The Good
Fly the W. The same old headlines were being written. In living rooms all over the Commonwealth people were mumbling the same refrains. "You can't win with one-and-dones." "We need a bench coach." "Why do the basketball gods hate us so?" But then the old magic hit, and Kentucky pulled itself up off the mat just in time to save its season. We're still dancing, folks, and I'm pretty fond of the way it feels.
Not the Old PJ. Okay, admit it: when PJ Washington missed the free throws you had a Kansas St. flashback. I know I did. But this version of PJ is simply different than last year's: that and-one he got might have been one of the biggest buckets in UK history. And tough, too: not only did we need it, but it was a brutal shot, the kind that NBA players hit. No, I didn't think it was PJ's finest hour last night. The foot was clearly bothering him. He didn't react to loose balls the way he usually does. The free throws were cringe-worthy, as I said. But when we needed him the guy came through, and for what he's done this year I think he's etched his name in that old, dust-covered book of UK greats.
I've Run Out of Herro Puns. Tyler Herro's three came right from the Aaron Harrison spot, and if I was a pessimistic whiner before that moment, I knew that baby was going down. I knew it. Herro hit tough shot after tough shot last night, and I actually think we went to Keldon Johnson too much when we should've been going to him. I've said this, but the guy is an NBA player. He's better than Devin Booker. Better than Jamal Murray. He's a star.
Run Quickley. Immanuel Quickley had himself a game last night. I actually thought he should have been credited with one of the game's biggest shots, on an and-one in the second half that the officials inexplicably took from him. But he vastly outplayed Ashton Hagans, and honestly should have gotten way more playing time.
Tale of Two Halves. It was clear what Houston was trying to do in the beginning of that game: manhandle us, push us off our lines, rough us up. It was something we've seen teams like Tennessee do, because when you push Kentucky off its spots it makes it hard to get into our sets. Well, the officials gave us a break, because when they started pushing in the first half we got a ton of whistles. They could do nothing with Reid Travis in particular; he was so physical, so tough in that first half. Obviously this all vanished in the second half, but I thought the first 25 minutes of that game were played exactly like Kentucky wanted them to be. Unfortunately our Mr. Hyde came out in the second half.
The Bad
Do the Fade. If there's one thing about this team that you can't help but notice, it's that something happens with about 15-12 minutes on the clock left in the game when we have the lead. All year we have found ourselves with double-digit second-half leads only to see it slowly evaporate on us. It happened again last night, and I don't think it's something that happens for only one reason. But one of the main reasons has to be Ashton Hagans, who really struggled last night to accomplish much of anything. It's amazing that the Cats were able to win given Hagans' game, but I thought he really labored. He just could not get the team into its sets. In fairness, he was going against one of the nation's toughest guards. But I think you saw again that Hagans is just not ready for the next level and he badly needs to come back.
The Snowball Effect. Going on with the above point, one thing that happens to UK in those second-half fades is that we just let things snowball. Guy hits a crazy shot, we run bad offense, they come down and hit another tough shot, and all of a sudden our 10-point lead is 5 and the game is slipping on us. Keldon Johnson in particular was hit with a number of threes last night, and that happened in the Wofford game as well. He just does not guard on the perimeter for whatever reason, and if that isn't cleaned up by Sunday then Kentucky's season will come to an end.
The Slowdown. I thought Cal put on the brakes a little with about 12 minutes to play. It looked like we were in that grind thing in the halfcourt, and there was one play in particular that drove me crazy: we got a rebound, Herro streaked up the floor on the right side, Houston had three guys lying on the court, and we walked it up. I can only guess that was being ordered in from the sideline. We all know Cal loves to take the air out of the ball when he can, but I don't think college players operate well that way. You can't have guys going crazy (see Louisville vs. Duke earlier this season) and jacking up crazy shots, but we started to grind way too early.
War Eagle Pt. III. It was hard to tell who to root for in the Auburn/Carolina game. Clearly Carolina had the best talent, but Auburn might be the hottest team in the field. Some of the shots they were hitting were flat-out crazy, and they just looked jacked all of a sudden. It will take a huge effort to beat them with the way they're playing, and I also never like playing teams in March who you've beaten twice before. The revenge factor will obviously be on their side, and Bruce Pearl might show up to that game looking like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. He'll be off-the-charts insane by game time. It's going to be tough to get to Minneapolis.
The Ugly
* Okeke's Injury. That was grisly to watch. You hate seeing that, particularly with a player who had become one of the most intriguing in the nation over the last few weeks.
* Survive, Advance, Repeat. Did Duke make some kind of deal with Faust? What in the world is going on with those guys and why can't teams hit lay-ups to beat them at the end? It's insane and maddening.
