Game Thread: UK @ Miss St.

[ralph helm]

This will rate as a very ugly W in the record books!!!!!

[Joneslab]

Monk had an awful game, 5-14 FG, 0-3 from the 3 point line and 5 TOs.

Worst game he's played in a Kentucky uniform by far. Just lost his mind out there.

[BJD]

SEC officials show once again they are the worst in college basketball. Can't get a job reffing junior high? Just call up the SEC. It was equally bad for both teams but whenever you let an underdog hang around because of the way a game is called anything can happen.

And it won't help to write the head guy. The only fans that care are UK fans. The rest of the SEC just wants spring football to get started.

[Jload]

Monk is becoming a PROBLEM rather than a solution. He takes off adout half the plays and forces his shot on half the plays he doesn't take off. Also runs his mouth at coaches when confronted by his undisciplined play. Needs to be benched for the beginning of a game and asked to consider how important basketball is to his future. While supremely talented maybe as much as anyone I have ever seen at U.K., his undisciplined inconsistent effort will get him nowhere at the next level. Gabriel is the antithesis of Monk. Hardly ever takes a play off and works like a fiend. A good victory in tough circumstances. Our defense is still horrible. Willis was shooting well tonight but his defense was so bad Cal couldn't leave him on the floor. IMO we are improving marginally but NOT. in the place we need most Defense.

[Joneslab]

Monk is becoming a PROBLEM rather than a solution. He takes off adout half the plays and forces his shot on half the plays he doesn't take off. Also runs his mouth at coaches when confronted by his undisciplined play. Needs to be benched for the beginning of a game and asked to consider how important basketball is to his future.

What.

[George]

Monk is becoming a PROBLEM rather than a solution. He takes off adout half the plays and forces his shot on half the plays he doesn't take off. Also runs his mouth at coaches when confronted by his undisciplined play. Needs to be benched for the beginning of a game and asked to consider how important basketball is to his future. While supremely talented maybe as much as anyone I have ever seen at U.K., his undisciplined inconsistent effort will get him nowhere at the next level.

Dramatic much?

[BJD]

Monk is becoming a PROBLEM rather than a solution. He takes off adout half the plays and forces his shot on half the plays he doesn't take off. Also runs his mouth at coaches when confronted by his undisciplined play. Needs to be benched for the beginning of a game and asked to consider how important basketball is to his future. While supremely talented maybe as much as anyone I have ever seen at U.K., his undisciplined inconsistent effort will get him nowhere at the next level. Gabriel is the antithesis of Monk. Hardly ever takes a play off and works like a fiend. A good victory in tough circumstances. Our defense is still horrible. Willis was shooting well tonight but his defense was so bad Cal couldn't leave him on the floor. IMO we are improving marginally but NOT. in the place we need most Defense.

Monk had a bad game. That's it. He will be fine Sat.

[justford]

Monk is becoming a PROBLEM rather than a solution. He takes off adout half the plays and forces his shot on half the plays he doesn't take off. Also runs his mouth at coaches when confronted by his undisciplined play. Needs to be benched for the beginning of a game and asked to consider how important basketball is to his future. While supremely talented maybe as much as anyone I have ever seen at U.K., his undisciplined inconsistent effort will get him nowhere at the next level. Gabriel is the antithesis of Monk. Hardly ever takes a play off and works like a fiend. A good victory in tough circumstances. Our defense is still horrible. Willis was shooting well tonight but his defense was so bad Cal couldn't leave him on the floor. IMO we are improving marginally but NOT. in the place we need most Defense.

Many many teams would love to have the "problem"

[justafan]

Monk is becoming a PROBLEM rather than a solution. He takes off adout half the plays and forces his shot on half the plays he doesn't take off. Also runs his mouth at coaches when confronted by his undisciplined play. Needs to be benched for the beginning of a game and asked to consider how important basketball is to his future. While supremely talented maybe as much as anyone I have ever seen at U.K., his undisciplined inconsistent effort will get him nowhere at the next level. Gabriel is the antithesis of Monk. Hardly ever takes a play off and works like a fiend. A good victory in tough circumstances. Our defense is still horrible. Willis was shooting well tonight but his defense was so bad Cal couldn't leave him on the floor. IMO we are improving marginally but NOT. in the place we need most Defense.

