Goodwin played about as bad as you can but in his defense, he is the only player we have who attacks the rim. Everyone else is so passive, a lot of times he has no choice but to force something.

 

I very rarely criticize Cal but it seemed as though he was encouraging the driving and forced played by Goodwin and Harrow. They needed to get the ball to Kyle WAY earlier in the second half.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

I do not understand exactly what Archie is thinking when he makes some of these plays. If you are going to drive the lane and try to draw a foul and throw up the ball in the process, you need to be able to make free throws. If you can't make free throws, this isn't the style of play you should be trying to do every time down the floor.

 

I know the NBA drafts on potential but I just don't see it when it comes to players like Goodwin and Poythress who need A LOT of work just to be successful in college let alone the NBA (although they are a bit different).

Poythress = Worthless

 

Add Goodwin to that. Those two seem to just riding it out to go to the NBA. I could be wrong but that is what it looks like.

Glad I watched another episode of Downton Abbey.

I have always believed that the first 5 min. of the 2nd half was one of the most important stretches of a game. The Cats blew that tonight along with the rest of the half. Didn't get an obvious foul call attacking our basket on the stretch run, go down the floor and Bama knocks the ball out and was called off UK. Those two blown calls hurt at the time. With the way this team played and all the opportunities missed I don't know if that would had made a difference. Probably not.

Aside from that is needless to say that the Cats stunk it up tonight. I will also say that I am not giving up on this team and don't have a lot of use for all the "well that's it, hang it up " type comments and attitudes, not just on here but outside bgp as well. I am not calling out any one person, just that attitude in general. Should a person want to quit or give up on this team then go , that is a persons right. Just if and when they start winning, get things turned around then don't be coming back singing their praises. Again, not aimed at any individual and was just one of my pet peeves.

UK wins and maybe two pages, lose and on the fourth and counting. lol

 

GO BIG BLUE !!!

Archie and Poythress are bad college basketball players. If they want to coast into the NBA, have fun in D league limbo for the next 4 years before you have to play over seas. Neither one has learned to even dribble yet. I feel really bad for Nerlens. Kid is a stud and plays his butt off and isn't really getting anything out of anyone else, and if someone is playing well, it's for a short time. Need some consistency and some improvement or we'll be watching the freakin' NIT.

I very rarely criticize Cal but it seemed as though he was encouraging the driving and forced played by Goodwin and Harrow. They needed to get the ball to Kyle WAY earlier in the second half.

 

I was saying this the whole 2nd half. They needed to ride the hot hand. He's been great the last two games and played very well in the first half. I couldn't understand why it took until the last 3 minutes of the game to start feeding him the ball in the post. His post game is old school but its very effective and efficient.

 

I do not understand exactly what Archie is thinking when he makes some of these plays. If you are going to drive the lane and try to draw a foul and throw up the ball in the process, you need to be able to make free throws. If you can't make free throws, this isn't the style of play you should be trying to do every time down the floor.

 

You have to like having a player who can get to the line as often and easy as Archie Goodwin. But if he's only going to shoot 60% or something like that, then it doesn't really help. I wish someone would teach the kid to bend his knees some at the line. I feel like just making that adjustment alone, he'd average another 4 points a game.

 

I want to know what Anthony Grant said to his team at halftime because they came out and played much harder on defense. Looked like the Cats came out just thinking the Tide was going to fold in the 2nd half since they were down, but that certainly didn't happen.

I do not understand exactly what Archie is thinking when he makes some of these plays. If you are going to drive the lane and try to draw a foul and throw up the ball in the process, you need to be able to make free throws. If you can't make free throws, this isn't the style of play you should be trying to do every time down the floor.

 

I know the NBA drafts on potential but I just don't see it when it comes to players like Goodwin and Poythress who need A LOT of work just to be successful in college let alone the NBA (although they are a bit different).

I honestly believe Archie is giving it his all he just has not adjusted all that well to the collegiate game. He still does not understand proper angles and knowing when to and when not to put his head down and go. I think he got spooked so much at the start of the season about charging in to defenders he does not know what to do now. Poythress I do not know what to think. I continue to hold out hope that Cal will get through to him. Last night I actually liked some of what I saw, he just got in to foul trouble and became hesitant.

Again, I see no reason to panic. 13 games to go, only 2 loses in conference, and 6 losses over all at this point. They had a bad half on the road. Learn from it and move on.

If Archie is the 14th best prospect then I predict this draft class won't have any 20 year anniversary shows.

 

Umm, no. This is as bad of a draft class in some time. Two seasons ago was pretty bad, but I am not seeing any franchise type player. That draft at least had Kyrie Irving. I did not see Poythress listed in the first or second round on nbadraft.net.

Again, I see no reason to panic. 13 games to go, only 2 loses in conference, and 6 losses over all at this point. They had a bad half on the road. Learn from it and move on.

I am not in full on panic mode like most. Just 72 hours prior to the game everyone was feel great and optimistic. The first half UK looked solid last night. I thought the oddest part of the night is that UK went over 10 minutes without a FG and they were still in the lead.

Is it weird my biggest rooting interest for UK is to have Noel lead the nation now in blocks? I am really pulling for a triple double. He has 27 blocks in his last 4 games. Noel is limited in his offensive game, but UK needs to find a way to incorporate him more in to the action because he is such a good athlete. Noel is figuring it out and playing great. Not that he is Bill Russell, but I can see now why the comparisons come about. His ability to block with both hands is awesome and his handle on the ball is improving off missed shots.

Other than the 2 terrible out of bounds on UK calls, I didn't really have any problem with the officiating. They did allow a lot of physical play, but they called it both ways. The Cats just don't handle it real well.

 

I thought they let em bump Kentucky a little bit on drives to the basket late in the game. Of course if Kentucky had attacked the basket early second half all of this would be a moot point.

I am as frustrated with Goodwin as everyone else is, but in his defense, he had to learn to be a point guard during the first third of the season & now he's had to go back to playing off the ball. Maybe that doesn't have anything to do with his problems, but it's something I have wondered about lately.

This may have been said already but I quit reading once I read this post...For me Goodwin's problem is he almost never looks to involve anyone else. He drives, gets double or triple teamed and throws up a pray. One play last night was a perfect example, the cats had a 3 on 1 with Goodwin bring the ball down, the defender goes to Goodwin leaving Poythress wide open and instead of passing it off Goodwin tries to score and misses. He got fouled but then missed 1 of 2 at the line, I know big shock. When Goodwin drives he attracts so much attention he could ended up with double digit assists every game if the others are hitting their shots. And if that were to happen, Goodwin with 4 pts and 12 assists, then this team rolls.

 

Not to be a total downer, I will add I love the way Kyle has been playing the last 2 games. He still does some dumb stuff and can be a liability on D but it seems when he touches the ball in the middle on O good things happen.

Again, I see no reason to panic. 13 games to go, only 2 loses in conference, and 6 losses over all at this point. They had a bad half on the road. Learn from it and move on.

 

This is the stance I am taking as well. Next Tuesday is HUGE.