The Good
* In 2007, I Sat at the SEC Tournament and Listened to a Woman Do the Gator Chomp for Two and a Half Hours Straight. I Have Never Forgotten. Folks, it's always good to beat Florida. Always. Yeah, this isn't Billy Donovan's Florida anymore. Heck, it's not even Lon Kruger's Florida. But that's a W Kentucky had to have to keep the train rolling, and the Cats got it.
* Quickley for POY? Yeah, I hear you saying "Terrence Jones" or "Deandre Liggins" or even "Darius Miller," but for my money Immanuel Quickley is the most improved player of the Cal era. Last year he looked like nothing more than a serviceable back-up point guard without the speed or consistency to register much at the D1 level. Now he looks like an elite college guard, the sort of guy who could really take a team on his back and drive them through the tournament. He has turned into a bona fide star at Kentucky and honestly it's one of the sweetest surprises of the Cal era.
* Maxed In. Tyrese Maxey was really good yesterday, and continues to be one of the more explosive and powerful guards Cal has had in transition. He's a consistent jumpshot away from being a phenom, but I doubt if we ever see that at Kentucky.
* Blooming Seed. So here we sit with four games to play having only 5 losses, alone at the top of the SEC, and on a pretty significant winning streak. To my surprise--maybe even shock--this is a team that's positioned itself fairly well in terms of seed. I hate to look ahead, but if this team wins its last four then they should be looking at a 2/3, and while seed matters less this year than it ever has, it will still be a pretty significant accomplishment for a very rough-around-the-edges type of team.
* A Fence, Electrified. Man, how good was Kentucky's second-half D last night? At times it looked like Florida just wanted to go home to their mommies. All the good Cal teams have been able to defend like that, and unfortunately we haven't seen it too much this season from Kentucky. But they really clamped down in the last 20 minutes of that game, and if they have any hope of March magic, that's the way they'll have to defend. Just not enough top-shelf offensive players to outscore people.
* The Stars of Stripe Kentucky didn't get to the foul line nearly enough yesterday, but when they did they connected on all 10. This team is on a historic level with their free throws, and as we all know that's a great sign for March. UConn had two flawed title teams that won national titles with (1) elite guard play and (2) historic free throw shooting.
* Good E.J. Speaking of defense: I really, really liked E.J. in that second half last night. The guy made defensive stop after defensive stop, and then when we really needed a basket he swooped in and picked up a loose ball and stuck it in the basket. E.J. is one of the more inconsistent players of the Cal era, but there are times this year when he's been a fiend defensively. Unfortunately there are times when he's...
The Bad
* ....Bad E.J. First-half E.J. was a disaster last night. Got driven by multiple times. Didn't register in the game at all after knocking down an early 17-footer. As good as he was in the second half, he was equally as bad in the first. I'd like to say that's a phenomenon that will stop, but at this point in the season it's clear that E.J. is going to continue to be up and down.
* Swag Monster. I listened to Cal a little bit in the postgame talk with Tom Leach last night. Yes, he's swaggy. It's that time of year. The only problem: when we get Swaggy Cal, we usually don't come out as sharp the next game. I hope that doesn't happen on Tuesday night, because this road game in College Station has "letdown game" all over it.
* Disconnect Four. Our power forward position remains sketchy, particularly on the defensive end. Before E.J.'s nice run, the 4's Cal put out there--Brooks, Sestina, First Half E.J.--were abysmal. Sestina couldn't guard a toddler. Brooks got blown by at least twice. Bad E.J. might as well have been wearing a Florida jersey. That spot remains a problem on this team, and I don't see any way we make a run unless we find some consistency there.
* Halfcourt Woes. Kentucky's offense didn't look great yesterday, and if Quickley or Maxey weren't getting it done it didn't get done at all. The zone baffled us a bit in the second half, but just generally we weren't really clicking all day. Didn't get to the foul line enough, turned it over too much, couldn't get the ball inside the way we generally do. Just a ragged game offensively for Kentucky after we really lit up the nets in Baton Rouge.
Home Front. My son tore his MCL this past week. He was really looking forward to playing in his first district tournament, but it looks like he'll probably be out tomorrow night. Stinks.
The Ugly
* Endgame. What's going on with Kentucky to close out games? We're handling the press at the end like we're putting together one of those What Not to Do instructional videos for coaching clinics. At this point I expect yakety sax to start playing as we inbound the ball. With guys who can shoot foul shots like this team can, you would think we wouldn't play with so much fear at the end.
* Point Guard, You? Ashton Hagans didn't have a good game last night. Yeah, he came up with one of the game's biggest plays with that steal and hit-ahead to Maxey. But his floor game was pretty rough to watch. He overdribbled, he worked himself into unwinnable spots on the court, and he generally just couldn't get the team settled. Six turnovers is way too many in a home game against an average team. Hagans hasn't had the year many hoped, and he's another guy you can look at and say, "If he doesn't get it going, Kentucky is a real longshot to make a run."
