Final. Antonio Reeves with a big game for the Cats!

JD posted this in the other thread:

Didn't look too bad against Germany today. Germany shot lights out from 3, but young Cats played well otherwise on D and were aggressive on offense. 

Mitchell going 4/6 from 3 was a surprise and DJ looks quicker than anyone we've had driving the lane in a while. Reeves was steady and Theiro looked really good most of the game.

Of course too early to think much of just one game. But, few long 2s were shot, we ran an out of bounds play for a dunk and Cal was wanting them to shoot more 3s.

Looked a little scattered towards the end, need to clean up inbounding against pressure. 

Overall fun game to watch.

Germany was just 2 for 15 shooting 3's in the fourth quarter (after going 6 of 10 in the 2nd.) That along with Kentucky scoring 27 points off of 22 German turnovers were a couple of keys to the win. 

Kentucky's shot chart is just what many have been calling for. All but 6 shots were taken in the lane or behind the 3 point line.

UK struggled to finish at the rim at times but still outscored the Germans 36 to 18 in the paint.

They impressed me today with their hustle and defense once they figured out they needed to do more to stop Germany’s 3’s. And they are going to be so much more lethal on both ends of the floor when their two big guys are back.

50 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Germany was just 2 for 15 shooting 3's in the fourth quarter (after going 6 of 10 in the 2nd.) That along with Kentucky scoring 27 points off of 22 German turnovers were a couple of keys to the win. 

I'm watching the replay, and Canada was 10-20 from 3 at the 8 minute mark in the third.  But they weren't HOT.  ?  In fact they just finally realized they weren't hot late in the game and started missing shots, Kentucky had nothing to do with it.

45 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Kentucky's shot chart is just what many have been calling for. All but 6 shots were taken in the lane or behind the 3 point line.

UK struggled to finish at the rim at times but still outscored the Germans 36 to 18 in the paint.

36-18 in the paint, with both 7 footers out.  As long as they come back eventually, that's a good sign.  

It's hard to tell anything one way or another.  I just enjoyed watching the Cats in July.

15 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Kentucky's shot chart is just what many have been calling for. All but 6 shots were taken in the lane or behind the 3 point line.

UK struggled to finish at the rim at times but still outscored the Germans 36 to 18 in the paint.

Definitely a much better shot chart, than what we saw last year with all the mid range. Hopefully the two bigs being hurt currently, gets Cal to see it’s ok not to have two bigs always on the court like he always seemed to prefer. 

3 hours ago, futurecoach said:

Definitely a much better shot chart, than what we saw last year with all the mid range. Hopefully the two bigs being hurt currently, gets Cal to see it’s ok not to have two bigs always on the court like he always seemed to prefer. 

Are you classifying Toppin as a big?

1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

Are you classifying Toppin as a big?

Yes and no. I think how they played him, they played him unfortunately the majority of the time like a big IMO, and didn’t allow him to use his athleticism as much as he probably could have. They did seem to allow him to start stepping out more behind the ARC once February came, and IMO seemed to help things out. To be fair though, I will say having Oscar who had to stay inside, probably did hurt in regards to the different ways they could have used Toppin’s athleticism. Would have been fun to watch him more with the group that was on the floor yesterday. 
 

I just hope Cal sticks with that or is more willing to go small more. Instead of possibly seeing both bigs in Ugo and Bradshaw on the floor together when they become healthy. 

2 hours ago, futurecoach said:

Yes and no. I think how they played him, they played him unfortunately the majority of the time like a big IMO, and didn’t allow him to use his athleticism as much as he probably could have. They did seem to allow him to start stepping out more behind the ARC once February came, and IMO seemed to help things out. To be fair though, I will say having Oscar who had to stay inside, probably did hurt in regards to the different ways they could have used Toppin’s athleticism. Would have been fun to watch him more with the group that was on the floor yesterday. 
 

I just hope Cal sticks with that or is more willing to go small more. Instead of possibly seeing both bigs in Ugo and Bradshaw on the floor together when they become healthy. 

If Cal plays the match ups like he claims he tries to, then both big at the same time isn't likely to happen.  Unless they do it once or twice and it's just too good to move away from but I doubt that's the case.

With that said, the good thing about these two 7 footers is they seem to understand that when they get the ball, quick passes, moves or shots benefits everyone.  Tshiebwe was one of my favorite Wildcats of all time, but one of his glaring flaws was catching the ball and not being prepared to move, pass or shoot.  It was almost like he was on a 2 second delay.  I think Bradshaw was never that way, but it seems like Onyenso (based on interviews) has focused on being prepared to make decisions when he gets the ball in the paint.  

9 hours ago, sportsfan41 said:

If Cal plays the match ups like he claims he tries to, then both big at the same time isn't likely to happen.  Unless they do it once or twice and it's just too good to move away from but I doubt that's the case.

With that said, the good thing about these two 7 footers is they seem to understand that when they get the ball, quick passes, moves or shots benefits everyone.  Tshiebwe was one of my favorite Wildcats of all time, but one of his glaring flaws was catching the ball and not being prepared to move, pass or shoot.  It was almost like he was on a 2 second delay.  I think Bradshaw was never that way, but it seems like Onyenso (based on interviews) has focused on being prepared to make decisions when he gets the ball in the paint.  

Agreed!