39 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

On the Harrison twins, it was easy to see in the game that they lost in that tournament that Cal should have stuck with Booker and Ulis in the last 6 minutes of the game. But as we are discussing, Cal gets too deeply entrenched with his rotations and player loyalty, and is not good with in game adjustments to what he is watching.

I've seen this narrative before about that game, and I don't necessarily disagree wholesale, but somehow it has been forgotten that when Kentucky made their run that looked like it was going to be decisive, it was the Harrisons on the floor.  They went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, and THEN had the two back to back shot clock violations and then one a couple minutes after.  Given what happened on their next few possessions, sure, I wish it had been Booker and Ulis on the floor, but I've always found it strange that people found it so inexplicable that they were out there.  Things had been going very well with them on the floor. And even still, nearly four minutes later, they were still out there with the lead when the stripes blew the call on what should've been a shot clock violation for Wisconsin, another thing that changed the whole outlook of the game. 

After the offense looked stagnant for back to back possessions, that's when he should have switched it up.  By that point there was like four minutes left. So splitting hairs some, but I think Cal deserves a little slack on that compared to what some always give him.   Aaron Harrison was the one who ended the scoring drought too, drawing Kentucky within one with less than a minute left.  Towns scored five of Kentucky's last 12 - the other seven were all the Harrisons.

I can't believe we're still talking the Harrison twins.

 

10 minutes ago, 4 Quarters said:

I can't believe we're still talking the Harrison twins.

 

They'll never go away.  The 38-0 start and then subsequent loss of a perfect season deems it so.  That Cal has yet to win a title or make a Final Four since has only increased the likelihood it remains a talking point.

8 minutes ago, DragonFire said:

They'll never go away.  The 38-0 start and then subsequent loss of a perfect season deems it so.  That Cal has yet to win a title or make a Final Four since has only increased the likelihood it remains a talking point.

LOL.  I wiped them off of my list of things to remember along time ago.

52 minutes ago, 4 Quarters said:

LOL.  I wiped them off of my list of things to remember along time ago.

I tried. I will say that to build my first response in this thread I watched some of the game for the first time I can remember since that night. I have no desire to relive that stupid game. 

3 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

On the Harrison twins, it was easy to see in the game that they lost in that tournament that Cal should have stuck with Booker and Ulis in the last 6 minutes of the game. But as we are discussing, Cal gets too deeply entrenched with his rotations and player loyalty, and is not good with in game adjustments to what he is watching.

I agree, his stubbornness with certain rotations has always been an issue with me. I also agree with his in game adjustments is not great. However, I still think even if he had played Booker and Ulis like we all thought he should have done. That if they still would have lost, then people would have complained the opposite way with it. Saying how could you not play the guys who had experience and won final four type games the year before. Basically either way if they lost, people were going to say whatever decision was made was the wrong one. 

18 hours ago, 4 Quarters said:

LOL.  I wiped them off of my list of things to remember along time ago.

That's crazy to me when one of them hit some of the biggest shots in UK history in the same tournament.  I'll never forget that run and the feeling with each three.

I'm glad some of you mentioned Livingston.  I was big on him since watching the Bahama games but he definitely disappeared at times, which I felt because he wasn't being properly utilized.  I really hope he comes back for his sophomore season because I think he can make a big jump and should fit in nicely with the recruits coming in.

4 hours ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

I'm glad some of you mentioned Livingston.  I was big on him since watching the Bahama games but he definitely disappeared at times, which I felt because he wasn't being properly utilized.  I really hope he comes back for his sophomore season because I think he can make a big jump and should fit in nicely with the recruits coming in.

Agreed, I'd hate to see him end up at another school next season.  

23 hours ago, DragonFire said:

I've seen this narrative before about that game, and I don't necessarily disagree wholesale, but somehow it has been forgotten that when Kentucky made their run that looked like it was going to be decisive, it was the Harrisons on the floor.  They went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, and THEN had the two back to back shot clock violations and then one a couple minutes after.  Given what happened on their next few possessions, sure, I wish it had been Booker and Ulis on the floor, but I've always found it strange that people found it so inexplicable that they were out there.  Things had been going very well with them on the floor. And even still, nearly four minutes later, they were still out there with the lead when the stripes blew the call on what should've been a shot clock violation for Wisconsin, another thing that changed the whole outlook of the game. 

After the offense looked stagnant for back to back possessions, that's when he should have switched it up.  By that point there was like four minutes left. So splitting hairs some, but I think Cal deserves a little slack on that compared to what some always give him.   Aaron Harrison was the one who ended the scoring drought too, drawing Kentucky within one with less than a minute left.  Towns scored five of Kentucky's last 12 - the other seven were all the Harrisons.

 

Looking back, people forget how big a liability Ulis and Booker were on defense vs that Wisconsin team.  If anything that might have played differently was to switch the 2 out for offense and defense for a few minutes whenever possible.  Still, there are sometimes when "that game" ends the great season of a great team.  See:  1975 Indiana, 1991 UNLV for historical examples.