The Good
* The Good Father. So I'm at the father/daughter dance listening to Taylor Swift, sitting there talking about what a dog UK is and how the season is in shambles, when I check Twitter and somebody says something outrageous: Kentucky is on a 10-0 run and the game is suddenly (gulp) close. I ran over and grabbed a dad--a dad I had never seen before in my life--and borrowed his phone to watch the last three minutes. (I caught it from the beginning on DVR later.) It was glorious and unbelievable. Clearly I was responsible in some way for that win, clearly I am father of the year, and clearly (I don't care what anybody says) Taylor Swift has talent.
* We Will Not be Denied. Maybe the most pleasing thing about that game was how Kentucky, totally on the ropes and looking lost, stuck in that game when they could've quit. They chipped and chipped, and got really good play from a number of guys--some of whom didn't really put up many points on the board. That was a game that they could've just folded in, and they didn't. For that reason it was one of the most pleasing regular season wins of the Calipari era.
* Point Guard U. Both Kentucky's point guards had runs last night that were special. Quade Green finally, finally shook off the injury and had a couple of very good runs. And Shai was all in that comeback, firing one-handed passes to wide open players and just generally dominating the game at the point of attack. This game is a point guard's game, and while West Virginia had a very good one of their own, our two acquitted themselves nicely.
* It Just Means More. The SEC threw a haymaker last night with the Kentucky win, sealing up an SEC/Big XII challenge that almost nobody thought the conference could win. The fact that we won that thing without Auburn even participating, and with Georgia completely handing a game away in the last 90 seconds, is a sign of the strength of this league--and hopefully an indication that when Kentucky gets to the end it will be rewarded seed-wise even though we're going to have some dents on our exterior.
The Better
* Mad Stats. The box score from this thing looks like it has a drinking problem. Kentucky should not win a game on the road against a top 10 team with two guys in double digits, and yet that's what we did. The most insane thing are the two guys who were most in that win couldn't really score: Vanderbilt and Wenyen. They scored 7 points between them, but both those guys were stamped all over that thing. Wenyen's play was like some sort of exquisite piece of brutalist art. He did every single hard hat/lunch pail thing imaginable. Blocked shots. Rebounded. Pushed guys around. Threw himself all over the place in that floppy, human ragdoll way he has. And Vanderbilt's rebounding is something to behold. If the ball is there, he gets it. If he could put the ball in the basket he'd be dangerous.
* Psychopath Test. The most hilarious thing in the game was when West Virginia's Sagaba Konate began to argue with the electrical cover at midcourt. It was hilarious and indicative of the game starting to unfray for WVU. I was pretty sure Konate was going to pull a knife out of his sock at some point.
* I Love the Smell of Windex in the Morning. Speaking of rebounding: Kentucky owned West Virginia on the glass. In some ways this isn't surprising: the press leaves you vulnerable on the back side, and WVU is not a good shooting team. But the way Kentucky just manhandled older, more physical players was great to see, and hopefully a sign that this team is finally learning how to play with some grit.
* Nick Richards, Mr. Uneven. Yes, Richards had movements in this game where he couldn't hold on to the ball. And yes, he couldn't put down two lobs late that Anthony Davis would've dunked with his teeth. But his putback on the Pistol Pete-like move Shai had was a huge play in the last couple of minutes, and it was symbolic of the way Kentucky as a team just refused to quit.
The OMG
* What Does the Knox Say? Not much needs to be said about Knox last night. He got it going early and just never stopped. He threw in wild shots on the run with the wrong hand. He hit ice cold threes when we absolutely had to have baskets. And at the end he simply became Aaron Harrison, drilling the wing three and putting that baby on ice. All the while he was just giving it to the WVU crowd in I'm sure polite and respectful tones. One of the best individual performances you will ever see from a Kentucky player, and it was a work of art.
* Zombie Cats. When we were down seventeen it appeared that the season was spiraling. Kentucky was on its way to three losses in the last four games with a string of tough games yet to play; people would invariably be talking about the bubble this morning; all seemed bleak and unattainable. And then the magic started, and it was an old magic: it was stuff we've seen before from Kentucky basketball, and the game it reminded me most of (though the stakes were much, much lower) was Duke in the NCAA Tournament in '98. It was a young team channeling Kentucky greatness for one of the first times this season, and again we were all reminded why we do this, why we get this invested, and how sweet it feels when it all pays off in the end.
