The Good
* The win. That was the very embodiment of gut-check time last night, with the flu raging and Quade out and the team's toughness (h/t Billy Gillispie) being called out from all corners. But the Cats got it done. We were all dizzy and confused and enraged when the horn sounded, but they got it done.
* Did I say the Cats won? What we were staring at if we would've lost that game was a truly frightening proposition. I feel like the phrase "NIT" would maybe be floating around a little today. One can't overstate what a massive W that was last night.
* Hami time. When the team looked like it was fading, Hami Diallo took the game over. His run early in the second half was a thing of beauty, and for the first time in a couple of weeks he injected himself into the flow of the game. That's the Hami we have to see if this team has any chance to be a solid basketball team by March.
* PJ Washington's final field goal. Washington roared back after crampgate with 16 points, but the final drive--to put the Cats up 5 with about a minute left--was an NBA move if I've ever seen one. He took Robert Williams, a potential lottery pick, to the basket with relative ease with the left hand, and that basket pretty much iced the thing.
* The Cats' offense. For a team that was without its best outside shooter, Kentucky did some really good things offensively last night against the SEC's best defensive team. In the second half they hardly missed, and if they could have found a way to contain Tyler Davis that would have been an easy W. At one point in the second half they were over 65%. That's pretty solid for a team missing a key player and playing five freshmen almost all the time.
* Shai returning to form. After a hiccup against Tennessee, Shai looked like his old self out there, playing a ridiculous 39 minutes, scoring in those wild angles, and looking like an all-SEC player.
* The rebounding battle. I felt like if Kentucky could just kind of hang around in rebounds it would be a positive, but not only did Kentucky hang around--they beat TAMU by one in rebounding margin. Probably the craziest stat in a wild game.
* The clutch free throws until the very end. Yes, things got squirrely in the last minute, but a lot of guys stepped up and nailed big free throws in the last minutes. I was especially impressed with Sacha Killeya-Jones' two in the last three minutes.
* Oddly, Kentucky and Texas A&M is turning into a legit SEC rivalry. These games seem to always be wild and come down to the last minute, and they're often very fun to watch. In the last three or four years we have played some classics against the Aggies, and I'm glad we ended up on the right side last night.
The Bad
* The inability to guard Tyler Davis in the second half. Davis picked up a deluge of loose balls and just put them in with ease in the last 10 minutes. At one point he was TAMU's offense, and it was frustrating to watch him scoop up virtually every loose ball and just turn around and put it in the basket.
* The zone did some good things, but it also allowed TAMU to break out of what was a pretty crazy shooting slump. They came into that game last night ice cold, and the zone let a couple of guys get going. It was ironically a change to man to man there in the last five minutes that I thought confused TAMU enough to stop them on a couple of possessions and ultimately win the game for Kentucky.
* Shai's decision making a couple of times in the second half. TAMU was running doubles at him virtually all through the second half, and there were times when Shai panicked. The late turnover was especially rough, but there were other times he had a guy open and the ball stuck in his hands too long. A good learning experience for him.
The Ugly
* The last minute. You saw a dose of virtually everything there, from tissue-paper soft play to freshmen insanity to weird bounces that went TAMU's way. But more than anything these Cats are going to have to get stronger with the basketball when teams run wild traps at them. The Shai turnover was brutal because he could have easily called a time-out; the Knox turnover was more brutal because why was he in the corner?; and the weird way we defended in transition--first on the Robert Williams dunk with nobody around him and then on the very last play--reduced me to a screaming wild man in my living room.
* Speaking of that last play: it was a foul. Not much more needs to be said about it. That Doug Shows of all people missed the call was hilarious, but it was definitely missed. Also:
* Why did Wenyen Gabriel play that last 10 minutes in such a wild fashion? If you go back and watch the last five to ten minutes, you'll notice Wenyen fouling almost every time somebody is in his area. A couple weren't called. But he was constantly out of position and playing in such a strange way that I'm not sure what he was doing. I guess as Cal would say he just lost his mind, but there's no need to wrap Tyler Davis up in that situation. Just get in front of him and try to deflect the pass. That TAMU was able to set up what was essentially a post-up with 3 seconds left on a full-court situation was maddening and odd. That's just guys not knowing what the situation is and getting completely lost. Wenyen has to be smarter.
