Kentucky @ Auburn Game Thread.

[40bill]

Mature teams can overcome a lot. As has been pointed out, this Kentucky team was in the hunt even without strong play from Hagans and Richard's. To be honest, I am pleasantly surprised that Nick has become something to be reckoned with.

[Joneslab]

Mature teams can overcome a lot. As has been pointed out, this Kentucky team was in the hunt even without strong play from Hagans and Richard's. To be honest, I am pleasantly surprised that Nick has become something to be reckoned with.

Yeah, I feel the same. There are much better Kentucky teams that would have had to fight the same way Saturday. Very tough environment.

I was impressed with the Texas Tech game as well.

The Kentucky that worries you is the one we saw in the first half against Vandy, the second half against South Carolina, the entire game against Utah, etc. That's the team that will end up as a 7 or 8 seed and get beat in the first game of the tourney.

The problem is, we still don't really know what we're going to get with Kentucky. They're very inconsistent for a lot of reasons, but I think it comes back to not really having a fully formed team. If Whitney would've lived up to the hype I think this team would be a top 5 team with just a couple of losses. Missing on that one guy throws the entire thing out of whack.

In the one-and-done experiment, you really can't miss on players out of high school. If you do then you'll inevitably have an uneven lineup.

[J.Jennings]

And you all can sugar coat this bad officiating all you want but you know it's real when commentators and analyst on ESPN are starting to call it out in regards to Kentucky games, this ain't no fairy tale blue tinted glass Kentucky theory, the hate is real and anybody who watches the games can see it. Calipari can't be any worse than any other coach on the sideline lobbying for his team but almost seems someone has marching orders from the top to make it hard on Kentucky, just my opinion..

[J.Jennings]

Mature teams can overcome a lot. As has been pointed out, this Kentucky team was in the hunt even without strong play from Hagans and Richard's. To be honest, I am pleasantly surprised that Nick has become something to be reckoned with.

With all due respect, i am not, i had faith in Nick Richards from the get go. I guess i am still a little old school the way it used to be. You come to school, you sit 2 years and learn, you contribute and star your junior senior year, that is what you call development both mentally and physically. Harrellson was a four year guy when he peaked, took D. Miller a few years, same with D. Liggins, R. Bradley, Padgett, W. Turner, the list goes on and on and on..

[40bill]

Yeah, all a part of it. Like some coaches have said, though....sure I could stay away from NBA sure fires ..I wouldn't be here long....
a good college team is a tricky balance. Have a couple not pan out and seasons over in lots of cases.
to be honest for me this would not be a frustrating team....and from what I read I think many fans feel the same...just not really one of those alpha dog squads you can count on game in, game out.

In an odd way the fight that was in the football program kind of highlights the troubles this basketball team seems to have. Not entirely fair, but I think Calipari has even mentioned he gets concerned over the loss of focus the team seems to have.

[J.Jennings]

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.

Fair enough but you mention hustle, kind of hard to really get after it and go all out if you are afraid you are going to be called for a tic tac foul, just saying, kind of have to play a little more conservative if you are afraid refs are going to call a cheap one.


As for Bilas, his opinion doesn't matter, he hates UK and it's well known, he simply plays the role because he has too because that is his job....

[40bill]

With all due respect, i am not, i had faith in Nick Richards from the get go. I guess i am still a little old school the way it used to be. You come to school, you sit 2 years and learn, you contribute and star your junior senior year, that is what you call development both mentally and physically. Harrellson was a four year guy when he peaked, took D. Miller a few years, same with D. Liggins, R. Bradley, Padgett, W. Turner, the list goes on and on and on..

Really true. I think we got so used to Cal pulling recruiting rabbits out if the hat we get confused. My concerns aren't so much the TRUE one ands... we see those. It's the guys that most of us average clowns can tell need another year or two to develop....but jump anyhow.

[justford]

With all due respect, i am not, i had faith in Nick Richards from the get go. I guess i am still a little old school the way it used to be. You come to school, you sit 2 years and learn, you contribute and star your junior senior year, that is what you call development both mentally and physically. Harrellson was a four year guy when he peaked, took D. Miller a few years, same with D. Liggins, R. Bradley, Padgett, W. Turner, the list goes on and on and on..

How about when freshmen were not allowed to play varsity?? I wonder how that would play out in today’s game?

[J.Jennings]

How about when freshmen were not allowed to play varsity?? I wonder how that would play out in today’s game?

Because Nick Richards wasn't ready to contribute and jump pro after his freshman year even sophomore year he was written off as a failure, not UK material, really not fair to some of these guys in all reality. At least Nick was smart enough to realize this and kept working hard, he didn't bolt after one year (Orton, Vanderbilt, Skal, etc.), he sucked up his ego and kept working hard.

[JFCats22]

This year has been wild in college basketball but I completely disagree that there are no great teams this year. Are they as strong as other years? Maybe not, but Kansas, Baylor and Duke have clearly separated themselves from other teams. Doesn't mean that they can't be beat but I think those who are saying no team is excellent or every team in the top 15-20 is about the same are totally wrong.

Using Sagarin and KenPom's ratings for this year, here are where KU, Duke, and Baylor would have fallen in previous years. As you can see, these teams would be near the top of the rankings in any year, including some very good college basketball seasons.

