They got outworked on the weakside glass because they ran a big at him every time. One less big to rebound, or force him in to tougher shots? It was a strategy that backfired. Very simple indeed...

 

Which brings me to my point:

 

Why run Patterson or another big man at Downey? He simply ran around them. Use a smaller player who can at least stay wit Downey. Then, once he breaks that down, he'll have to battle the bigs. Kentucky essentially took a big man out of the play each time by using him to double Downey. Poor gameplan, IMO.

 

As far as Downey's performance. He was incredible. 20 missed shots or not, the facts of the matter are that South Carolina has NO SHOT at beating Kentucky without him.

 

The reason it has been so hyped up is because he's averaging 30+ points in SEC play and he was (by far) the biggest reason South Carolina knocked off the #1 team in the land who was unbeaten at the time.

 

It also helps that he's tiny.

It was a strategy that backfired. Very simple indeed...

 

So it was UK losing it, not Downey winning it? :sssh: :lol:

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.

 

They showed the replay of the that one spin move from Tuesday's game that everyone went gaga over and he cupped the ball the entire spin, a palm that wasn't called. So many of the players go from point A to point B without a dribble that is not called.

:popcorn:

Downey is a great player, and took over the game. But he got hyped because on back to back games on ESPN he had solid performances. ESPN will always hype the story, if Kentucky had won you would have heard Cousin's hype. Just how it is.

Downey hit big shots down the stretch, but he didn't beat Kentucky. He missed 20 shots. If UK shows a little heart and gets the rebounds, we're probably not even discussing Downey.

 

He is definitely a tremendous player though.

Which brings me to my point:

 

Why run Patterson or another big man at Downey? He simply ran around them. Use a smaller player who can at least stay wit Downey. Then, once he breaks that down, he'll have to battle the bigs. Kentucky essentially took a big man out of the play each time by using him to double Downey. Poor gameplan, IMO.

As far as Downey's performance. He was incredible. 20 missed shots or not, the facts of the matter are that South Carolina has NO SHOT at beating Kentucky without him.

 

The reason it has been so hyped up is because he's averaging 30+ points in SEC play and he was (by far) the biggest reason South Carolina knocked off the #1 team in the land who was unbeaten at the time.

 

It also helps that he's tiny.

Coach Cal did say he was out coached.

I think there is a problem if people don't think Mighty Mouse does more than score points. At this point in the season he is the SEC MVP and well deserved. Sure 9-29 is not a good shooting percentage, but what he does is disrupts the whole game. Some of my UK brothers need to take off the blue shades. I love watching him play, but I am happy he will be moving on.

Downey hit big shots down the stretch, but he didn't beat Kentucky. He missed 20 shots. If UK shows a little heart and gets the rebounds, we're probably not even discussing Downey.

 

He is definitely a tremendous player though.

 

I am not sure heart had as much to do with it as players being out of position on rebounding caused by the double teaming of Downey.

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"?

 

Over hyped performace? Wow! I think someone already said this, but say if this was John Wall that did this people would just be talking about how great it was and not saying it was over hyped. Yeah he shot 9 for 29 which is not great. You also have to talk into consideration that HE HAS NO ONE ELSE ON THAT TEAM. So he is going to have to take a lot of tough shots, and probably won't have the best shooting percentage. Don't let his shooting percentage fool you into thinking that it was just not a great performance. Him doing that was the only chance South Carolina had to win this game. It was not over hyped at all IMO.

National Player of the Week despite being overhyped

 

http://www.secsports.com/news/downey-named-player-of-the-week.aspx

National Player of the Week despite being overhyped

 

http://www.secsports.com/news/downey-named-player-of-the-week.aspx

 

Actually, this could lend credibility to being overhyped. However, he had a great game against Georgia and when you put that alongside beating UK and this award is well deserved.

I think there is a problem if people don't think Mighty Mouse does more than score points. At this point in the season he is the SEC MVP and well deserved. Sure 9-29 is not a good shooting percentage, but what he does is disrupts the whole game. Some of my UK brothers need to take off the blue shades. I love watching him play, but I am happy he will be moving on.

 

Really? The MVP's team is 4-3 in league play.

National Player of the Week despite being overhyped

 

http://www.secsports.com/news/downey-named-player-of-the-week.aspx

 

National player of the week? That's a joke is what that is.

Devon Downey may be the quickest mortal human on the face of the Earth. He sure is fun to watch. Hopefully the Cats can come up with some kind of scheme to somewhat contain him next time, but I have my doubts.