The Good
* We Never Win Games Like That. Admit it: with about 11 minutes left yesterday afternoon, you thought you'd seen this movie before. The game it reminded me most of...well, honestly it reminded me of a bunch of games. It reminded me of the game where Cal called Terrence Jones "selfish" back in the winter of 2011; it reminded me of games in Knoxville where we just couldn't hold off Tennessee; and it reminded me of so many games in Gainesville over the last few years where the crowd was in it, Kentucky was missing shots, and they extended an 11-point lead to 20 and there were a hundred thinkpieces written on UK message boards afterward about how the one-and-done would forever kill Kentucky and Cal had last his mojo. But of course that's not what happened. Instead Kentucky bowed its collective back, a couple of guys said "We're not losing today," and UK put up a final ten minutes that were among the best it has played all season.
* Defense Wins SEC Road Games. Kentucky has finally cracked Pomeroy's top ten, and it's mainly due to an incredible improvement in its defense over the last six games. You saw yesterday how Kentucky can win a national championship, and it has to be through its defense. In the final ten minutes we smothered and frustrated and discombobulated Florida, and by the end a couple of them--particularly their freshman point guard, who'd had a good game until the final run--looked like they wanted to hide under a blanket. It was the most impressive defensive performance of the season, and if we're going to oust Tennessee and grab that 1 seed that the SEC winner is going to get, we'll have to bring that kind of effort.
* Herro of the Day. Man, does Tyler Herro bring it on the road. After not missing a shot in the first half, Herro was right there in Kentucky's final push--as he always is. His corner three from PJ was a dagger, and I continue to believe this guy is a special player.
* Washin' the Glass. PJ Washington recorded yet another double double last night, and although he was up and down offensively I thought he was still the most dominant player on the court because of the way he rebounded. He grabbed probably five out-of-area rebounds in the final ten minutes that we weren't getting early in the second half, and he once again showed that along with his skillset he's just a physical specimen.
* Speaking of PJ...Did you catch that moment with about 13 minutes left after Florida grabbed all those offensive boards and we fouled them? PJ lit into the team, and it was at about that moment that everything turned around. I thought that was a highly interesting point of the game because we've never really seen Washington do that, and it shows that he has become this team's best and most vital player. You have to have guys like that in March and it's a great sign going forward.
* Second Half Man. What is it about Keldon Johnson's second halves? He's one of those odd players who looks like his first shot is a barometer of how he'll play in the first half: yesterday they ran three plays for him early and he was contested on each one. So to the bench he went, and Jermarl Baker played a bunch of minutes in the first half. Then Johnson came back in the second, as he usually does, and figured all into that win.
* Speaking of the Bench...Cal is very comfortable with playing the bench now, which is a must for any team that has title hopes. Baker got a career-high in minutes. I thought E.J. Montgomery played his best game at UK, grabbing a couple of massive offensive rebounds. And Immanuel Quickley was also great after missing virtually everything he shot in the first half; he was in there through a lot of that late push, and came up with a couple of tough loose balls and iced the game at the foul line. This team is better than its individual parts; it's finally a team.
* It Just Means More. By tomorrow afternoon it's very possible that the SEC will have both Tennessee and Kentucky in the top five. Pretty impressive.
The Bad
* Reid Travis? More Like Randy Travis. I thought Reid Travis struggled a bit in that game until the very end. E.J. Montgomery's entrance and Travis's exit after that flurry of offensive rebounds with about 12:00 to go sort of changed the game, and what's worrisome about that is that Florida has very little size. The match-ups were there for Travis and he couldn't match Florida's intensity until the very end. Not a great showing and looking ahead to that Tennessee game, if he gets backed-down by Grant Williams we're doomed.
* Ash Can. Ashton Hagans also had arguably his worst game since he took over as a starter. I thought he was flat confused by what Florida was trying to do, which was just throw every body in the paint and make us hit threes. Hagans over-dribbled a few times which led to all those Florida arms knocking the ball away, and I even thought Florida's Andrew Nembhard--who's one of those players who is going to be a bane of our existence the next four years in the SEC--outplayed him for 35 minutes. Would love to see a bounce-back from Ashton on Tuesday.
* Clank Crew. You can sort of see how Kentucky could possibly lose in March: it defends well, it rebounds well, it gets solid games from guys in the paint...but it goes 2-20 from three and scores 63 points. Kentucky's outside shooting is still susceptible after all this time, and if teams are going to play us like Florida did--basically selling out in the paint and giving us open looks--then we have to hit outside shots. The three is the way you pull away from teams in this game, and if you keep throwing up bricks the possibility of an L will always be there.
The Ugly
* There is no ugly, folks. Kentucky has a basketball team all of a sudden. We're thawing out here in Louisville, KY. It may hit 70 degrees this week. That groundhog did its thing yesterday and delivered us good news. Tom Brady is my age and he'll be out there in the Super Bowl today. I'll be at a Super Bowl (sorry, Big Game...don't want to get sued) party with the fam. Life is, as they say, good.
