Kentucky 73 Utah Valley 63

[MJAlltheWay24]

Like Gabriel's hustle, but I don't trust him driving the ball at all.

[HammerTime]

Definitely not # 5 in the country.

 

Yeah, not even close. Probably not even top 25 at this point.

[mcpapa]

Gotta admit I never thought I'd see the day when BBN was worried about the Vermont Catamounts.

[Irish Cat]

We are gonna see them play more zone this year that the last 8 combined.

 

Might have come pretty close to that just last night.

[The Professor]

I don’t understand Cal’s dislike of zone defense. I wouldn’t want him to use it exclusively but a mixture of man D and zone is not a bad thing. It worked tonight for sure. Got exposed in man D in the first half and outscored Utah Valley by 19 points in the second half with the early comeback from steals out of the zone. This team is athletic and long. That’s a dream scenario for a zone coach, which of course Cal is not, lol. But I hope he sticks with it more than usual.

I think he lost the 2014 championship game vs UConn because of his stubbornness to use the zone. If my memory is correct, UK was down by around 8 or 9 points because Boatright and Napier were chewing up the Cats’ man defense with drives and scores to the basket or kick-offs for scores. The Cats then went zone for a while and cut the lead to one point. UConn was panicking, their outside shots not falling and not able to do much inside. Then for some inexplicable reason Cal went away from what got them back in the game and went back to man defense. Which is exactly what UConn’s guards wanted. You could literally see the relief on their faces and UConn’s coach saying, “YIPPEE!!!!”. And the rest is history. Game over.

So I hope he uses more zone with this team and swallows his pride,or whatever it is that bothers him so much about zone.

[futurecoach]

Just remember what Cal always says about his young teams not knowing how to play defense. He can't wait until the school semester is over and he can get the team's full attention at the extra practices working on defense. This team will look much different come Jan. 1 than they do today especially on help defense. Right now it's easy to beat them on picks. That will change after they learn to help on defense. They won't give up as many easy buckets, they'll get blocks and steals and setup the fast break off of them.

 

Here is the thing his young teams usually play well until Christmas break because they win on pure talent alone. In fact his teams usually come out worst after their Christmas break and don't look to great at all in conference play. Usually bbn goes into panic during conference play and look bad and people say no way this team can make a run. Yet come end of February they peak. I expect similar reactions to happen this year.

[lawildcat]

Good to have Mark Pope back in the house last night. He looked like he was ready to check in more than a couple times.

 

These kids need a lot of work but they’ll get there.

 

Side note to Cane’s: why are you going cheap on us and only giving away a free fries? Last year was a full combo meal?! Regardless, I hope this team can score more than 35 in the first half some time this season.

[John Anthony]

I’m not sure UK has an elite PG, which is a Cal must.

[Muskie]

I’m not sure UK has an elite PG, which is a Cal must.

 

Was Teague elite?

[rookie57]

I’m not sure UK has an elite PG, which is a Cal must.

 

THIS!

[Hatz]

Was Teague elite?

 

Grid point. He developed into one by the tourney. Not sure the Harrison’s were elite consistently in their two years.

[mexitucky]

Was Teague elite?

 

That team was so loaded he didn’t have to be. He just had to be a game manager QB type, so you are right.

[tcjkbt]

I know its been well established by Cal that he hates zone, but you have to ride the 2-3 if that's what this team is built for.

 

Adolph Rupp also eschewed the zone but late in his tenure he relented and played a 1-3-1 but he was too stubborn to call it a zone. He called it (and someone please help me out on this) a "transitional hyperbolic trapezoid" or something like that.

[GrantNKY]

Adolph Rupp also eschewed the zone but late in his tenure he relented and played a 1-3-1 but he was too stubborn to call it a zone. He called it (and someone please help me out on this) a "transitional hyperbolic trapezoid" or something like that.

Some teams are just better suited to play zone. After watching how bad the Cats got beat last night on the drive, it appears like this is what this team is best suited to do.

[ManOfTroy]

Sometimes it's as simple as making shots. UK shot 20% in the first half and were down 9; shot 60% in the second half and outscore them by 19. This team is definitely suited to play zone but I think its effectiveness last night is being overstated. You have to learn how to play zone as much as you have to learn how to play man to man. The switch to zone itself threw UVU off--it's amazing how a simple change can turn things. Cal got out of it when they split the guards up top for a short runner and then gave up a 3. The second time they went zone they were giving up open 3's--#11 could have gone off had they stayed in it.

 

They had a bad shooting half. Defense wasn't outstanding but they gave up 63 points on 41% shooting and forced 20 turnovers--those aren't bad number and UVU is not a terrible team.

 

Not ready to panic yet.