UK 61 UA 51

It was another ugly half. Meeks was having to fight and claw for everything, Patterson was pretty much no where to be found, and other Cats were again being put in a position to step up. And they were not. The Alabama game plan was simple. Try to restrict Patterson’s touches, assign a guy to Meeks full time, and don’t worry much about anyone else. We are used to seeing people attempt to limit Patterson’s touches. What we haven’t been used to is seeing people actually do it until the last few games. We are also not used to seeing Patterson out worked on the boards as he has at times, and it happened again in the first half. Giving up offensive rebounds, turning the ball over and poor execution by anyone other than Meeks pretty much tells the tale of the first half.

Then halftime came. And this half time was nothing close to ordinary. The half ran longer than normal, then it was announced that a Cat had collapsed during the half. Turns out, it was Harris. Also, no coach at the start of the half and the first thought was that there wouldn’t be a coach sighting in the second half. But, as things usually do work themselves out, coach did reappear. That pretty much told me that Harris was doing OK. His status was, and at the moment is, still a mystery but at least the young man is home safe and sound. And in times like these, basketball is nothing compared to the health of a player.

Coach had hinted that he may change his substitution pattern around. I understood why he had not before and I understand why he thinks it might be time to now. Harris and Porter do give you everything they have but they are limited in what they can offer. And Porter didn’t have a bad game. But with all the focus on Meeks and Patterson, its very easy for me to link the forced play trying to get them shots directly with many of the turnovers. The problem to date has been that guys like Miller and Liggins are also limited but in different ways and for different reasons. And their limitations to date have far outweighed Porter and Harris. But as that gap closes, UK needs to reach a point where they rely more on Liggins and Miller, because UK will need some of the added skills they can offer if they are not hurting UK in other areas as much. And yesterday, in the second half, we saw the result of this change in thought by coach. Miller, out of necessity due to Harris, but also Liggins out of necessity simply because UK needs to be able to make plays by guys other that Patterson and Meeks. Consider it done. Meeks did get his. He always does. Miller didn’t do anything flashy, but he did provide solid D, some great passing and solid play that helped get UK into an open court game. Liggins did provide some needed scoring and overall good D. The major contribution came from Stevenson who, in my opinion had a monster second half and was the key to the game.

I don’t know what is going on with Patterson. I know he has a sore finger, but six points, five boards, two turnovers ZERO assists and five PFs is NOT a Patterson game even if he didn’t have a hand. This is a guy that rarely got in foul trouble last year but it is the case this year. I know he’s the focus of defenses, and I know the team is going to Meeks as much as possible, but he has to keep his head in the game. And I think the others like Porter, Harris (if possible), Miller and Liggins need to make teams pay for showing so much attention to Patterson. They get open shots, and this team will not rise to the next level until those guys knock down those shots.

But, UK continues to plow forward. No one thought it would be as easy as the first two games and it certainly has not. And in the big picture, UK will enter the top 25 on Monday, has total command of the SEC. It’s on to Ole Miss. Go Cat!