's give some credit to Auburn. They wanted that game yesterday badly and they played very hard in the second half.
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