Kentucky @ South Carolina Game Thread.

[DA#23]

Pretty tough to watch that debacle last night and not be thoroughly aggravated. We should have won the game period.

[TrueblueCATfan]

And now I wake up the news that Bama beat Auburn....a team we just beat

[JFCats22]

From UK stats on Twitter. Clearly it’s wrong. UK doesn’t lose games.

Kentucky's record in games decided by 3 points or less between the 2009-2010 and 2014-2015 seasons: 20-11 (.5-2016 season: 7-13 (.350).

[Joneslab]

UK's soft.

There are some other things going on--the fact that we have too much dead weight on this team, Hagans having a really bad game, lack of top-shelf talent, etc.--but when you get right down to it I think it goes back to UK just being a soft, weak team.

I noticed against Alabama that we just could not keep them out of the paint and off the offensive glass. Frank Martin did an interesting thing at halftime of that game: he just ditched his sets altogether, had the guy with the ball drive and loft the ball high off the glass (notice how many floating bank shots South Carolina made), then he crashed four. You shouldn't be able to beat a D1 team like that, and yet they did.

You can't be a good basketball team and be soft. You have to keep people out of the paint and especially you have to be able to keep guys off the glass. UK did neither last night and that's been a trend. Just not enough dogs in this bunch.

I was most disappointed I think in E.J. Matt Jones kept saying on the postgame that E.J. didn't have a bad game. That's ludicrous. E.J. Montgomery put up one of the worst games I've seen a "forward" play in the Cal era last night. Go back and watch the tape. 15 to 20 times in that game the ball is in his vicinity and he cannot grab it.

[Joneslab]

And the loss was made more disappointing by the fact that Alabama crushed Auburn last night.

UK wins that game they're really in a good spot in SEC play. Now things get dicey.

[JFCats22]

Again, this has to be wrong because people here are telling me that every team has bad losses like UK. I don't believe this but,


@GaryParrishCBS

While working on the updated Top 25 And 1 last night/this morning, I realized only two schools ranked in this week's AP poll have lost to a sub-100 KenPom team this season. One is Duke. The other is Kentucky. And Kentucky has now done it three times.

[J.Jennings]

UK's soft.

There are some other things going on--the fact that we have too much dead weight on this team, Hagans having a really bad game, lack of top-shelf talent, etc.--but when you get right down to it I think it goes back to UK just being a soft, weak team.

I noticed against Alabama that we just could not keep them out of the paint and off the offensive glass. Frank Martin did an interesting thing at halftime of that game: he just ditched his sets altogether, had the guy with the ball drive and loft the ball high off the glass (notice how many floating bank shots South Carolina made), then he crashed four. You shouldn't be able to beat a D1 team like that, and yet they did.

You can't be a good basketball team and be soft. You have to keep people out of the paint and especially you have to be able to keep guys off the glass. UK did neither last night and that's been a trend. Just not enough dogs in this bunch.

I was most disappointed I think in E.J. Matt Jones kept saying on the postgame that E.J. didn't have a bad game. That's ludicrous. E.J. Montgomery put up one of the worst games I've seen a "forward" play in the Cal era last night. Go back and watch the tape. 15 to 20 times in that game the ball is in his vicinity and he cannot grab it.

Agree 1000% about EJ. I hate to single anyone out but only if he would have made the available plays when given the momentum of that game would have stayed in our favor, just awful play....

[Joneslab]

Again, this has to be wrong because people here are telling me that every team has bad losses like UK. I don't believe this but,

Just for the record, I don't think people jump you because you talk about UK losing or you point out flaws or whatever.

They seem to jump you because of your tone. Everything's awful and embarrassing and a disgrace. The players suck and everything's falling apart at all times. It's like if Eeyore--a more angry, disgruntled Eeyore--had an account on WCN.

Folks can take those outbursts from time to time. We all get ticked occasionally. But when you jump into game threads and sort of post the same thing, with the same tone, game after game...well, it makes the experience a little more sour for those folks who have to read it.

I'm sure you know this but you seem to really be unable to stop. Or maybe you just want others to be miserable with you, I don't know, and it bothers you when people aren't. With all that said, I do think you give a good deal to the board and at least you're passionate. I'll take passion over these folks who seem not to care one way or the other.

But it is like having to watch a game with your rage-filled, slightly unpredictable uncle who at any time might get up and punch a hole in your wall. That's funny at first...and then it gets a little depressing to watch.

[lilproUK98]

UK's soft.

There are some other things going on--the fact that we have too much dead weight on this team, Hagans having a really bad game, lack of top-shelf talent, etc.--but when you get right down to it I think it goes back to UK just being a soft, weak team.

I noticed against Alabama that we just could not keep them out of the paint and off the offensive glass. Frank Martin did an interesting thing at halftime of that game: he just ditched his sets altogether, had the guy with the ball drive and loft the ball high off the glass (notice how many floating bank shots South Carolina made), then he crashed four. You shouldn't be able to beat a D1 team like that, and yet they did.

