Kentucky @ Auburn Game Thread.

[Lighthouse]

We had the opportunity and then the free throw's happened. Auburn is not a good shooting team, 35% from the field, 26% from 3Pt line and 75% from FT line. We were better in all three, but when we have lazy feet and commit 29 fouls it changes the outcome.

[JFCats22]

We had the opportunity and then the free throw's happened. Auburn is not a good shooting team, 35% from the field, 26% from 3Pt line and 75% from FT line. We were better in all three, but when we have lazy feet and commit 29 fouls it changes the outcome.

Yep, you nailed it. The officiating wasn’t great last night but people seem to be simply ignoring the fact that this UK team fouls a lot.

I give the refs a really hard time and there were 4-5 bogus calls yesterday but UK doomed themselves with their poor play.

[40bill]

From what I've read, just one of those early February games. But cmon....great environment at Auburn for the home team, 4 seniors from a team that was a couple bad calls/no calls from playing for the whole thing last year...and still competitive.

On to the next. Gotta learn AND have short term memory.

[Lighthouse]

I didn't record the game last night but I wish I had. The crew last nigh looked out of sinc to me. That could have been caused by the different style of play each team had, or the way Auburn was playing so physical and we didn't match it. There weren't a lot of calls on us that I disagreed with, it just seemed to me that we really played soft and lazy.

[JFCats22]

I think at some point we all just have to realize this is a mediocre team. Crazy things can happen but this team has first weekend flameout written all over them.

4-2 record in our last 6 and 8-4 in our last 12 games.

There is a minimum (IMO) of 3-4 more losses coming before the NCAAT so this will be a 24-9 type team heading into the tourney as a 5-7 seed

[J.Jennings]

Couple of things here, they shot 44 free throws we shot 24, even Dan Dakich called out the refs in this game.

With that being said, the top 20 teams in the nation are separated by one possession, it's that close this year, no one and I mean no one is dominate and unbeatable. Some of yall might think this team is Garbage but if we can clean up a few things and continue to hit our shots and hope like hell the refs call us a fair game, we can be dangerous and as good as anyone...

[Joneslab]

It's impossible to read this team because the field is so down. It's one of those teams that could get blown out in the first round. I can also see them making a Sweet Sixteen type of run. Deeper if they got a break or two.

The one thing you can say for sure about them is that they're one player away from being a legitimate top 10 team. Because we're missing that one guy, everything is a rock fight with this bunch.

So it's really hard to make these grand proclamations that UK fans love making about how the season will end. I'm not sure I've seen a year like this in college basketball. When the analysts are arguing that Dayton should be a number one seed, you know things are pretty cracked.

Seeding means not a whit this year. Don't think about it. Don't worry about it. Means absolutely nothing. Kentucky just has to find a way to grind out wins and they'll be as okay as anybody going into the tournament.

There has never been a field like this in the recent history of college basketball.

[40bill]

Good observation. It's as balanced as I can remember in a long time. We all have tales of how a team comes together right at the end, and takes of how a great crew flattens out or has one bad injury. Or maybe just one bad game.
could happen things start clicking the right way for Hagans and maybe Montgomery just when it needs to.
main thing is getting to the show, and I'm pretty sure this team will. After that and it could be the most insane NCAA tournament any of us have seen.

[Joneslab]

Couple of things here, they shot 44 free throws we shot 24, even Dan Dakich called out the refs in this game.

With that being said, the top 20 teams in the nation are separated by one possession, it's that close this year, no one and I mean no one is dominate and unbeatable. Some of yall might think this team is Garbage but if we can clean up a few things and continue to hit our shots and hope like hell the refs call us a fair game, we can be dangerous and as good as anyone...

They're not garbage but they're an unusual team in that they need everybody to have a good game. If just one player is bad, like Hagans was Saturday, then they really have a hard time. Particularly on the road.

Cal has had some teams that could withstand a guy having a really bad game. Even two guys. But this team really can't. The margin for error is so tight. That's why I can't imagine them making any magical March run or anything like that.

But I can see them doing okay if the match-ups are right. Usually--not always--they have pretty good inside-outside balance, and that's one of the recipes for tournament success.

