29-2

What a wonderful ride. UK sits at 29-2, which is remarkable when you consider the unknowns before the season started. Most (OK me) figured UK would struggle early and lose a few more games than they have, but would gel down the stretch. In some ways neither thing has happened. UK IS 29-2 but most would agree that their play is just as spotty now as it was at the beginning of the season. Make no mistake, they are much improved. But the level of play has increased and other teams have gotten better as well.

But let’s face it; the ride wouldn’t be nearly as fun if it were as flat as a Kansas high way. Roller coasters are way more fun. I would expect this type of ride from here on out with the young teams Cal plans to bring in. I don’t know if many of them will be 29-2, but the ride will be the same.

Senior day was something special. Given that Mark Kreb’s mom was able to make it and Patterson got his Senior day that many (OK me) thought he deserved. Something also happened when the game started too. The UK, “Seniors + Wall” went out and took it to the Gators. The defense was as crisp as any we’ve seen all year. UK had a seven point lead in just over five minutes of play. With the return of the, “starters” UF suddenly was able to get just about whatever shot they wanted for a short stretch. UK then went on a block party that looked more like volleyball spikes than rejected shots and extended the seven point cushion to 18. UK also did a great job of hitting the open threes the UF zone afforded them. UF then went to a man to man, the starters + Dodson started doing what they tend to do, and next thing you know UK takes a 10 point lead into the half.

Now let’s focus on this for a minute. UK has a seven point lead with little used Seniors, builds an 18 point lead with the starters, then settles for a 10 point lead at the half. That is a seven point lead in a quarter of that time and an added three points in the remaining three quarters of that time. I hope Cal pays attention to that when he watches the tape. Krebs was able to keep number 11 in front of him. Bledsoe, was not (not at all and it wasn’t even close). The allowed penetration got UK some good blocks at first, then UF adjusted and got some very easy shots. Meanwhile, Bledsoe had a terrific seven minutes on offense followed by a horrid finish to the half. Dodson followed a similar line on defense.

UF was able to execute the pick and roll to perfection in the second half. Very poor guard positioning left the pick man with a wide open alley to the hoop several times in a row. But, UK again found a way to get a slight cushion at crunch time and was able to hold the Gators at arms length.

If UK is going to be a defensive team, Cal needs to play guys that can actually play defense. UK has enough scoring on the floor without all the breakdowns Dodson and Bledsoe allow. Heck, UK wouldn’t NEED as much scoring if it didn’t have the major break downs. Thank goodness for Miller as he is really starting to come into his own on both ends of the floor. UK still hasn’t even thought about solving the double sandwich on Boogie and I think it’s really starting to affect his game. Pat did a MUCH better job of helping take some pressure off Boogie in the second half and I think that should be his focus moving forward. Pat is also now taking the ball from the outside in. Folks, this is the last part of the game he needs to add, and if he can perfect it just a little more, there is absolutely no reason he should even consider returning. UK now heads into post season with some pretty obvious flaws. BUT, they also have things that other teams must gamble to try to stop. The path to a final four isn’t quite as clear as I would hope it would be, but at least there aren’t the major road blocks of the last seven years or so. I have a feeling the roller coaster will get even wilder before it’s all over!

Out-Classing UGA

It’s funny what I allow UK basketball to do to me. Last night I went from serious berserk, to total elation, all in the span of two hours. I am sure the play to begin the game wasn’t a thing of beauty, but that had little to do with my prior condition. It seems WAVE in Louisville decided to have technical difficulties with the feed. I didn’t think ESPN 360 would have the game as it wasn’t an ESPN production (bad assumption on my part). My wife has always questioned my sanity when it comes to UK, but before it was more in a joking manner. Now, I can tell she is seriously wondering…

Anyway, I missed the first two minutes all together and the first 10 minutes of TV time so I can’t give much input on that time frame. I can tell you that the Cats magically started taking it to the Dogs just as soon as I finally had TV. Just as I took the blame for the loss, I now take full credit for the improved play.

And improved play it was and for me it was across the board. I’ve given Bledsoe a lot of grief and I bet others won’t be so easy to agree with me, but I thought his play was much improved, if nothing else, but on the defensive end. He was in the right spots and did a very good job of staying with his guy. UK seemed to come at UGA in waves and all the dogs could do was try, in vain, to keep their heads above water. And this was a very dangerous place to play. I didn’t think UK would have trouble there at the beginning of the season, but conference play had made me take note as all other east teams had failed to win in Athens. That speaks volumes about the job Fox has done and its yet another quality coach to compete against in the SEC.

