Now, as a young team, they have to learn to give that effort every game. That is the surest way to improve.

 

:thumb:

If WCS hits half of his 6 missed FT in a row UK had a real chance.

UK hit their three's but not their free's.

I'm not disappointed either. It's fun watching Harrow grow up. Nice seeing Kyle Wiltjer making key contributions in the clutch comeback run.

I'm happy with the effort from UK, they played well enough to win, at times, and showed tremendous effort. On a different note, they're aren't many people I despise more in college basketball than Doug Shows...

Call me crazy, but Cauley Stein may have the highest ceiling of talent of any player that Cal has brought to UK...

If Poythress can figure it out, UK will be scary in 2 months...

I am not a Mayes fan... If he can't hit shots, not sure what more he brings. I would rather have Polson in the game. Polson went and got a rebound late in second half... I wish Polson would look to shoot a little more.

 

I agree on Mayes, Polson appears to be more athletic than Mayes as well.

A coach Cal team without a PG is like a Bentley with no wheels, as Harrow improves UK will take off.

I thought one of the biggest plays of the game was the R Smith missed dunk In the first few minutes. UL's early run was cut short because the miss kind of took the wind out of their momentum. It allowed UK to gather themselves.

 

I thought the biggest play was when Smith rebounded his own miss and scored when UL was only up by 2 or 3 points late in the game. UK had 3 players who should have beaten him to the ball, but he outhustled them and made the play.

Entertaining game, and UK showed some gumption coming back from on the cuffs of being blown out.

General thoughts:

- Poythress may never get it. Shows zero sense of urgency but he is somewhat handcuffed by the fact he has no handle. He is a 4 man that doesn't like contact. Nimble enough to play the three but simply can't dribble. Will not be surprised if Cal uses the bench to bury him some to try and motivate him to an extent. He parked him there in the last 10 minutes.

- Harrow is showing signs of being a competent point guard. For the most part he made good decisions and took care of the ball. He is not strong enough on defense to keep people out of the paint.

- I thought WCS and Noel were fine today and liked the look of the two big guys playing together. I think Cal's plan was not to allow UL to beat them on the offensive glass.

- Wiltjer moves like pond water and is a liability with ball in his hands other than preparing to shoot. Mays like Wiltjer is not athletic and is a role player that plays more minutes than he should.

- Goodwin will be a heck of a player when he knows when to go and when to whoa.

 

UL is really good and they will go as their guards go. A team with capable ball handlers at the 1-2-3 spots will give them trouble. Siva is not that good of an on ball defender in the halfcourt. Actually, I don't think they are good on the ball defenders in straight man in the halfcourt and that is why they play zone so much, so they can really help out, force you to certain areas on the floor and shoot passing lanes. A team like UC has the guards to give them trouble but I think their lack of interior play will hurt them.

UL excels in the full court where they make things chaotic and get you moving to quick and bump and hack at you while you speed dribble.

I like their bulk with Harrell and Behanan and an improving Dieng.

Not too many weaknesses with UL.

I think at minimum they are a Final Four team and championship contender.

I still think Poythress will be back next year. He is not ready, and with many more showings like today his NBA stock is going to drop. But even if he does return he will have a difficult time breaking the starting lineup. He has tons of talent but its up to him to put it to use. This is just my opinion and most on here don't seem to agree.

You can't win a title if Russ Smith is your #1 option on offense. Take away (I know you can't) the layups off turnovers and his production is crazy bad. That offense should run through Behanan, he was the difference today.

 

Cats can play. Looking forward to seeing how both these teams progress heading towards March.

I'm happy with the effort from UK, they played well enough to win, at times, and showed tremendous effort. On a different note, they're aren't many people I despise more in college basketball than Doug Shows...

 

I know one I dislike more, Jim Burr.

Poythress needs to get his head out of his behind.

 

I agree but it's going to be nice having him around next season. I'm starting to feel that this years struggles could make next years team better than it would've been had this years team had a great deal of success. With that said and as for the game. This was the first time in a long time that I wasn't mad after a loss. Yea it sucked and I cursed watching it but I mean the guys played with heart and effort and you could tell they wanted it as a team down the stretch. Cats may have learned something from this one.

That offense should run through Behanan, he was the difference today.

 

He was the difference today, but you are stating it was because the offense ran through him? :lol:

 

Chane made one legit offensive move while scoring 20 points. He's no different than Russ in terms of producing consistent offense to balance the clear flaws in his game. Please tell me you were joking on this one... :idunno:

The authoritative slam down the middle by Willie Cauley Stein started the Cats comeback. There was very little confidence on the floor at the time, or so it seemed to me, and WCS injected a huge amount of "fight" into the game for KY. I' m encouraged by what I saw today, but they still have to learn how to look for each other....I thought Louisville did that well. Go cats.

 

If you watch closely on replay, NN grabs Dieng by the arm and prevents him from sliding over to stop WCS. May have been a blessing since Dieng likely picks up a foul if NN doesn't hold him. Also, good play by NN since it wasn't called.

 

Think some of Goodwin's performance may be ”fool's gold." He didn't start to thrive until Siva & Smith had 4 fouls and had to back off. He is clearly capable of making shots, but needs to do it when the defense is on him.

 

Think both teams got better. If I were a UK fan, I would be worried that the weak SEC will not provide enough quality competition to help them improve as much as they need to by tourney time.

 

As for UofL, they will get plenty of competition. They need Ware &/or Hancock to step up as a quality backup for S&S. They need B&B to continue to progress and get solid minutes from Harrell, Price and Van Treese as backups at the 3, 4 & 5. If they can go 10 deep, if necessary, they will be ready for the 6-game run required to win a national championship. All you can do is ask for them to be ready and prepared.