UK 103 Lamar 61

UK dispatched the Lamar Cardinals in what was easily there best performance of the year. The problem: There are so many story lines that I don’t know where to begin. Do I start with the Liggins, Galloway, Stewart coming out party? After all, this is the night UK fans have been waiting for from all three. Liggins was in total control, displayed the ability to get UK into its sets, DIDN’T FORCE THE ACTION and maybe most importantly, knocked down the outside shots UK desperately needs from anyone other than Meeks. Galloway showed us that uncanny passing ability with some of the most excellent assists on the night. He also immediately showed us why he hasn’t played as much when he allowed his guy to get past him. I harp on keeping someone in front all the time, but I don’t think it can be harped on enough because usually so many bad things happen. In this case, not only did Lamar get a great look, they also got an offensive rebound and the second foul on Patterson. But having said all that, he did a fantastic job after that. Kudos to coach for sticking with him because it was easy to see the value he will bring when the rubber meets the road. Stewart also provided some of his most productive minutes ever as a Cat. He has an awesome baseline jumper game which can be a zone killer down the stretch. And UK can expect to see a lot of zone if some shooters do not come to the surface.

But maybe I should start with the reason those guys got extended looks. The scene was something from a nightmare. Harris and Porter were down and neither looked good. At least Porter looked like he was able to function. Harris, not so much. We now find out that the medical staff took added precautions after Harris told them he had shooting pains running through his neck. The injury is not thought to be serious but we really do not know for sure at this point. This is a horrible way to get minutes. I read some things were so called fans were “glad” about this. Not only are they less than fans, they are less than human. Sick, disturbed, mentally deformed and out of touch with any sense of reality come to mind when I think of such people. All I can say is you will get yours on judgment day because there is no way you can make comments like that and have a chance at passing on hell. Of course our thoughts and prayers are with both players and it is my deepest wish that they recover, like, now. Not for the sake of the team, but for their and their family’s sake. This is when something is much bigger than the game in my book.

Maybe the big news was the turnover turn around. Silly me, I knew this was a pesky, quick, experienced team which is just the type that has given UK fits. Win or lose, I thought this was the exact type of team UK needed to play. UK has demons and turnovers, especially to these type teams, is demon number one. But to UK’s credit, they did exactly what Coach wanted. I don’t think Lamar wanted to come back out after the first half because UK looked sharp and was taking care of the ball while causing Lamar all kinds of problems. I am not going to nit pick on the rebounding; yet. UK has rebounded better and I think/hope last night was an anomaly. Many of those boards were of the long/weird bounce kind and those can really skew the numbers.

For once, the main story line isn’t the 31 point effort from Patterson or the 19 and 6 assists with only one turnover from Meeks, right?

I suppose I will defer to you to decide the story line order of the day. While making your selections, please also include Stevenson’s reemergence, especially in the mid range game, there was a Carter sighting, and Miller struggled a little.

So all this begs the question: What does this game tell us? I honestly do not think it tells us much of anything. UK is better at this point than they were last year at this point. But I think Vegas told us that. UK does have potential on the bench. But that potential doesn’t mean a hill of beans if that potential isn’t realized game in and game out. Even though Patterson has scored well in most games, I still do not think he is playing as well as he could be. I need to see the same game from Meeks a few in a row and the same can be said for Liggins, Galloway, Stewart and Stevenson. The one real constant, in my mind is a guy I haven’t even said a word about and it may be the biggest story of the year. Let’s hear it for Jorts!