How about a HUGE shout out to Dodson. Something clicked and he suddenly had his stroke back. Was anyone else able to tell it was going down just as soon as he released his bombs? It all started with a pull up jumper and from there he was pretty much dead center. I totally agree with coach when he says that this team’s demise will not be poor outside shooting. But good outside shooting never hurts and there was plenty. Dodson, Wall and Patterson all shot 50% or above for the night. The team, as a whole, shot 33% which is really only respectable but the team had to make up for an 0-9 from Miller. Miller made up for the poor outside shooting on his own with awesome D (best of the year by him in my opinion) and some key baskets in the lane.

Wall was Wall at his best, Patterson was Patterson at his best but two other guys really stepped out to the front for me. We all have been looking for that extra guard and I think we finally found him last night. How about a HUGE shout out to may main man at the point, Mr BOOOOGGGGIIIEEE. The MAN is as talented as any center/point guard combo to ever come through UK. You know you have a special talent when your point guard leads the two best breaks of the night, both coast to coast. On one, he does his best Jordan hand switch in mid air and on the next he feeds none other than the power forward for a nifty assist. But the Mainest man of the night was Harris. He seemed to provide a steady hand when things were still a touch dicey in the first half and continued to provide positives throughout his minutes. He contributed some key offensive rebounding, three assists to zero turnovers, a key shot that I thought was a three and some awesome defense.

Overall, this was exactly what UK needed. They played relatively smart, and made UGA pay for the things they tried to take away. Most importantly, they out classed a team they were suppose to out class and took care of a very dangerous team in their house.

Vandy wasn’t Dandy

It was a huge win for UK.  Looking at the schedule, who would think UK could get out of Starkvi1le and Nashville without a loss?  There are still some very tough games ahead and I am still scratching my head as to how UK got the win at Vandy.  It isn’t like they played well, because Patterson was the only player that I thought brought the A game.  UK did defend, but Vandy also provided a lot of help by missing many open opportunities.  Give Vandy some credit in causing UK to look below average.  They had 15 fouls to use in the paint and they got their money’s worth out of every single one of them.  UK was just as charitable by missing 13 of 30 free throws.

I learned a lot about this team after the Vandy game.  This was by far the biggest game of the year and I saw just how much pressure a few players will be able to take.  Bledsoe, who early in the year was touted as a clutch, go to guy is far from that at this point, and I think its way too late in the year to expect that to change and I hope coach notes it when he reviews the tape.  I love the kid, but its time to adjust roles for the sake of going as far as UK can go.  The kid generally was out of control the entire game.  He did play some stretches of good defense, but I saw several times where he was completely out of what he needed to do.  On several presses, he let his guy get way over the top, lost them completely, and the guy would get a wide open look (which was missed, of course).  The very best display of his stage fright was the free throws he shot late in the game.  He was visibly shaken by the thought of shooting a clutch shot and missed.  Coach calls time out and he still wasn’t settled and missed the second.  Wall wasn’t much better, but he generally would make one of two. He did have the block which was a great play, but that guy should not have even tried that shot.  With Wall so tight, he should have driven around him, or tried.  As big as this stage was, it will be nothing compared to the do or die stage that is coming soon.

Patterson had a huge day and he needs to thank Boogie for part of that.  Vandy was blocking Boogie out with two, and sometimes three guys!  They also did one of the best jobs of doubling him by sandwiching from inside and out instead of two guys on the inside.  This didn’t allow him to turn and exposed the ball to quick hands.  The cost to Vandy’s D was minimal as the guy they used on the outside came from the short corner.  UK didn’t do Boogie any favors as the offensive guy that was open stayed in the corner, which was an easy recover.  I hope coach notes this and if its used again, have a guy like Miller that can flash by for a pass and penetrate, or move the guy out to the elbow for a longer recover distance. 

Dodson has a mechanical issue with his shot.  The shots are veering right and I noted that his elbow isn’t tucked.  His distance looks good, but that might be affected when he gets his elbow corrected.  This is NOT the time of year to need a shot doctor and I would expect coach to use him less if he can’t get it fixed soon.  While his D is better, he simply doen’t have much value if he isn’t knocking down shots.

