The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Utah Edition

[justford]

I can’t recall seeing as many posts mentioning UK football in the basketball forums as there are this season. That gives you an idea of how the season is going.

[Joneslab]

We can't shoot the basketball. Meanwhile J. BAKER averaging about 17 a game 43% behind the arc, blows my mind...

He's averaging 7 a game actually.

But still you make a good point. That guy would really help us. We thought Juzang was the answer there but Juzang is wildly behind.

[JFCats22]

I don't like Gary Parrish but he makes some really good points here. Mainly how pathetically terrible UK's schedule and losses have been.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-rankings-kentucky-falls-out-of-top-25-and-1-after-its-upset-loss-to-utah/

[Joneslab]

Another point worth noting is that its not just Kentucky. I think there is a general malaise and disinterest in the sport that has grown over the last couple of years. I used to watch as many games as i could, but now ill only watch Kentucky and the end of whatever game leads us in.

And the NBAs popularity has increased in that same time period.

They really need guys like Zion for college basketball to be super popular.

They know people like us--die-hard fans--are usually going to watch. But your average fan out at a bar or having a beer on the couch needs that extra incentive. College basketball has been ironically helped by one-and-dones because it gives the sport some star power. What the NCAA has been worried about is if you strip out those one-and-dones then all you're left with are the die-hard viewers.

Another irony is that years like this, where there's so much evenness, should make for a fascinating NCAA Tournament. I just hope we're in it.

[Ratt]

We can't shoot the basketball. Meanwhile J. BAKER averaging about 17 a game 43% behind the arc, blows my mind...

Well in all fairness - he's averaging 7.5 points per game but he is shooting well...

[Dwight Schrute]

I think that's about building the UK brand, which in turn cultivates more interest in the program, which in turn brings in blue chip recruits, which theoretically leads to wins.

So I get it. It's the same logic as Michigan St. playing on an aircraft carrier and UK/Michigan St. trying to break the attendance record at the "Basketbowl" and so on. Also, the NBA has been trying to globalize for years. College basketball is a little behind the times as far as that goes.

Interestingly if you go back to when Cal was first hired, he talked all the time about China. One of the major things he said in his first days of being hired was that he was looking to extend UK into China. That obviously never happened but at the time it was intriguing to think about.

This is news to no one but some of the best players in the world are in Europe and Asia. The London game is likely not going to entice some seven foot Brit to sign on at UK but it's still an interesting game.

And plus, I think the opponent is a good one.

Does the UK brand need building at this point, though? I am glad we're playing Michigan but I'm more interested in a home and home with them. I love seeing us go to these other gyms with rowdy student sections. These neutral site games that are half filled with fans of the teams in the other game do nothing for me.

The exception to this was the Indiana games. I miss those games in Louisville and Indianapolis that were half-red, half-blue. I also miss when UK played games in Cincinnati as well. US Bank Arena is a dump but seeing UK play there was always a blast.

[Joneslab]

Does the UK brand need building at this point, though? I am glad we're playing Michigan but I'm more interested in a home and home with them. I love seeing us go to these other gyms with rowdy student sections. These neutral site games that are half filled with fans of the teams in the other game do nothing for me.

I'm not sure fans in the arena is a big deal. These are made-for-TV games.

I do agree with the over-arching point that Kentucky doesn't do enough for the fans. We always used to say about Cal, "He gets it."

And obviously in many ways he does. As a salesman there couldn't be a better ambassador for the program. But I do agree that at times he dismisses the average fan--particularly the more "seasoned" fan.

He's in this game to make himself and the players rich. Period. He isn't a jerk about it and he's done a ton of good for UK but this isn't a guy who is going to host a game in Memorial for the folks back home anytime soon.

[Dwight Schrute]

I'm not sure fans in the arena is a big deal. These are made-for-TV games.

I do agree with the over-arching point that Kentucky doesn't do enough for the fans. We always used to say about Cal, "He gets it."

And obviously in many ways he does. As a salesman there couldn't be a better ambassador for the program. But I do agree that at times he dismisses the average fan--particularly the more "seasoned" fan.

He's in this game to make himself and the players rich. Period. He isn't a jerk about it and he's done a ton of good for UK but this isn't a guy who is going to host a game in Memorial for the folks back home anytime soon.

I understand part of it too is to simulate what a 2nd weekend NCAA tournament environment feels like, but the home schedule this year was absolutely a slap in the face for the fans being expected to pony up for tickets. I hope UK got the message and is working on it for the future, but Cal doesn't seem that concerned with fans.

[J.Jennings]

He's averaging 7 a game actually.