* We Never Win Games Like That. Admit it: with about 11 minutes left yesterday afternoon, you thought you'd seen this movie before. The game it reminded me most of...well, honestly it reminded me of a bunch of games. It reminded me of the game where Cal called Terrence Jones "selfish" back in the winter of 2011; it reminded me of games in Knoxville where we just couldn't hold off Tennessee; and it reminded me of so many games in Gainesville over the last few years where the crowd was in it, Kentucky was missing shots, and they extended an 11-point lead to 20 and there were a hundred thinkpieces written on UK message boards afterward about how the one-and-done would forever kill Kentucky and Cal had last his mojo. But of course that's not what happened. Instead Kentucky bowed its collective back, a couple of guys said "We're not losing today," and UK put up a final ten minutes that were among the best it has played all season.
* Defense Wins SEC Road Games. Kentucky has finally cracked Pomeroy's top ten, and it's mainly due to an incredible improvement in its defense over the last six games. You saw yesterday how Kentucky can win a national championship, and it has to be through its defense. In the final ten minutes we smothered and frustrated and discombobulated Florida, and by the end a couple of them--particularly their freshman point guard, who'd had a good game until the final run--looked like they wanted to hide under a blanket. It was the most impressive defensive performance of the season, and if we're going to oust Tennessee and grab that 1 seed that the SEC winner is going to get, we'll have to bring that kind of effort.
* Herro of the Day. Man, does Tyler Herro bring it on the road. After not missing a shot in the first half, Herro was right there in Kentucky's final push--as he always is. His corner three from PJ was a dagger, and I continue to believe this guy is a special player.
* Washin' the Glass. PJ Washington recorded yet another double double last night, and although he was up and down offensively I thought he was still the most dominant player on the court because of the way he rebounded. He grabbed probably five out-of-area rebounds in the final ten minutes that we weren't getting early in the second half, and he once again showed that along with his skillset he's just a physical specimen.
* Speaking of PJ...Did you catch that moment with about 13 minutes left after Florida grabbed all those offensive boards and we fouled them? PJ lit into the team, and it was at about that moment that everything turned around. I thought that was a highly interesting point of the game because we've never really seen Washington do that, and it shows that he has become this team's best and most vital player. You have to have guys like that in March and it's a great sign going forward.
* Second Half Man. What is it about Keldon Johnson's second halves? He's one of those odd players who looks like his first shot is a barometer of how he'll play in the first half: yesterday they ran three plays for him early and he was contested on each one. So to the bench he went, and Jermarl Baker played a bunch of minutes in the first half. Then Johnson came back in the second, as he usually does, and figured all into that win.
* Speaking of the Bench...Cal is very comfortable with playing the bench now, which is a must for any team that has title hopes. Baker got a career-high in minutes. I thought E.J. Montgomery played his best game at UK, grabbing a couple of massive offensive rebounds. And Immanuel Quickley was also great after missing virtually everything he shot in the first half; he was in there through a lot of that late push, and came up with a couple of tough loose balls and iced the game at the foul line. This team is better than its individual parts; it's finally a team.
* It Just Means More. By tomorrow afternoon it's very possible that the SEC will have both Tennessee and Kentucky in the top five. Pretty impressive.
The Bad
* Reid Travis? More Like Randy Travis. I thought Reid Travis struggled a bit in that game until the very end. E.J. Montgomery's entrance and Travis's exit after that flurry of offensive rebounds with about 12:00 to go sort of changed the game, and what's worrisome about that is that Florida has very little size. The match-ups were there for Travis and he couldn't match Florida's intensity until the very end. Not a great showing and looking ahead to that Tennessee game, if he gets backed-down by Grant Williams we're doomed.
* Ash Can. Ashton Hagans also had arguably his worst game since he took over as a starter. I thought he was flat confused by what Florida was trying to do, which was just throw every body in the paint and make us hit threes. Hagans over-dribbled a few times which led to all those Florida arms knocking the ball away, and I even thought Florida's Andrew Nembhard--who's one of those players who is going to be a bane of our existence the next four years in the SEC--outplayed him for 35 minutes. Would love to see a bounce-back from Ashton on Tuesday.
* Clank Crew. You can sort of see how Kentucky could possibly lose in March: it defends well, it rebounds well, it gets solid games from guys in the paint...but it goes 2-20 from three and scores 63 points. Kentucky's outside shooting is still susceptible after all this time, and if teams are going to play us like Florida did--basically selling out in the paint and giving us open looks--then we have to hit outside shots. The three is the way you pull away from teams in this game, and if you keep throwing up bricks the possibility of an L will always be there.
The Ugly
* There is no ugly, folks. Kentucky has a basketball team all of a sudden. We're thawing out here in Louisville, KY. It may hit 70 degrees this week. That groundhog did its thing yesterday and delivered us good news. Tom Brady is my age and he'll be out there in the Super Bowl today. I'll be at a Super Bowl (sorry, Big Game...don't want to get sued) party with the fam. Life is, as they say, good.
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