I hope coach notes all the off the ball blocks Vandy committed during the game and asks the refs to watch for them if someone else tries to do the same.  Vandy was able to slow all of UK’s sets by getting a defender in front of where a guy wanted to go then moving his feet to block the path.  This is what frustrated Bledsoe and is why he pushed.  Its illegal and should be called the same as a guy with the ball.   UK could also use it against a team.  Vandy knew what UK was running and gambled with their position to slow down a plays flow.  Running a play to counter the position would cost the defensive team and force them to play straight up.

All in all, this was a huge win.  This was a game that may have been won before they even played.  Vandy missed a bunch of shots, maybe because they didn’t expect to make them.  Having that sort of ora  is a huge advantage.   I’ll be interested in seeing the mindset of USC this week.  My guess is, they know they are in for a much different contest than last time.

USC 68 UK 62

I didn’t want this day to come. I certainly didn’t see it coming from a game at South Carolina. It’s just a guess, but I don’t think the Cats saw it either, and there in lies the start of the problem. It’s not a bad problem to have, rooting for a team that is 19-1. I wanted to believe this team could handle it. I now know they couldn’t. I think Cal probably knows it too. I know some disagree, but I do think there has been too much going on outside of basketball this last week for this team. But in the grand scheme of things, there is more to life than basketball and I would trade raising 1.3 mil for one of the worst natural disasters of my lifetime and the acknowledgement from that for a loss to USC any day of the week. Having said that, there is no excuse for losing to South Carolina outside of Devan Downey. The kid was the best player on the floor on this night, and in the end, that is the center of the story. He got the help he needed from his team mates and from UK, but you have to take your hat off to the Gamecocks for having a plan, sticking to it and executing it. UK, didn’t.

Any time after a loss like this, you have to look harder at what went wrong. For one, Bledsoe seemed to be caught up in the, “who is the better point guard” war. Downey, wasn’t. Downey did what he had to do to win and that really is the ball game as none of the Cats did what they needed to do to win the ball game. The late heroics seemed a little stale to the Gamecocks, who shrugged it off and won the game anyway.

I honestly think coach had a game plan that would win almost any game, but there was a major lack of execution which started with Miller. The game plan only works if you hit your outside shots, and Miller seemed to not even be in the gym. His replacements didn’t do any better and I am not sure why Dodson deserved 21 minutes in this game other than he did seem to hustle some on D. Harris played six minutes, which was probably 5 minutes too many until you consider that anyone deserves a chance to work their way into the game. Harris, in my mind, has been disappointing of late. I love the kid, he’s one of my favorites, but he seems to be coasting. The effort on D is gone, the rebounding is gone and the over all leadership is gone. This team will go as far as the three position takes them, which at this point is a toss up on any given night.

Leadership. Big, big word. Guys like Patterson and Harris have all but differed the leadership to the freshman point guards. You must give Kudos to Wall and Bledsoe for wrestling it away from the elder players and shame on Patterson and Harris for handing it to them without a fight. Patterson is my favorite player of all time, but he has coasted this year as well. Part of that is the scheme, and I don’t think there is an answer for it. UK can go to the double post, but that clogs things up. Boogie, to his credit, has stayed on the blocks much better than I thought he would and it usually serves UK well. Patterson, on the other hand has not produced much when he’s on the wing and has not posted as well as the last two years. Over all, you just don’t see Patterson around the ball nearly as much as in the the past and I credit much of that to coasting.

This team would have Cal’s eight or ten losses if he didn’t have Boogie. The kid brings it every play of every night. Lat night: 27 points while shooting 53%, 12 boards, a steal, three turn overs, three blocks. He’s the one guy that did not deserve to lose.

I didn’t want to know how this team would handle a loss, but now its time to find out. The great news is, I just looked out the window and the sun DID, in fact, come up this morning and UK does live to fight another day.

Path to the Mountain Top

If you are like me, and you probably are if you are reading this, you’ve wondered what this UK team would look like if they played a full forty minutes.  It’s really hard to ask a team to play a full forty minutes, by the way.  Most coaches would be doing back flips to get thirty full minutes of play.  As for this team, now we know.  It wasn’t really forty minutes, but it was as close to it as you can get.  And when they do, this team is unbeatable.  And when I say unbeatable, that includes the Nets as well.

