UK will be very good, and they have the talent to be very special. There is no denying that... At the same time, like you said, it needs to be toned down. The 100-48 predictions are comical at best. They aren't the 5th best team in the country right now. They very well could end up there, but I think it's more than fair to say at this point, they may have been a wee bit over-hyped to start the year.

True, but writers and coaches do not make rankings (especially preseason rankings) based on where people believe they are that second, rather where they think a team will be at the end of the season. A big reason people lobby to eliminate rankings until a few weeks in. While #5 is waaaaay to high for UK right now, I think most feel they have the potential to be there at the end of the year (I do not, necessarily); thus, it is a fair preseason ranking.

He and Bledsoe looked like freshmen for most of the game. You can't drive on 3 or 4 guys all night.There are going to be some growing pains with this team and they are going to take some lumps before they hit stride. I see several losses coming.The talent is there but the college game experience is not.

 

You nailed it.

 

I thought Cousins really stepped up in the 2nd half and had his first double double. Patterson had a double double as well. I thought Dodson shot the ball well when they got him the ball out of the offense. Wall and Bledsoe have tremendous talent but have to learn a little bit of patience. They will be fine, but it may take a few months of a learning curve before they truly 'get it'.

If this team doesn't start shooting the trey better, I don't see them going as far in the tourney as what a lot of people predict.

 

Seriously? UK shot over 50% from 3 last night.

Seriously? UK shot over 50% from 3 last night.

UK is not a great shooting team, but thankfully they have some legit threats to penetrate and kick out to open shooters. Last year it was just Meeks pulling up over people and having to nail shots.

UK is not a great shooting team, but thankfully they have some legit threats to penetrate and kick out to open shooters. Last year it was just Meeks pulling up over people and having to nail shots.

 

True, but they still hit over 50% last night.

I was still impressed with UK in a few areas of the game. Like others have said: Free throws, sloppy ball handling, and closing out on defense are my main concerns right now. JMO.

I was still impressed with UK in a few areas of the game. Like others have said: Free throws, sloppy ball handling, and closing out on defense are my main concerns right now. JMO.

 

I have to agree. :thumb:

To think we could have had Michael Porter taking the final shot

 

Even when UK was down 18, I never felt like they were going to lose. Maybe it is just numbness from losing these type games the past couple of seasons.

Tear down Rupp Arena.

 

A player on the opposing team ALWAYS gets hot and makes their new career high.

 

It doesn't hurt that UK tends to let them shoot with a 3-5 foot cushion. :lol:

 

Can't say I was expecting UK to fall behind by 18 and have to have a game winning jumper from Wall. But, I was expecting a few of these early "cupcakes" to be much tougher games than people were expecting because UK has a lot of work to do to develop some chemistry, establish roles, etc.

 

This was a good game for the Cats. I'm more concerned with how they progress as the season goes, than whether they look like a top 5 team in November.

 

At this point, a win is a win. And, this one was good in that it might get their attention without having to lose. :idunno:

UK will be very good, and they have the talent to be very special. There is no denying that... At the same time, like you said, it needs to be toned down. The 100-48 predictions are comical at best. They aren't the 5th best team in the country right now. They very well could end up there, but I think it's more than fair to say at this point, they may have been a wee bit over-hyped to start the year.

 

Serious question here...are the pre-season rankings supposed to be a guess at how good these teams will be right now, over the whole season, or heading into the tournament?

I agree with the Stevenson goal tending. That was a terrible no call. They missed some things both ways, especially Orton getting hit with what looked to be a flagrant elbow. Kentucky went to the line a lot more because they were driving to the basket while Miami was content to come off screens and shoot the three, but as is usually the case at Rupp Arena, especially against non confernece opponents that UK is supposed to beat, the Cats tend to get more breaks their way.

 

The Refs let them play. I liked it.

 

The no-call on Stevenson's goal tend was horrible. That should've been 2.

 

The refs bailed John Wall out a few times when he drove to the basket. They let Bledsoe get killed when he was driving to the basket.

 

Orton did not get hit with an elbow. Haddix raised his elbows, but the replay clearly showed that Orton bumped heads with Haddix before Haddix even had the ball.

Kentucky has a lot of talent, and it will take time to get them all on the same page, but it will happen. However, they got a LOT of breaks last night and should have lost. Is Miami THAT good....well anyone is when you shoot that well from 3-pt.

The Refs let them play. I liked it.

 

The no-call on Stevenson's goal tend was horrible. That should've been 2.

 

The refs bailed John Wall out a few times when he drove to the basket. They let Bledsoe get killed when he was driving to the basket.

 

Orton did not get hit with an elbow. Haddix raised his elbows, but the replay clearly showed that Orton bumped heads with Haddix before Haddix even had the ball.

How in the world did the referees miss that call? I guess they wanted Stevenson to throw a ball back out of the hoop for it to be a goal tend.

Serious question here...are the pre-season rankings supposed to be a guess at how good these teams will be right now, over the whole season, or heading into the tournament?

 

I was always under the impression that it was how good the teams are or will be right now, but I think I read somewhere in here where somebody said that it's where they're supposed to be at seasons end, so now I honestly don't know.

I was always under the impression that it was how good the teams are or will be right now, but I think I read somewhere in here where somebody said that it's where they're supposed to be at seasons end, so now I honestly don't know.

 

I'd imagine it's a combination of both, with a stronger emphasis on how good they are right now.

 

This Kentucky team has top 5 talent. They will take a while to adjust to the college game & mesh with each other, though.

 

I enjoyed last night's game because they fought hard and came out on top. It'd be easy for a bunch of inexperienced players who have been THE MAN their entire lives to give up or start playing selfish basketball. This didn't happen, and they came back AS A TEAM.

 

So many different players contributed in a big way. That's what was the most encouraging for me.