You can't be a good basketball team and be soft. You have to keep people out of the paint and especially you have to be able to keep guys off the glass. UK did neither last night and that's been a trend. Just not enough dogs in this bunch.

I was most disappointed I think in E.J. Matt Jones kept saying on the postgame that E.J. didn't have a bad game. That's ludicrous. E.J. Montgomery put up one of the worst games I've seen a "forward" play in the Cal era last night. Go back and watch the tape. 15 to 20 times in that game the ball is in his vicinity and he cannot grab it.

I agree. None of our guys put a body on anyone, Nate is the only one that is even aware of this concept it seems and he is too slow sometimes to react to block out. The rest just try to out jump guys for rebounds. Our guards rebound better than our big guys fundamentally. It's a huge problem that will be the root cause of many losses. The overall "softness" and lack of b-ball and post game IQ of EJ, Keion, and even Nick, is alarming.

Mostly because EJ and Keion just aren't post players. They both want to be on the perimeter shooting jumpers, and especially EJ just doesn't want to mix it up. EJ is best with the ball in his hands making a move from 15-18 feet. He has no inside game at all and can't finish at or around the rim to save his life....same with a lot of our guys. Keion, Kahlil, Hagans, and Quickley all struggle with this.

[Joneslab]

A poster who was at the game last night called in to Matt Jones to say that he thought Sestina might be hurt. Said that he seemed to be messing with his hand or wrist the entire game, which obviously worries you because of the earlier issues.

A couple other things about that game:

It was by far the worst officiated game of the year. Some absolutely inexplicable calls.

But officiating a South Carolina game must be brutal. If you have the ball in the paint you're basically getting punched.

I've heard Frank Martin is a nice guy. But the way that team plays is a blight on the sport of basketball.

That said, they had two or three freakish highlights, mainly because it got to the point where we wanted nothing to do with boxing them out.

[lilproUK98]

A poster who was at the game last night called in to Matt Jones to say that he thought Sestina might be hurt. Said that he seemed to be messing with his hand or wrist the entire game, which obviously worries you because of the earlier issues.

A couple other things about that game:

It was by far the worst officiated game of the year. Some absolutely inexplicable calls.

But officiating a South Carolina game must be brutal. If you have the ball in the paint you're basically getting punched.

I've heard Frank Martin is a nice guy. But the way that team plays is a blight on the sport of basketball.

That said, they had two or three freakish highlights, mainly because it got to the point where we wanted nothing to do with boxing them out.

Yeah he made that three early in the second half and never shot it again. Hopefully it just got aggravated.

The officiating was absolutely atrocious. And it really wasn't foul calls. It was out of bounds calls being called wrong, the technical on Maxey was just absurd, and many more. Mike Nance is terrible and looks like he's not even paying attention half the time, and Pat Adams is an absolute headcase.... CBB officiating is worse than it's ever been and that's saying something....

Also, at this point I would say Juzang > Whitney. Johnny had 5 rebounds in 8 mins, Whitney 1 in 10. Whitney is just about as unproductive as you can possibly be. Juzang will get shots to fall and will mix it up and has great size. I'd start playing him 12-15 mins.

[Joneslab]

Kahlil Whitney is probably the least ready player of the Calipari era. He is not a basketball player (right now).

[KCKUKFan]

Just for the record, I don't think people jump you because you talk about UK losing or you point out flaws or whatever.

They seem to jump you because of your tone. Everything's awful and embarrassing and a disgrace. The players suck and everything's falling apart at all times. It's like if Eeyore--a more angry, disgruntled Eeyore--had an account on WCN.

Folks can take those outbursts from time to time. We all get ticked occasionally. But when you jump into game threads and sort of post the same thing, with the same tone, game after game...well, it makes the experience a little more sour for those folks who have to read it.

I'm sure you know this but you seem to really be unable to stop. Or maybe you just want others to be miserable with you, I don't know, and it bothers you when people aren't. With all that said, I do think you give a good deal to the board and at least you're passionate. I'll take passion over these folks who seem not to care one way or the other.

But it is like having to watch a game with your rage-filled, slightly unpredictable uncle who at any time might get up and punch a hole in your wall. That's funny at first...and then it gets a little depressing to watch.

This. 100%.

[lilproUK98]

Kahlil Whitney is probably the least ready player of the Calipari era. He is not a basketball player (right now).

It's actually shocking how not ready he is. He's just an athlete trying to play basketball. Cal HAS GOT TO STOP RECRUITING THESE TYPES OF PLAYERS

Just because they're ranked in the top 20, it doesn't mean they're a great basketbal player.

[KCKUKFan]

It's actually shocking how not ready he is. He's just an athlete trying to play basketball. Cal HAS GOT TO STOP RECRUITING THESE TYPES OF PLAYERS

Just because they're ranked in the top 20, it doesn't mean they're a great basketbal player.

To be fair to Whitney, I watched a few of his high school games and he dominated, offensively and defensively. The comp wasn't great, but he starred on the AAU circuit, too.

Some guys just aren't ready as freshmen at this stage.