 So now that we have that answer, the next big question is, what flipped the switch for this team?  What made them decide to finally keep the foot on the gas the entire game?  I contend that the answer lies square in the events that will happen when the polls come out on Monday.  Consider that this team was given a lot.  They were ranked third before they ever took their first dribble.  I’m not saying they didn’t deserve the ranking, or maybe a better way to put it is no one deserves their ranking, good or bad, when you have zip to back things up.  All UK had to do to maintain their ranking was to win.  And win they did.  Most nights, they put just enough effort in to get the wins.  The sum of the wins is impressive.  The wins themselves mostly were not.  Then something happened.  Losses by Kansas, then Texas happened.  These Cats decided they did want to be number one and I think they know that to be number one, you must play at another level.  What we found out yesterday is this team is scary good when they play the entire game.  They didn’t play a perfect game by any stretch.  They had 15 turnovers,  and shot 68% from the free throw line.  I’ll truly pity the team (after the final horn) that plays these Cats when they play the entire game AND play a perfect game.  I would probably even pity the Lakers.  I do not mean to knock the team for not playing a perfect game and actually my intent is to show that this team does not need to play a perfect game to destroy teams.  All they have to do is follow the game plan, dominate the boards (margin was 20) shoot a high percentage for the game (46%), shoot 30 percent from three, and defend like mad.  The rest tends to take care of itself. 

 When we talk about playing the entire game, we aren’t just talking about consecutive minutes or even stretches of minutes.  We are also talking about minutes by position.  We know what can happen when UK gets play from the 1,2,4 and 5.  The other question asked as been, what happens if UK also got production from the 3 as well.  Now we know.  Miller and his subs, in my mind, was the difference.  The Hogs chose to let UK’s wings have open looks and the wings responded in a dominating fashion.  Miller, Liggins, Harris; the three did not miss a beat as the lead swelled to 46.  This may continue to be the game plan, then again, I don’t think anyone will feel very good about using this game plan.  It can get you spanked.

UF and Random Stuff

These Cats do have the will to win. I’m not really sure if that is the correct phrase, but it’s the sheik, in phrase that’s going around. What this team really has is the potential to beat teams in any type of game, and when they really want to they can focus long enough to get it done. They also have a confidence in their ability to make plays when they need to. I can’t really compare them to any college team I’ve seen before. I think they are a more well-rounded bunch than the 96 team. Probably more talented 1-7 but obviously much younger. The 96 team came at you in waves and the game was usually over in the first 10 minutes. This team could do that if they could focus for more than 5 minutes at a time. The big question going into post season with the 96 team was if they could handle a close game situation. No such question with this bunch. What this team reminds me of is more of a championship caliber NBA team. Not in talent, not in how they play, but how those type teams approach an NBA season as a whole. They don’t blow people out every night, but they do get some easy W’s. Most of the games are decided in the last five minutes or less, and at the end of the year they’ve clutched their way to winning 90% of their games.

On the flip side, I now agree with Cal that this team needs to focus for longer stretches and put people away. You know they can play in the clutch. They are very battle tested from that area. They are getting better and better and its time to see them flex. Beside, Cal is correct in that one of these times, a team is going to hit that lucky shot, ala the UT walk on, and UK will not be able to recover. This is a mojo I don’t want to play with because we have no idea how this team will react if it lost in the clutch.

It must be very disheartening to take Wall and Boogie out of what they want to do only to see Bledsoe, Orton and Miller step up, fill in the slack, and get it done. You simply can’t focus on one or two guys and beat UK. You can’t take Patterson out so I wouldn’t even bother there. He gets his 16-7 no matter what. I do think he needs to be more assertive and get his numbers up to 20-12.

Some of us noted during the game that Wall still doesn’t look right. He did end up with 19 and 7 of those came down the stretch, but I am concerned health wise. It may just be mental fatigue, which doesn’t change my concern one bit.

The general feeling is that Liggins and Harris were pretty much no shows. I do not disagree and the box score doesn’t either. Liggins had two turn overs and Harris had one fall in the lap rebound. But I feel strongly that an even bigger contributor was Millers much improved play. He only had nine points and a few boards, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Miller was much more involved on defense and mixing it up underneath. He didn’t always come up with the ball, but at least he was in there. He did a better job of getting in the lane and making his best shot, and he knocked down some threes when UK needed it.