* The win. That was the very embodiment of gut-check time last night, with the flu raging and Quade out and the team's toughness (h/t Billy Gillispie) being called out from all corners. But the Cats got it done. We were all dizzy and confused and enraged when the horn sounded, but they got it done.
* Did I say the Cats won? What we were staring at if we would've lost that game was a truly frightening proposition. I feel like the phrase "NIT" would maybe be floating around a little today. One can't overstate what a massive W that was last night.
* Hami time. When the team looked like it was fading, Hami Diallo took the game over. His run early in the second half was a thing of beauty, and for the first time in a couple of weeks he injected himself into the flow of the game. That's the Hami we have to see if this team has any chance to be a solid basketball team by March.
* PJ Washington's final field goal. Washington roared back after crampgate with 16 points, but the final drive--to put the Cats up 5 with about a minute left--was an NBA move if I've ever seen one. He took Robert Williams, a potential lottery pick, to the basket with relative ease with the left hand, and that basket pretty much iced the thing.
* The Cats' offense. For a team that was without its best outside shooter, Kentucky did some really good things offensively last night against the SEC's best defensive team. In the second half they hardly missed, and if they could have found a way to contain Tyler Davis that would have been an easy W. At one point in the second half they were over 65%. That's pretty solid for a team missing a key player and playing five freshmen almost all the time.
* Shai returning to form. After a hiccup against Tennessee, Shai looked like his old self out there, playing a ridiculous 39 minutes, scoring in those wild angles, and looking like an all-SEC player.
* The rebounding battle. I felt like if Kentucky could just kind of hang around in rebounds it would be a positive, but not only did Kentucky hang around--they beat TAMU by one in rebounding margin. Probably the craziest stat in a wild game.
* The clutch free throws until the very end. Yes, things got squirrely in the last minute, but a lot of guys stepped up and nailed big free throws in the last minutes. I was especially impressed with Sacha Killeya-Jones' two in the last three minutes.
* Oddly, Kentucky and Texas A&M is turning into a legit SEC rivalry. These games seem to always be wild and come down to the last minute, and they're often very fun to watch. In the last three or four years we have played some classics against the Aggies, and I'm glad we ended up on the right side last night.
The Bad
* The inability to guard Tyler Davis in the second half. Davis picked up a deluge of loose balls and just put them in with ease in the last 10 minutes. At one point he was TAMU's offense, and it was frustrating to watch him scoop up virtually every loose ball and just turn around and put it in the basket.
* The zone did some good things, but it also allowed TAMU to break out of what was a pretty crazy shooting slump. They came into that game last night ice cold, and the zone let a couple of guys get going. It was ironically a change to man to man there in the last five minutes that I thought confused TAMU enough to stop them on a couple of possessions and ultimately win the game for Kentucky.
* Shai's decision making a couple of times in the second half. TAMU was running doubles at him virtually all through the second half, and there were times when Shai panicked. The late turnover was especially rough, but there were other times he had a guy open and the ball stuck in his hands too long. A good learning experience for him.
The Ugly
* The last minute. You saw a dose of virtually everything there, from tissue-paper soft play to freshmen insanity to weird bounces that went TAMU's way. But more than anything these Cats are going to have to get stronger with the basketball when teams run wild traps at them. The Shai turnover was brutal because he could have easily called a time-out; the Knox turnover was more brutal because why was he in the corner?; and the weird way we defended in transition--first on the Robert Williams dunk with nobody around him and then on the very last play--reduced me to a screaming wild man in my living room.
* Speaking of that last play: it was a foul. Not much more needs to be said about it. That Doug Shows of all people missed the call was hilarious, but it was definitely missed. Also:
* Why did Wenyen Gabriel play that last 10 minutes in such a wild fashion? If you go back and watch the last five to ten minutes, you'll notice Wenyen fouling almost every time somebody is in his area. A couple weren't called. But he was constantly out of position and playing in such a strange way that I'm not sure what he was doing. I guess as Cal would say he just lost his mind, but there's no need to wrap Tyler Davis up in that situation. Just get in front of him and try to deflect the pass. That TAMU was able to set up what was essentially a post-up with 3 seconds left on a full-court situation was maddening and odd. That's just guys not knowing what the situation is and getting completely lost. Wenyen has to be smarter.
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