But still you make a good point. That guy would really help us. We thought Juzang was the answer there but Juzang is wildly behind.

Well maybe i misread his ppg by 10 points. Regardless we needed a shooter and Cal let's them walk and banks on a 18 years to get up to speed in little to no time at all...

[Ratt]

Well maybe i misread his ppg by 10 points. Regardless we needed a shooter and Cal let's them walk and banks on a 18 years to get up to speed in little to no time at all...

My problem is that Cal and others say he's a shooter and this guy and this guy - Baker was terrible last year shooting. Same with Brad. Same with Maxey. Same w/Juzang, EJ, Quickly, etc. etc... All good shooters in practice when their open and no pressure - not the same during the game. YET --- and this is just the curse of being UK - every single time we play anyone - they tend to have a guy that is averaging 6 to 8 points that simply can't miss. But anyway...

[85 Fly]

I said in my “non-conference competition” thread that Utah had size and can shoot 3s, but they are not a consistent team...of course playing us they play well-lol We looked lethargic and then in the last quarter we start playing better defensively but still shots not falling.

I’m in Las Vegas. When I watched the game all I could think about is our front court on Sat I’ll be at the game, we need a miracle to pull off Sat.

In other news- I’m at the Tarkanian High school Classic. BJ Boston (and the Sierra Canyon team) looks good, has a smooth stroke and Askew (Mater Dei) is a true PG- sets teammates up or drives to the basket. He’s a scorer that plays with passion/aggression.

[Joneslab]

My problem is that Cal and others say he's a shooter and this guy and this guy - Baker was terrible last year shooting. Same with Brad. Same with Maxey. Same w/Juzang, EJ, Quickly, etc. etc... All good shooters in practice when their open and no pressure - not the same during the game. YET --- and this is just the curse of being UK - every single time we play anyone - they tend to have a guy that is averaging 6 to 8 points that simply can't miss. But anyway...

Quickley had shot the ball pretty well this year until the other night. He's not a world beater but he can at least keep the D honest. The Utah game was an atrocity for him though.

And it's obvious why Maxey can't hit anything: terrible shot selection. He'll stand out flat footed 24 feet from the goal and you can almost see the shrug as he thinks, "Eh, might as well." Then he jacks it up. It's obviously really hard to be consistent when you're firing stuff out of rhythm like that.

I also notice that freshmen often have a harder time being consistent, probably because they aren't prepared to work as hard as they have to to get open.

We've had a bunch of players come through who were just meh shooters as freshmen but who got progressively better. Deandre Liggins is the granddaddy here but you can even think about guys like PJ last year.

This is what makes guys like Doron Lamb and Jamal Murray super impressive to me. They came right in at UK and started knocking stuff down. (Although Lamb also was a case of a guy getting way better as a sophomore.)

[Blue Heaven]

We can't shoot the basketball. Meanwhile J. BAKER averaging about 17 a game 43% behind the arc, blows my mind...

He was never going pro here. We had other guys to "showcase". His playing time dipped because "he couldn't play defense". JUST STOP IT CAL!

[Blue Heaven]

YET --- and this is just the curse of being UK - every single time we play anyone - they tend to have a guy that is averaging 6 to 8 points that simply can't miss. But anyway...

Visions of dollar signs sold by your coach tends to make a selfish player. Not all, but some of our players these Cal years could really care less about the program or us fans. THIS is the season that is breaking me. I can't take it anymore. Sure Cals record and accomplishments the last 10 seasons are likely unmatched, but yet I feel empty as a fan. I find myself looking more forward to football than basketball anymore. Talk of "Next years class will be Cals best" leaves me empty because I have heard it all before. But I thought THIS group of guys were some of Cals best? What a mess we have been sold. Color me skeptical from here on out. I can't wait for Spring football. WOOO!

[Joneslab]

Talk of "Next years class will be Cals best" leaves me empty because I have heard it all before. But I thought THIS group of guys were some of Cals best?

I never saw a single person say that this recruiting class was Calipari's best. Not sure where in the world you would have seen that.

Most people I saw were a little worried about this class. Those concerns first started to crop up probably about this time last year.

What's happened is that the top-rated player from both this class and last year's class (Whitney and Montgomery) have under-performed.

Two players is big when you're dealing with a basketball roster. That creates problems for the whole team. Imagine if Whitney were as good as advertised and Montgomery made a PJ Washington jump. We'd be #1 in America and the easy favorites to win it.

When you run the system like Cal does your margins are so tight. You have to basically have every player you recruit live up to his billing. If not...well, we get what we're seeing this year.