Daniel Orton was a beast inside. Those blocks were unreal. They kept coming at him and he kept swatting them away. It looked to me as if one went into the second level. I won’t call them cheap seats because I wouldn’t give a dollar for any of them.

Bledsoe was the beast. I don’t know why he was the only one that noticed UF was not going to challenge people who drove to the rim, but I’m glad at least he did. He was by far the fastest player on the floor and he steadied the Cats when they needed it most. It was good to see his shooting eye return which also was a dagger into the head of the gator beast.

Finally, Cal goes for a tie of Rupp’s conference win streak Saturday. Granted, almost all of them in CUSA, but at least a Cat coach will be the one to tie/break it. It’s nice keeping things like that in the family.

Mid-Season Review

It’s a game late for my mid season review. I’ve been very busy and a game late but it’s better than not at all. 

 When thinking of UK’s progress to date, the first thing that jumps out is 16-0 Another number that jumps out is 2004.  When thinking back to this time last year, both are just as impressive as they are unexpected.  But here UK sits with a perfect record and a team to be reckoned with.  Lets take a few minutes and review how this start came about.

 It starts out front and on the wing.  Cal sold Bledsoe on playing with John Wall, and he has lived up to that promise.  UK, in turn, has thrived.  The reason it has thrived out front is because Cal has also sold the team on doing what you can to help the team, not yourself.  Bledsoe could be the star guard at almost any school in the country.  At UK, he’s simply, guard.  I’ve honestly toyed with the concept of Bledsoe and Wall changing spots.  Bledsoe handles as well as Wall and it would take some of the load off of Wall which may help with his cramping.  Both guards have played extremely well together, and with the help of Harris in relieve of Wall, Bledsoe or Miller, it’s been a back court of perfection.  Now UK has Liggins producing which has been my key to the run UK can make. 

The front court has been the defining factor in all but two games.  There simply is no answer for a Patterson and Cousins combo.  There have been a few teams to come close, and UGA was one of them, but the cost is usually foul trouble.  UK gets quality relief in Orton and Skinny, which does nothing but keep the interior pressure on other teams.  UK’s front court is most unique because they can beat you with strength in the post and they can also beat you down the court.   Rarely does a team have both.

 Now let’s talk about the overall positives of this year.  First and foremost, this team has played together which is the biggest key I can think of.  They rarely take bad shots and they work to get the highest percentage shot possible.  I’ve only seen them rattled a few times, and both have been of late.  But in every battle, they have been able to focus and execute down the stretch.   Much of that can be attributed to Wall, but the team as a whole must also execute when the game is on the line and for that, you must give them a sterling A+.  You would not expect a team full of All Americans to hustle as they do, but rarely is a ball on the court without an AA being in the mix.  The team, for the most part, has shot much better from outside than anyone thought they would and there have been times where they have shot extremely well from the free throw line.   UK’s interior rebounding and defense is second to none.

 There are not many areas where UK needs vast improvement, but there are a few.   UK has only played two or three games where the focus and intensity was there for 40 minutes although they usually haven’t needed to.   The team as a whole has had issues with turnovers, although this has been an area that hasn’t seemed to hurt the team.  Most of those issues are with the freshman guards, and they have shown signs of being able to play more under control when needed.  This has not been a very good rebounding team from the wing guard positions, but I think that is to be expected when you want your team to fast break as much as possible.  Still, teams have been able to stay close or outrebound the Cats at time.  One of the reasons UK has been outrebounded of late is do to a dip in outside shooting, shooting percentage and ft shooting percentage.   Missed shots equal defensive boards by the other team.  This dip is also a major concern going forward simply from a team execution standpoint.  Outside shooting makes the inside game more possible.  The three position over all needs some improvement.  Miller is an offensive threat, Harris is a defensive stopper and generally a better rebounder, and Liggins is just now getting his game legs under him. 