Pomeroy has them a really mediocre 36th in the country. For the sake of reference, he had the awful 2013 team 55th at year's end. So this team is within shouting distance of that. Needless to say, that isn't good.

But the thing about this year is that you could take every team from 36 to probably 10, and they're going to look eerily the same. It's just a really strange year. I mean, Louisville is #1 and we beat them and led virtually the entire game.

So there are worrying things about this team but there's some hope as well. I'm not expecting a Final Four or anything but there are times I look at them and think they're maybe a little better than I thought they could be.

[KCKUKFan]

This team isn't garbage, or even mediocre, like some doom-and-gloomers would like you to believe. It's also not great, like some sunshine pumpers would have you believe. This is simply a slightly above average basketball team, and as Will noted, the margin for error is almost nil.

It's impossible to predict how the season will end; college basketball is just too screwy this year.

But I continue to believe that with three good guards and a solid center, we stand just as good of a chance as anyone (with some breaks, of course).

Paying attention to seedings or NET rankings or Pomeroy rankings or any of that crap is NOT useful this season (for any team), and I'd advise against it to certain fans that live and die by every single stat.

[J.Jennings]

And on a good note, EJ is silently starting to play better basketball. You get all these guys clicking and on the same page, still think we can be dangerous.

[KCKUKFan]

And on a good note, EJ is silently starting to play better basketball. You get all these guys clicking and on the same page, still think we can be dangerous.

He had some good defensive plays in the Auburn game, but overall I thought he was pretty dreadful.

[KCKUKFan]

Another thing that hurts: there are some games that Nate Sestina just cannot play in. Saturday was one of those.

Last year, there were games where Reid Travis was at an obvious disadvantage, but he could always play. Nate is not that guy. He got exposed Saturday and we were -22 when he was in the game.

[Catsrock]

They're not garbage but they're an unusual team in that they need everybody to have a good game. If just one player is bad, like Hagans was Saturday, then they really have a hard time. Particularly on the road.

Cal has had some teams that could withstand a guy having a really bad game. Even two guys. But this team really can't. The margin for error is so tight. That's why I can't imagine them making any magical March run or anything like that.

But I can see them doing okay if the match-ups are right. Usually--not always--they have pretty good inside-outside balance, and that's one of the recipes for tournament success.

Pomeroy has them a really mediocre 36th in the country. For the sake of reference, he had the awful 2013 team 55th at year's end. So this team is within shouting distance of that. Needless to say, that isn't good.

But the thing about this year is that you could take every team from 36 to probably 10, and they're going to look eerily the same. It's just a really strange year. I mean, Louisville is #1 and we beat them and led virtually the entire game.

So there are worrying things about this team but there's some hope as well. I'm not expecting a Final Four or anything but there are times I look at them and think they're maybe a little better than I thought they could be.

With apologies to the player IQ has become--really like him--the 2 most important players we need to show up against any decent team are Richards and Hagans. Saturday they were BOTH no-shows. Any game that happens we're toast.

[Lighthouse]

Couple of things here, they shot 44 free throws we shot 24, even Dan Dakich called out the refs in this game.

With that being said, the top 20 teams in the nation are separated by one possession, it's that close this year, no one and I mean no one is dominate and unbeatable. Some of yall might think this team is Garbage but if we can clean up a few things and continue to hit our shots and hope like hell the refs call us a fair game, we can be dangerous and as good as anyone...

If you listen to Dakich or Bilas with reference to officials, you will only get an opinion that benefits them and their desire for you to think that know something, which IMO they have proven over and over they don't. If you read my post #94, you know how I felt about the officiating crew. They did not have a good game on either end, but they were equally fair to both teams. If Dakich or Bilas want to tell a truth about this game, they would say how lazy we looked on defense especially when Auburn drove the ball. I watched the game just like everyone did and this was our game to win, we just didn't show up very well. Auburn is not a good shooting team, we didn't have to foul them. They only had 2 more FG attempts than we did, and I would be interested in looking at the shot chart to see where their try's came from. Stats usually tell a true story. UA had 5 more pts off turnovers than us, they had 12 more 2nd chance pts than us, 4 more bench pts, 6 more pts in paint, 3 more pts off fast breaks. In other words, they out hustled us and we played on our heals.