* The Good Father. So I'm at the father/daughter dance listening to Taylor Swift, sitting there talking about what a dog UK is and how the season is in shambles, when I check Twitter and somebody says something outrageous: Kentucky is on a 10-0 run and the game is suddenly (gulp) close. I ran over and grabbed a dad--a dad I had never seen before in my life--and borrowed his phone to watch the last three minutes. (I caught it from the beginning on DVR later.) It was glorious and unbelievable. Clearly I was responsible in some way for that win, clearly I am father of the year, and clearly (I don't care what anybody says) Taylor Swift has talent.
* We Will Not be Denied. Maybe the most pleasing thing about that game was how Kentucky, totally on the ropes and looking lost, stuck in that game when they could've quit. They chipped and chipped, and got really good play from a number of guys--some of whom didn't really put up many points on the board. That was a game that they could've just folded in, and they didn't. For that reason it was one of the most pleasing regular season wins of the Calipari era.
* Point Guard U. Both Kentucky's point guards had runs last night that were special. Quade Green finally, finally shook off the injury and had a couple of very good runs. And Shai was all in that comeback, firing one-handed passes to wide open players and just generally dominating the game at the point of attack. This game is a point guard's game, and while West Virginia had a very good one of their own, our two acquitted themselves nicely.
* It Just Means More. The SEC threw a haymaker last night with the Kentucky win, sealing up an SEC/Big XII challenge that almost nobody thought the conference could win. The fact that we won that thing without Auburn even participating, and with Georgia completely handing a game away in the last 90 seconds, is a sign of the strength of this league--and hopefully an indication that when Kentucky gets to the end it will be rewarded seed-wise even though we're going to have some dents on our exterior.
The Better
* Mad Stats. The box score from this thing looks like it has a drinking problem. Kentucky should not win a game on the road against a top 10 team with two guys in double digits, and yet that's what we did. The most insane thing are the two guys who were most in that win couldn't really score: Vanderbilt and Wenyen. They scored 7 points between them, but both those guys were stamped all over that thing. Wenyen's play was like some sort of exquisite piece of brutalist art. He did every single hard hat/lunch pail thing imaginable. Blocked shots. Rebounded. Pushed guys around. Threw himself all over the place in that floppy, human ragdoll way he has. And Vanderbilt's rebounding is something to behold. If the ball is there, he gets it. If he could put the ball in the basket he'd be dangerous.
* Psychopath Test. The most hilarious thing in the game was when West Virginia's Sagaba Konate began to argue with the electrical cover at midcourt. It was hilarious and indicative of the game starting to unfray for WVU. I was pretty sure Konate was going to pull a knife out of his sock at some point.
* I Love the Smell of Windex in the Morning. Speaking of rebounding: Kentucky owned West Virginia on the glass. In some ways this isn't surprising: the press leaves you vulnerable on the back side, and WVU is not a good shooting team. But the way Kentucky just manhandled older, more physical players was great to see, and hopefully a sign that this team is finally learning how to play with some grit.
* Nick Richards, Mr. Uneven. Yes, Richards had movements in this game where he couldn't hold on to the ball. And yes, he couldn't put down two lobs late that Anthony Davis would've dunked with his teeth. But his putback on the Pistol Pete-like move Shai had was a huge play in the last couple of minutes, and it was symbolic of the way Kentucky as a team just refused to quit.
The OMG
* What Does the Knox Say? Not much needs to be said about Knox last night. He got it going early and just never stopped. He threw in wild shots on the run with the wrong hand. He hit ice cold threes when we absolutely had to have baskets. And at the end he simply became Aaron Harrison, drilling the wing three and putting that baby on ice. All the while he was just giving it to the WVU crowd in I'm sure polite and respectful tones. One of the best individual performances you will ever see from a Kentucky player, and it was a work of art.
* Zombie Cats. When we were down seventeen it appeared that the season was spiraling. Kentucky was on its way to three losses in the last four games with a string of tough games yet to play; people would invariably be talking about the bubble this morning; all seemed bleak and unattainable. And then the magic started, and it was an old magic: it was stuff we've seen before from Kentucky basketball, and the game it reminded me most of (though the stakes were much, much lower) was Duke in the NCAA Tournament in '98. It was a young team channeling Kentucky greatness for one of the first times this season, and again we were all reminded why we do this, why we get this invested, and how sweet it feels when it all pays off in the end.
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