 Outlook:  I look for this team to get better and better IF, they can keep their focus, but I think that has been a struggle area of late.  UK needs to return to getting quality outside and free throw production across the board.  I think Liggins will now push the three spot into being just as productive as the other positions.  Miller will do nothing but improve from being pushed and Harris will be Harris, although I have not been happy with his rebounding of late.  I think the guards will continue to improve, which should translate into fewer turnovers.  This team has the tools to be as good as it wants to be.  With it’s will to win, it will be interesting to see how far they actually go.

 My player of the year so far is Boogie.  Many do not like his demeanor, many do not like his shot selection and many do not like his fake glasses.  But game in and game out, no one has played with a will to win greater than Cousins.  He is the absolute best since Sky Walker at scoring while being heavily defended, he’s a rebound machine, he defends and block shots, and no one on the team has more floor burns than Boogie.

UK-UofBrawl

Pitino said he didn’t think his press wouldn’t work against the Cats.  I thought his reference to backing off the press was a ploy.  I was wrong and he was wrong.  UL did not press like usual.  And when they did, UK turned it over.  I thought UL would need to shoot well and often from three range and neither happened.

 Yet here UL was with a one point lead in the second half.  Wall had thrown up the worst shot I’ve ever seen from him and made the worst pass I’d ever seen from him.  No, the game plan was not to press or to rely on threes.  The game plan was to fluster a young but talented team.  The game plan was to take UK out of its game mentally.  And up to the point of Walls worst shot and worst pass the game plan had worked on all but two players.  Ironically, one of those players is the guy you would expect to lose it first and that guy is Cousins.  Maybe this is just the type of game he LIKES to play in and that is actually great news for UK.  UK hasn’t had a “Cousins” since Maglor roamed the paint.  UK needed a “Maglor” yesterday and Cousins was happy to oblige.  He had his moment.  Many think he should have been ejected but he clearly did not throw a punch.  I do not agree with the forearm he used but I also do not agree with how the UL players were attempting to push UK around either.  Someone needed to even the slate.  Someone needed to let UL know they would get as good as they gave.  If you throw Cousins out, then three UL players should have been tossed as well.  I think UL would have been content to lose one or two guys just to get into UK’s head.  Getting Cousins out would have been a bonus. 

 The plan almost worked.  Wall was not Wall and UK was not UK.  But then the TV time out came and just in the nick of time.  When UK came out of the time out and down one, Wall returned to being Wall and UK returned to being UK and there was nothing UL could do about it.  The bone head passes went away, the three fell for Harris, Wall goes on a Wall run from everywhere and UL had no answer. 

 Coach will do the right thing, but I think its time for Harris to replace Miller in the starting lineup.  It seems that every game Harris is one of the guys on the floor when it matters most except at the start. 

 Again we see that this team is built very well.  They can kill you at their game and beat you at yours.  I’ve always felt that one or two dimensional teams are suspect during a post season run and need a lot of luck to go far.  Teams that can excel in any game situation does not need to rely on luck and this is one of those teams.

 Hat’s off to the Cards for getting this game just where they wanted it.  I though they got a major break with how the game was called.  They needed it, and they still came up short. 

 15-0

2000

What a surreal moment in history.  The winningest program in NCAA history reaching the 2000 milestone.  The celebration: before, during and after.  A team that truly deserved to be on the floor of the momentous game.  The game was called by one of the all time UK greats.  Mashburn was Patterson number one.  Or Patterson is Mashburn two.  Either way, he was a guy that helped re-establish UK to elite status just as Patterson has.  Some have said that reaching 2000 first wasn’t a big deal.  They said that two others might possibly make the milestone this year.  To them I ask; Do you think anyone will get the pre-game coverage provided by ESPNU?  They showed the greatest comeback in history then did a documentary on the Comeback Cats before the game.  During the game they had long interviews with ex-players coaches and fans.  Coverage continued after the game as if UK had won a title.  Do you think anyone else will make that big of a deal over 2000?  The answer is no.  This wasn’t just a big deal, it was a huge deal.  And I would be remiss in not acknowledging the wonderful job ESPNU did on their coverage.  It was spectacular.

The players?  They were as prepared as I’ve seen.  Poor Drexel had zero chance in this game and that is exactly how it should have been.  The kids were focused and played with a sense of meaning like I’ve only seen in the truly big games.  UK was the Harlem Globe Trotters, and Drexel was the Washington General.  Drexel will live to fight another day and no one is worse for wear except maybe a little hurt pride.  But that was the price that was to be paid for the victim of 2000.  The UK faithful was able to celebrate every pass, every block, every steal and every basket as if it were scripted for their entertainment.  And that is how this game should have been.