Fly the W. The same old headlines were being written. In living rooms all over the Commonwealth people were mumbling the same refrains. "You can't win with one-and-dones." "We need a bench coach." "Why do the basketball gods hate us so?" But then the old magic hit, and Kentucky pulled itself up off the mat just in time to save its season. We're still dancing, folks, and I'm pretty fond of the way it feels.
Not the Old PJ. Okay, admit it: when PJ Washington missed the free throws you had a Kansas St. flashback. I know I did. But this version of PJ is simply different than last year's: that and-one he got might have been one of the biggest buckets in UK history. And tough, too: not only did we need it, but it was a brutal shot, the kind that NBA players hit. No, I didn't think it was PJ's finest hour last night. The foot was clearly bothering him. He didn't react to loose balls the way he usually does. The free throws were cringe-worthy, as I said. But when we needed him the guy came through, and for what he's done this year I think he's etched his name in that old, dust-covered book of UK greats.
I've Run Out of Herro Puns. Tyler Herro's three came right from the Aaron Harrison spot, and if I was a pessimistic whiner before that moment, I knew that baby was going down. I knew it. Herro hit tough shot after tough shot last night, and I actually think we went to Keldon Johnson too much when we should've been going to him. I've said this, but the guy is an NBA player. He's better than Devin Booker. Better than Jamal Murray. He's a star.
Run Quickley. Immanuel Quickley had himself a game last night. I actually thought he should have been credited with one of the game's biggest shots, on an and-one in the second half that the officials inexplicably took from him. But he vastly outplayed Ashton Hagans, and honestly should have gotten way more playing time.
Tale of Two Halves. It was clear what Houston was trying to do in the beginning of that game: manhandle us, push us off our lines, rough us up. It was something we've seen teams like Tennessee do, because when you push Kentucky off its spots it makes it hard to get into our sets. Well, the officials gave us a break, because when they started pushing in the first half we got a ton of whistles. They could do nothing with Reid Travis in particular; he was so physical, so tough in that first half. Obviously this all vanished in the second half, but I thought the first 25 minutes of that game were played exactly like Kentucky wanted them to be. Unfortunately our Mr. Hyde came out in the second half.
The Bad
Do the Fade. If there's one thing about this team that you can't help but notice, it's that something happens with about 15-12 minutes on the clock left in the game when we have the lead. All year we have found ourselves with double-digit second-half leads only to see it slowly evaporate on us. It happened again last night, and I don't think it's something that happens for only one reason. But one of the main reasons has to be Ashton Hagans, who really struggled last night to accomplish much of anything. It's amazing that the Cats were able to win given Hagans' game, but I thought he really labored. He just could not get the team into its sets. In fairness, he was going against one of the nation's toughest guards. But I think you saw again that Hagans is just not ready for the next level and he badly needs to come back.
The Snowball Effect. Going on with the above point, one thing that happens to UK in those second-half fades is that we just let things snowball. Guy hits a crazy shot, we run bad offense, they come down and hit another tough shot, and all of a sudden our 10-point lead is 5 and the game is slipping on us. Keldon Johnson in particular was hit with a number of threes last night, and that happened in the Wofford game as well. He just does not guard on the perimeter for whatever reason, and if that isn't cleaned up by Sunday then Kentucky's season will come to an end.
The Slowdown. I thought Cal put on the brakes a little with about 12 minutes to play. It looked like we were in that grind thing in the halfcourt, and there was one play in particular that drove me crazy: we got a rebound, Herro streaked up the floor on the right side, Houston had three guys lying on the court, and we walked it up. I can only guess that was being ordered in from the sideline. We all know Cal loves to take the air out of the ball when he can, but I don't think college players operate well that way. You can't have guys going crazy (see Louisville vs. Duke earlier this season) and jacking up crazy shots, but we started to grind way too early.
War Eagle Pt. III. It was hard to tell who to root for in the Auburn/Carolina game. Clearly Carolina had the best talent, but Auburn might be the hottest team in the field. Some of the shots they were hitting were flat-out crazy, and they just looked jacked all of a sudden. It will take a huge effort to beat them with the way they're playing, and I also never like playing teams in March who you've beaten twice before. The revenge factor will obviously be on their side, and Bruce Pearl might show up to that game looking like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. He'll be off-the-charts insane by game time. It's going to be tough to get to Minneapolis.
The Ugly
* Okeke's Injury. That was grisly to watch. You hate seeing that, particularly with a player who had become one of the most intriguing in the nation over the last few weeks.
* Survive, Advance, Repeat. Did Duke make some kind of deal with Faust? What in the world is going on with those guys and why can't teams hit lay-ups to beat them at the end? It's insane and maddening.
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