And, don't forget, MSST outscored UK in the second half!!!

[justafan]

Do we give the nod to Humphries with an impressive 1 foul/2 minutes -> 5 fouls in 10 minutes played. Or, do we give it to Killeya-Jones with an impressive 2 fouls/1 minute ratio?!?

[George]

Do we give the nod to Humphries with an impressive 1 foul/2 minutes -> 5 fouls in 10 minutes played. Or, do we give it to Killeya-Jones with an impressive 2 fouls/1 minute ratio?!?

Woof.

[KCKUKFan]

Killeya-Jones confirmed all of our worst fears in his atrocious two minutes of game action. Yikes.

This game sucked. A win is a win, but not even Lighthouse could defend that officiating, which might have been the worst I've ever seen in my entire life. Consistently awful and destroyed the game.

[KCKUKFan]

Monk is becoming a PROBLEM rather than a solution. He takes off adout half the plays and forces his shot on half the plays he doesn't take off. Also runs his mouth at coaches when confronted by his undisciplined play. Needs to be benched for the beginning of a game and asked to consider how important basketball is to his future. While supremely talented maybe as much as anyone I have ever seen at U.K., his undisciplined inconsistent effort will get him nowhere at the next level. Gabriel is the antithesis of Monk. Hardly ever takes a play off and works like a fiend. A good victory in tough circumstances. Our defense is still horrible. Willis was shooting well tonight but his defense was so bad Cal couldn't leave him on the floor. IMO we are improving marginally but NOT. in the place we need most Defense.

This is a painfully stupid, short-sighted post in so many ways.

No offense.

[UKBlue22]

SEC officials show once again they are the worst in college basketball. Can't get a job reffing junior high? Just call up the SEC. It was equally bad for both teams but whenever you let an underdog hang around because of the way a game is called anything can happen.

And it won't help to write the head guy. The only fans that care are UK fans. The rest of the SEC just wants spring football to get started.

The SEC is one of the worst Basketball conferences, so not having good officiating should not be complete surprise.

[KevinHall]

Well for the third straight game the officiating sucked the life out of a game. I didn't think I would see worse than what happened in Vandy but last night topped it. It was both teams too not just UK I'm talking about. The SEC just doesn't care. They have all these old guys officiating like TV Teddy,Hess,Greene and Adams that are way past their prime and probably can't get a job with another conference. So the SEC retains them, probably, for a lower price. It's just sucking the enjoyment out for me. If UK wasn't as good and dominant as they are I'm sure I would just turn the TV off or be watching something else. Games like I have seen lately are boring and not enjoyable at all. I place the majority of the blame on the officiating for creating this environment.

On to the game itself as it was. With the flow being off its just hard to say how much it affected play. UK's defense still is not good. Miss State shot 54% for the game and 56% in the 2nd half. That will get you bounced very early in the NCAA's. Monk has been bad for two or three games now. He's just chucking up shots the first chance he gets it seems. I do think there is some selfishness in his play and Cal has got to cut that out. Bam only had two shots all night long. I know he was in foul trouble and played only 20 minutes. But still he has got to get more shots or that will be another factor in a nearly exit in the NCAA's.Still no viable back up big man play. Humphries is awful. K-Jones looks like a possible transfer after this season. He seems to have no life and I'm thinking he gives little effort in practice or we would see him more. I actually liked the Wynyard's play last night. You can probably only play him 5 minutes max but he will at least give you some effort and bang some people around inside. The foul shooting is falling off. Fox in particular has fallen and that has to pick up.

Fox did have a nice game overall and was the difference down the stretch. MSU couldn't stop him. Hawkins made a huge three in the 2nd half. If he misses that and MSU scores that could have been it for the game. Hawkins hasn't had a good year but he came up big when they really needed it. Willis's 1st half was outstanding. When he plays like that he makes UK so much better. He really is an X factor. He seemed to mostly disappear in the 2nd half and that is what makes him somewhat of an enigma. Just no consistency at all.

In the end it was a win on the road. UK is now 16-2 and still undefeated in the SEC. The schedule will pick up now. South Carolina is next. They have a big game with Florida tonight. USC is a very good defensive team and will be a stern test in Rupp Saturday evening.