They say misery loves company so welcome to everyone here. I said it’s just a game just go to sleep. I fell asleep around 2am and got up at 4:30 and went to the gym. Forced my way through the workout.

 

We can say without PJ we would t have been in the game which is true, but KSU didn’t seem to mind fouling him in the second half either. If you are a D1 player that gets to the line regularly there is zero excuse to miss 14 free throws. I’m sorry but poor free throw shooting is a Cal staple. As a team we shoot around 70%.

 

I agree K State shot so much better than there season average but the Cats played like they had never been pressure before. How many times did we have the ball with the lead or tied scored and just played like fourth graders on each possession? We got out muscled and out hustled (besides PJ) from the opening tip. They got Knox and Shai out of there comfort zone and Quade once again showed his true colors in taking bad shots/bad decisions.

 

Glad they got as far as they did and we can play the what if game every game every year. Question: after last night’s game who can seriously be considered as a first rounder? Not a lottery pick

They say misery loves company so welcome to everyone here. I said it’s just a game just go to sleep. I fell asleep around 2am and got up at 4:30 and went to the gym. Forced my way through the workout.

 

We can say without PJ we would t have been in the game which is true, but KSU didn’t seem to mind fouling him in the second half either. If you are a D1 player that gets to the line regularly there is zero excuse to miss 14 free throws. I’m sorry but poor free throw shooting is a Cal staple. As a team we shoot around 70%.

 

I agree K State shot so much better than there season average but the Cats played like they had never been pressure before. How many times did we have the ball with the lead or tied scored and just played like fourth graders on each possession? We got out muscled and out hustled (besides PJ) from the opening tip. They got Knox and Shai out of there comfort zone and Quade once again showed his true colors in taking bad shots/bad decisions.

 

Glad they got as far as they did and we can play the what if game every game every year. Question: after last night’s game who can seriously be considered as a first rounder? Not a lottery pick

 

In my mind, just Knox and maybe SGA. However, SGA and Diallo will go pro and most likely be out of the league in 3 years or less. The NBA is a different animal and will eat these guys up. We will be reading a story about how there time at Kentucky was the greatest time of their life.

Sorry but I forgot to add a couple things in my morning rant. Lost in all this discussion is Cal getting Teed up for being past the line. I'm assuming they gave him a T more because he was arguing the charge call while being past the line, not soley because he was past the line, as I saw Weber past the line later on. So instead of us being down one, they made the free throw and got the ball and another basket.

 

One take away I kind of feel relieved about is, I can't blame the officials. There are always BS calls (Gabriels block on Wade) but when it counted we got out rebounded by a smaller team and couldn't grab the ball. Richardson doesn't rebound with us down one at the start which leads to a super quick foul on Hami. He needs to either get much better or seriously think about transferring.

Any time you draw a team like UC or Kansas State it is a crap shoot bc they defend so well. When those type of teams hit shots, and extremely timely ones, at that they defend even better with the momentum.

 

1. In game, Knox didn’t want it enough. He hit huge shot, but he didn’t demand the ball enough and Cal wasn’t creative enough to get it to him. Let him take Brown in the post. At least if he gets fouled down there, he would make 70% of his free throws

 

Cal needs to recruit a 4 year point guard. Let it kill the class ranking but at least you have experience in the back court against defenses like last night.

1) Kansas State is a bad shooting team that made shots today.

2) PJ Washington, come on man.

3) Calipari needed to call the timeout the first possession when Green jacked up an awful shot

4. PJ Washington. Seriously?

 

I’m excited for this team next year with PJ.

 

Cal needs to recruit a 4 year point guard. Let it kill the class ranking but at least you have experience in the back court against defenses like last night.

 

He did that this past season when they brought Green in. Or, that's at least what the plan is with him.

We can say without PJ we would t have been in the game which is true, but KSU didn’t seem to mind fouling him in the second half either. If you are a D1 player that gets to the line regularly there is zero excuse to miss 14 free throws. I’m sorry but poor free throw shooting is a Cal staple. As a team we shoot around 70%.

 

It just doesn't make sense to me when you watch his form. He has pretty good shooting form. If he comes back, I got a feeling that he focuses pretty hard on it after last night and we see a much better FT shooter next year. I hope at least.

Cal needs to recruit a 4 year point guard. Let it kill the class ranking but at least you have experience in the back court against defenses like last night.

 

That was supposed to be Tyler Ulis I'd imagine.

Sorry but I forgot to add a couple things in my morning rant. Lost in all this discussion is Cal getting Teed up for being past the line. I'm assuming they gave him a T more because he was arguing the charge call while being past the line, not soley because he was past the line, as I saw Weber past the line later on. So instead of us being down one, they made the free throw and got the ball and another basket.

 

7 point swing when you take the two points Knox had off the board too. Not saying the charge shouldn't have been called. Not saying it shouldn't have been a T. But the result of all that was a 7 point swing. Woof.

Cal said the final play was for Wenyen with Knox also off a curl. I didn’t even know Wenyen was in.

 

Gabriel was trying to come off of a screen at the top of the key, but got bumped by a K-State player and lost his balance, knocking him off the route he was suppose to be on. I believe K-State knew he was option 1 or option 2 on that play and just took it away.

PJ 8-20 from the line.

 

Rest of the team 15-17 from the line.

 

This was not UK shooting poorly from the line. One guy struggled at the line.

 

Maybe UK should have posted Knox up instead of Washington, guy guarding him was much smaller and Knox is a better FT shooter.

 

They had the entire year to teach Knox, Richards, etc. how to post up plus some post up moves, so it's more on the coaching staff than on Washington.

Just rewatched last 10 minutes. I have been overly critical of Knox seeming to disappear in many games. Not last night, the man worked his tail off trying to free himself. Got to hand it to KS, their physical defense just took the Cats out of their offense. KS deserved this victory. Our guard play down the stretch just wasn't smart. Fouling P.J. and preventing his shot release was brilliant. Not quite as obvious as Hack-a-Shack, but as effective.

Maybe UK should have posted Knox up instead of Washington, guy guarding him was much smaller and Knox is a better FT shooter.

 

They had the entire year to teach Knox, Richards, etc. how to post up plus some post up moves, so it's more on the coaching staff than on Washington.

 

That would go against everything Cal believes in though. He's preparing them to be the most successful version of themselves at the next level. Knox will not be playing in the post, therefore they didn't focus on it. Sure it would have been good to do last night, but I don't blame Calipari for that one.

 

Richards has felt like a lost cause this season. You could tell he's only played basketball for four years. Has a long way to go.

Many times during the season I hear Calipari yell "GOOOOOO" after a rebound but it sure seems like come tournament time Kentucky always walks the ball up the court. Now I understand Kansas State is strong defensively, but there were several times last night when Kentucky got defensive rebounds, outlet passes to SGA/Green and they almost seemed to turn back toward the K-State goal. Why not push the ball? You may not get a layup but it at least makes the opponent guard in transition. Instead you walk the ball up the court, allow the opponent to set their defense, drain the shot clock, and take a rushed shot. It is/was Wisconsin all over again.

It just doesn't make sense to me when you watch his form. He has pretty good shooting form. If he comes back, I got a feeling that he focuses pretty hard on it after last night and we see a much better FT shooter next year. I hope at least.

 

That was nerves last night. It got in his head. You could see him short arm it and try to make it go in with body English. He had the yips. I feel for him. He played extremely hard.