Let's get it all out in one thread here on Downey. Obviously he is a great player but his performance against UK is the most over hyped performance I have seen in quite some time. What he did in the last 5 minutes was spectacular and deserving of the praise he received. What he did in the 35 minutes prior to that was very forgettable. Here are two questions to consider. How good is Downey? Would he be getting as much notoriety if he were 6"1"?

Really? He hit the big shots late to beat UK. Much like what Collins did to beat Kansas State last night. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

If John Wall scored 30 on 9-29 and won the game for UK, I highly doubt there would be this much talk about it.... JMO.

Really? He hit the big shots late to beat UK. Much like what Collins did to beat Kansas State last night. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

 

No sour grapes here. I agree his last 5 minutes definitely won the game for USC and he made some awesome shots. I love watching the guy play. But if Downey were 6'1" would he get this much notoriety? I think a lot of the awe and hype is in seeing the little guy shoot that high arcing tear drop over players like Cousins. If you look at his stats, he is a career 43% shooter from the floor and about 35% from 3 point range. Does he get over hyped because of his size?

If John Wall scored 30 on 9-29 and won the game for UK, I highly doubt there would be this much talk about it.... JMO.

 

If John Wall, as a freshman, hit the same shots, and won the game for UK...I would politely beg to differ. At least here in Kentucky. What Downey has going for him is it came against the #1 team in the country, is what takes it to the national level.

He gets hyped because of what he does when the game is on the line. If not for a miracle shot by Florida, he would have single-handedly led his team to conference wins over Florida and UK in back to back games. Not too shabby

He gets hyped because of what he does when the game is on the line. If not for a miracle shot by Florida, he would have single-handedly led his team to conference wins over Florida and UK in back to back games. Not too shabby

 

I think those are very valid arguments for Downey. He is Mr. Clutch and a player feared by every opponent at crunch time.

He scored 12 of South Carolina's final 24 points yesterday as they overcame a nine point second half deficit to beat Georgia. He finished with 33. No one else in the SEC is doing this game in and game out.

The "he missed 20 shots" argument is as lame as it gets. UK did a nice job for 40 minutes making him take tough shots, but in the process over played him and left the rim wide open for easy stick backs time and time again. So while he wasn't making shots, his shot attempts put SC in position to hang around for the little guy to turn it on late. 30 plus a game in SEC play. Yeah. Overrated... :lol:

Who cares about 9-29? 30 points in leading your team to an upset of #1..........Great performance.

The "he missed 20 shots" argument is as lame as it gets. UK did a nice job for 40 minutes making him take tough shots, but in the process over played him and left the rim wide open for easy stick backs time and time again. So while he wasn't making shots, his shot attempts put SC in position to hang around for the little guy to turn it on late. 30 plus a game in SEC play. Yeah. Overrated... :lol:

 

Want more proof that it was overhyped. GT is crediting Downey with assists when he misses shots and someone gets the offensive rebound.

 

Seriously a good performance that is getting overhyped because it was against the number 1 team on ESPN. And yes he gets extra credit for his size.

Want more proof that it was overhyped. GT is crediting Downey with assists when he misses shots and someone gets the offensive rebound.

 

:thumb:

 

UK got outworked on the glass, plain and simple. Obviously the offensive rebounds were coming from Downey shots because he missed 20 of them.

 

FWIW, DD would have my vote for SEC POY if it ended today.

To go along with his 30 points, he drew numerous double teams from UK and that forced open shots for his teammates and opened up offensive rebounding opportunities. Downey did much more than just score 30 points against UK. He also served as a one man press break. No need to talk about his size, he is a heckuva college basketball player. Give credit when credit is due.

One thing that makes him so hard to guard and enables him to get out of trouble so often is he palms the ball in his hesitation dribble, and freezes the defender. That is a violation. He does it quite a bit but it's never called.

I suppose the officials overlook it because of his size disadvantage. But it's still a violation of the rules.

Obviously the offensive rebounds were coming from Downey shots because he missed 20 of them.

 

 

So you can't grasp the theory that UK sending a big over to help every time he drove was what created the numbers advantage on the glass for SC? It's Basketball 101...