* In 2007, I Sat at the SEC Tournament and Listened to a Woman Do the Gator Chomp for Two and a Half Hours Straight. I Have Never Forgotten. Folks, it's always good to beat Florida. Always. Yeah, this isn't Billy Donovan's Florida anymore. Heck, it's not even Lon Kruger's Florida. But that's a W Kentucky had to have to keep the train rolling, and the Cats got it.
* Quickley for POY? Yeah, I hear you saying "Terrence Jones" or "Deandre Liggins" or even "Darius Miller," but for my money Immanuel Quickley is the most improved player of the Cal era. Last year he looked like nothing more than a serviceable back-up point guard without the speed or consistency to register much at the D1 level. Now he looks like an elite college guard, the sort of guy who could really take a team on his back and drive them through the tournament. He has turned into a bona fide star at Kentucky and honestly it's one of the sweetest surprises of the Cal era.
* Maxed In. Tyrese Maxey was really good yesterday, and continues to be one of the more explosive and powerful guards Cal has had in transition. He's a consistent jumpshot away from being a phenom, but I doubt if we ever see that at Kentucky.
* Blooming Seed. So here we sit with four games to play having only 5 losses, alone at the top of the SEC, and on a pretty significant winning streak. To my surprise--maybe even shock--this is a team that's positioned itself fairly well in terms of seed. I hate to look ahead, but if this team wins its last four then they should be looking at a 2/3, and while seed matters less this year than it ever has, it will still be a pretty significant accomplishment for a very rough-around-the-edges type of team.
* A Fence, Electrified. Man, how good was Kentucky's second-half D last night? At times it looked like Florida just wanted to go home to their mommies. All the good Cal teams have been able to defend like that, and unfortunately we haven't seen it too much this season from Kentucky. But they really clamped down in the last 20 minutes of that game, and if they have any hope of March magic, that's the way they'll have to defend. Just not enough top-shelf offensive players to outscore people.
* The Stars of Stripe Kentucky didn't get to the foul line nearly enough yesterday, but when they did they connected on all 10. This team is on a historic level with their free throws, and as we all know that's a great sign for March. UConn had two flawed title teams that won national titles with (1) elite guard play and (2) historic free throw shooting.
* Good E.J. Speaking of defense: I really, really liked E.J. in that second half last night. The guy made defensive stop after defensive stop, and then when we really needed a basket he swooped in and picked up a loose ball and stuck it in the basket. E.J. is one of the more inconsistent players of the Cal era, but there are times this year when he's been a fiend defensively. Unfortunately there are times when he's...
The Bad
* ....Bad E.J. First-half E.J. was a disaster last night. Got driven by multiple times. Didn't register in the game at all after knocking down an early 17-footer. As good as he was in the second half, he was equally as bad in the first. I'd like to say that's a phenomenon that will stop, but at this point in the season it's clear that E.J. is going to continue to be up and down.
* Swag Monster. I listened to Cal a little bit in the postgame talk with Tom Leach last night. Yes, he's swaggy. It's that time of year. The only problem: when we get Swaggy Cal, we usually don't come out as sharp the next game. I hope that doesn't happen on Tuesday night, because this road game in College Station has "letdown game" all over it.
* Disconnect Four. Our power forward position remains sketchy, particularly on the defensive end. Before E.J.'s nice run, the 4's Cal put out there--Brooks, Sestina, First Half E.J.--were abysmal. Sestina couldn't guard a toddler. Brooks got blown by at least twice. Bad E.J. might as well have been wearing a Florida jersey. That spot remains a problem on this team, and I don't see any way we make a run unless we find some consistency there.
* Halfcourt Woes. Kentucky's offense didn't look great yesterday, and if Quickley or Maxey weren't getting it done it didn't get done at all. The zone baffled us a bit in the second half, but just generally we weren't really clicking all day. Didn't get to the foul line enough, turned it over too much, couldn't get the ball inside the way we generally do. Just a ragged game offensively for Kentucky after we really lit up the nets in Baton Rouge.
Home Front. My son tore his MCL this past week. He was really looking forward to playing in his first district tournament, but it looks like he'll probably be out tomorrow night. Stinks.
The Ugly
* Endgame. What's going on with Kentucky to close out games? We're handling the press at the end like we're putting together one of those What Not to Do instructional videos for coaching clinics. At this point I expect yakety sax to start playing as we inbound the ball. With guys who can shoot foul shots like this team can, you would think we wouldn't play with so much fear at the end.
* Point Guard, You? Ashton Hagans didn't have a good game last night. Yeah, he came up with one of the game's biggest plays with that steal and hit-ahead to Maxey. But his floor game was pretty rough to watch. He overdribbled, he worked himself into unwinnable spots on the court, and he generally just couldn't get the team settled. Six turnovers is way too many in a home game against an average team. Hagans hasn't had the year many hoped, and he's another guy you can look at and say, "If he doesn't get it going, Kentucky is a real longshot to make a run."
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