2019 - KU (KP = #4, Sagarin = #3), Duke (KP = #5, Sagarin = #6), Baylor (KP = #9, Sagarin #6)
2018 - KU (KP = #2, Sagarin = #2), Duke (KP = #4, Sagarin = #3), Baylor (KP = #5, Sagarin #5)
2017 - KU (KP = #2, Sagarin = #2), Duke (KP = #3, Sagarin = #5), Baylor (KP = #5, Sagarin #4)
2016 - KU (KP = #2, Sagarin = #3), Duke (KP = #5, Sagarin = #5), Baylor (KP = #6, Sagarin #6)

[J.Jennings]

We have lost 5 games by a total of 24 points and 9 of those was on Saturday after the refs pretty much fouled out our entire team. Evansville Utah and even SC was a fluke, we still not as bad as bad as it seems...

[Joneslab]

This year has been wild in college basketball but I completely disagree that there are no great teams this year. Are they as strong as other years? Maybe not, but Kansas, Baylor and Duke have clearly separated themselves from other teams. Doesn't mean that they can't be beat but I think those who are saying no team is excellent or every team in the top 15-20 is about the same are totally wrong.

Using Sagarin and KenPom's ratings for this year, here are where KU, Duke, and Baylor would have fallen in previous years. As you can see, these teams would be near the top of the rankings in any year, including some very good college basketball seasons.

2019 - KU (KP = #4, Sagarin = #3), Duke (KP = #5, Sagarin = #6), Baylor (KP = #9, Sagarin #6)
2018 - KU (KP = #2, Sagarin = #2), Duke (KP = #4, Sagarin = #3), Baylor (KP = #5, Sagarin #5)
2017 - KU (KP = #2, Sagarin = #2), Duke (KP = #3, Sagarin = #5), Baylor (KP = #5, Sagarin #4)
2016 - KU (KP = #2, Sagarin = #3), Duke (KP = #5, Sagarin = #5), Baylor (KP = #6, Sagarin #6)

But to know where those teams would rank this year, they'd have to play this year's teams. Last year would have to play last year's teams. And so on.

This field is absolutely crazy. Closest I've seen is probably three years (?) ago where we had all that insanity happen on the first couple of days of the tournament. However, once the thing settled down you saw a FF that was pretty chalky. But regardless, the talent level is way low this year and what you're going to see IMO are a couple of 2s and 1s knocked out before the Elite Eight. At least.

That doesn't really say much about Kentucky. This Kentucky team would be having to fight virtually everybody it plays regardless of the field. They aren't built well. But it does give us a better chance at maybe getting a couple of good match-ups in March, possibly.

[Jload]

You guys are dreaming if you think this UK squad will make a tournament run. What are you seeing that I’m not. Cal sees it if you listened to his show this week you heard him say it. No leadership ,no fight in a really physical game, players ignoring him in last 3 minutes when he is trying to call a play. It’s Feb folks when is this team going to turn it around. Nearly every team we play in the tourney with the possible exception of the first game( depends on seeding”) will be as tough or tougher than Auburn. As for an earlier poster saying Evansville and Utah were flukes, I disagree ,that’s who we are this year. It will be apparent when the tourney starts. I also see an early exit from SEC tourney this year. As for all the whining about fouls, we don’t move our feet and reach in after a blow by, must have seen a dozen of those plays Saturday. Our bigs get in foul trouble also because some guard has blown by our guards and is barreling toward the basket unmolested. This is a horrid defensive squad, that’s why we are always in foul trouble, not some conspiracy of hatred toward Cal

[J.Jennings]

You guys are dreaming if you think this UK squad will make a tournament run. What are you seeing that I’m not. Cal sees it if you listened to his show this week you heard him say it. No leadership ,no fight in a really physical game, players ignoring him in last 3 minutes when he is trying to call a play. It’s Feb folks when is this team going to turn it around. Nearly every team we play in the tourney with the possible exception of the first game( depends on seeding”) will be as tough or tougher than Auburn. As for an earlier poster saying Evansville and Utah were flukes, I disagree ,that’s who we are this year. It will be apparent when the tourney starts. I also see an early exit from SEC tourney this year. As for all the whining about fouls, we don’t move our feet and reach in after a blow by, must have seen a dozen of those plays Saturday. Our bigs get in foul trouble also because some guard has blown by our guards and is barreling toward the basket unmolested. This is a horrid defensive squad, that’s why we are always in foul trouble, not some conspiracy of hatred toward Cal

So name the college team that will make a run with no flaws or chinks in the armor? We can be just as good or better than anyone when we are on our A game. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but i will take our chances.

My suggestion is if you are ready to throw in the towel, stop watching and come back later this October when Big Blue Madness begins so we can do it all over again, watch a young team grow like watching molasses mixed with junk basketball for 2 months....

[Lighthouse]

You guys are dreaming if you think this UK squad will make a tournament run. What are you seeing that I’m not. Cal sees it if you listened to his show this week you heard him say it. No leadership ,no fight in a really physical game, players ignoring him in last 3 minutes when he is trying to call a play. It’s Feb folks when is this team going to turn it around. Nearly every team we play in the tourney with the possible exception of the first game( depends on seeding”) will be as tough or tougher than Auburn. As for an earlier poster saying Evansville and Utah were flukes, I disagree ,that’s who we are this year. It will be apparent when the tourney starts. I also see an early exit from SEC tourney this year. As for all the whining about fouls, we don’t move our feet and reach in after a blow by, must have seen a dozen of those plays Saturday. Our bigs get in foul trouble also because some guard has blown by our guards and is barreling toward the basket unmolested. This is a horrid defensive squad, that’s why we are always in foul trouble, not some conspiracy of hatred toward Cal

Most every time I read one of your posts I wonder if we're watching the same game. This Kentucky team is raw and has issues, but they are getting better and they're learning. Like JJ, I enjoy watching every game and like our chances every time we play. And, I wish folks would quit bringing up those fluke losses because these kids would not lose to Evansville now.