After the game, Cal brought out Rupp’s son and Joe B.  I cried.  I cried because this team gets it.  I cried because Calipari gets it.  The team played unselfish fundamentally sound basketball until the eight minute mark.  And when they went to some show boating, Call pulled them and put the supporting cast in.  This night was forged on hundreds of players before and countless hours of planning, practice, preparation and sacrifice and there was no room for, “ME” on this night.

I’m only going to mention one player today, and that player is Liggins.  The main reason I’ll only mention him is because he deserves some time on the pedestal.  The secondary reason is because he could very well be the difference in how far UK goes in post season.  UK’s first seven or eight are as good as anyone else’s in the country.  The difference between UK and the two other top teams in their class is depth.  A Liggins playing like he did last night gives UK that ninth guy that would provide a zero drop in performance in a game where it may very well matter.  His pose and passing were perfect.  His spacing and shot selection were sensational.  His defense and demeanor were undeniable.   He knew what to do and he did it.  And he did it as well as anyone on UK’s roster.  It took a long road to get him to this point.  It took some tough love.  And to the kid’s credit, it took some changes and sacrifice on his part.  To Cal, I say another job well done.  To Liggins, I say congratulations on playing a game deserving of 2000.

Finals Sludge?

And then there was Austin Peay.  This could have been a real trap game for mortal teams.  As we look around the Nation, we see several that got caught in traps and some of our SEC brethren are among them.  You can say that finals week shouldn’t matter.  You can say that all the teams are going through it so it should be neutral.  But I think the HOME team is at the disadvantage here as they get to travel and get in game mode since they are way from the school environment. And I also see a team that plays several kids who went through it for the first time so I felt this was certainly a chance to not see the best basketball of all time.  Hints came this week and I thought Call handled it very well, just as I feel he’s handled almost everything well.  To the teams credit, they did just enough to stay 10 points up, and put their foot on the peddle when Austin Peay tried to make a run.  You could see this was like a cat toying with a grasshopper.  And Austin Peay is a very good team. 

Many say that we have parody in college basketball.  Many think there is a defined line between the statuses.  I think there is parody until you reach the elite.  Up to that point, a USC can knock off a UT on any given night.  A GW can knock off a non-elite UK.  But if an elite chooses to impose their will, even in finals week, an elite team can pretty much name their score against a mid major like Austin Peay. 

 

I thought all the Cats had fine moments.  I thought all the Cats had moments we would like to instantly forget.  I thought Liggin played more consistently than any of the Cats, but his consistency is a tad rusty at this point.  He barrowed minutes from Harris, and I thought that was a great plan.  It isn’t that Harris played bad because he led the team in rebounds when he left the game in the first half.  But this team needs to learn to do it on the D end even if he isn’t in there and they need to knos that some other non-post guy is going to have to crash the boards.  Liggins didn’t d that, but Austin Peay will provide a win and tape where they can see.  Liggins did a ton right.  He didn’t force, he actually ran the called plays and was in the right spots.  This is huge stuff.  I remember watching the live practice last year.  Coach drew up a full court play on his board.  Porter ran it first.  Then Liggins ran something that had everyone on the floor scratching their head.  Porter ran it again, then Liggins totally went off the play again.  Yesterday I was sure that things had sunk in with him.  His three was a good three even though it missed.  He needs to hit the boards better, but as this was his first real game actions, SO WHAT. 

 

My last point before closing has to do with Wall.  What the hell is he thinking?  Why was he out of control and risking a season ending injury at mid court for a loose ball against a team that UK could name the score on??  I was seriously pissed at him.  It’s ok to go for the ball but control yourself!!

 

I am very please with how this team has progressed.  I am pleased the staff is getting through.  You can see it in the interviews when the players, like Boogie, echo Cal’s thoughts.  You hear them say they need to get better, then you see them actually do it even if they didn’t play as well as many would like.  You see Boogie maturing right before your eyes and you’ve already seen potential that is out of the arena.  You see an already mature beyond his years Orton, improving his skills on the floor.  You also know that the post presence can not be matched anywhere when they, combined with Patterson, play to their potential..  And then there is Wall..

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