UK vs USC

[Joneslab]

Oscar's post game comments about begging Cal to put in some guys who will fight is just a terrible look for our program. There has to be alot of drama swirling around we aren't privy to for that kind of statement to be made in public. Cal better get a handle on it NOW or this season could turn in to as big a disaster as the 9-16 season

Yeah, I suspect this is a major issue. This team is super weird in a similar way to the B.J. Boston nightmare crew.

Sahvir Wheeler was mentioned a lot above. Wheeler has an AWFUL face when he's out there. Doesn't seem to be in the game at all.

To Oscar's credit he still seems to care. He's clapping, making facial expressions, seems like he wants to do well but is just having a super hard time.

Wheeler looks like he's checked out completely. And he isn't the only one.

That has to be locker room stuff. I mean there's more going on: bad scheme, not a whole lot of teamwide talent, a coach who doesn't know how to use the players we have. But I'm convinced there are massive chemistry problems going on and as we start losing more games you have to think that stuff is only going to get worse.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Cal did go on quite a bit in the postgame press conference and on the radio press conference about how much he loves the fans.

Apparently he spoke directly to the fans who were still there at the radio thing at length about his relationship with the fans and said something like "don't let anybody tell you I don't love you all."

It was by far the most heartfelt I've ever heard him about the fanbase. I also couldn't help but read a little bit of a goodbye in it...but maybe that's just my hope coming through.

As much as i hate the way Cal coaches and the way he handles things most of the time, i really hope that he can turn this thing completely around and stay for as long as he wants to coach here, that says a lo especially coming from me, i have been a major critic of him for 5 years maybe more.

Reality is off the court i like him, he has done many great things throughout the state and if he is leaving, i hate to see him go out on this kind of note.

Is it possible that someone has to hit absolute rock bottom in order to make the changes that need to be made? The stubbornness the X's and O's all those things can be fixed or as Cal likes to say, tweaked. I do not think that all of a sudden Calipari just forgot how to coach the game of basketball ,he just has to be willing to adapt and make changes. He talks about how close he is with his team off the court but maybe that is a problem, just maybe he needs to back off all that holding hand stuff and keep it business, he has a job to do and the players have a job to do, stop playing favorites i don't know.

Scary part of al this is if or when we get another coach, are getting Jekyll or Hyde, Pitino or Gillispie? What if it's a good x's and o's guy but nobody wants to play for him? Either way we have major problems, just a matter of which battles we want to fight..

[Joneslab]

I think if he needed to hit rock bottom to make changes then it would've happened after the 9-16 season.

And if that didn't do it, then it would've happened after St. Peter's.

The fact that we still look this bad suggests either (1) he has no intention of changing anything because of "stubborness," a word fans love to use; or (2) he literally CAN'T change anything because he doesn't know how.

It could be a mix of (1) and (2), i.e. a coach who is stubborn but is also confused about what needs to happen. I'd say that's probably the case.

But in the end it doesn't matter. What matters is the results, and the results tell us that at every other blueblood "basketball school," every one, the coach would be fired over what we're seeing.

[Joneslab]

Also and going on with that, what's happening with Kentucky can be traced back to effort.

We know that because look at their defense. Look at how they deal with screens. This is offensively too--we don't set screens. We intentionally whiff. Watch Oscar. Guy is playing either not to get hurt or playing in such a way where he doesn't really care how the play is run. He sets no screens, ever.

Defensively it's the same. We don't even try. We "go under" so much that it's ridiculous...and in this day and age everybody knows you can't go under with hardly anybody. That isn't even Basketball 101, that's the stuff they teach on the grade school level.

There's only one reason why that would be happening: effort. They've quit.

Look at the stats. We turned it over like 5 times. We shot it well after the start. And we just couldn't get anything going because we couldn't guard a good high school team.

The coach can change up scheme and we could go to a zone and do some stuff, but if you aren't playing hard in this game you're doomed. This team is a zombie team full of guys--including Oscar--who do not want to put in the work to be good. And that comes back, always, to the head coach.

[KentuckyWild2020]

I think if he needed to hit rock bottom to make changes then it would've happened after the 9-16 season.

And if that didn't do it, then it would've happened after St. Peter's.

The fact that we still look this bad suggests either (1) he has no intention of changing anything because of "stubborness," a word fans love to use; or (2) he literally CAN'T change anything because he doesn't know how.

It could be a mix of (1) and (2), i.e. a coach who is stubborn but is also confused about what needs to happen. I'd say that's probably the case.

But in the end it doesn't matter. What matters is the results, and the results tell us that at every other blueblood "basketball school," every one, the coach would be fired over what we're seeing.

Calipari being stubborn in his mind i think he still believes it's just going to just work itself out like it has many other times, this time it's not working.....

Rest of this year going to do my best to support him and the players until this season is over, I hate to kick a man when he's down and right now he's complete rock bottom embarrassment. Been through al ot of bad times under Calipari at Kentucky including many records broken to the bad but he's had some really good times as well. Out of respect just going to see what happens here on out expectations completely out the door.

[Joneslab]

Travis Branham with a long article on 247 about how Kentucky has hit rock bottom.

There's a lot in here that Kentucky fans have talked about for weeks but one interesting thing he mentions is the offense. He says he was watching clips from the 2000 NBA Finals recently and sat up in his chair because Cal is running the same offensive sets Larry Brown was running 20+ years ago.

https://247sports.com/Article/Kentuc...cky-202654336/

[Joneslab]

Here's a supercut from the NBA of the "floppy" action Kentucky runs most every time down. One of the most basic sets in basketball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQXLAPMk82Q

[KentuckyWild2020]

Speaking of Calipari with a real authentic heart felt message to the fans, i can appreciate that finally. Win or lose, just be real with us and shoot us straight, can still turn this around as bad it is right now. May not have the best record and may be lucky enough to just sneak into the NCAA tournament but if we do get a chance, never know what can happen if you get a hungry determined disrespected team come March.

Wishful thinking but i really need to see a game with Cason starting at point with Reeves/CJ Livingston at the two and three spots. I want to see what Onyenso can do at the 5 spot, he's 6'11-7'0 with a 7'5 wingspan who can rim run block shots, that would help Oscar in my opinion. Still don't like the fact we just throw it inside to Oscar and see what happens, let Wallace be the main guy with and hope Reeves CJ start hitting shots, let Oscar get his offense off misses and rebound put backs, anything...

[KentuckyWild2020]

Here's a supercut from the NBA of the "floppy" action Kentucky runs most every time down. One of the most basic sets in basketball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQXLAPMk82Q

Yes, have to have shooters coming off those screens and hit shots. I watched my team the other night play and like many other NBA teams, they just come down spread out stand around the 3 point line and either jack a 3 or go one on one with a pull up 3, game is so different i can't stand it at times. Difference in Kentucky and NBA is most of the league guys can actually shoot so it doesn't really look as bad as it really is...

[Lighthouse]

Has anyone heard anything about Wallace? Is he hurt or did he just walk out?

[Joneslab]

Has anyone heard anything about Wallace? Is he hurt or did he just walk out?

For some reason this made me laugh out loud. The idea of a player just walking out of Rupp seems absurd...but you could totally see it happening on this team.

Re: Wallace, though, Cal said after the game that he had back spasms.

[KCKUKFan]

Here's a supercut from the NBA of the "floppy" action Kentucky runs most every time down. One of the most basic sets in basketball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQXLAPMk82Q

Don't tell Jimmy Dykes. He's a major advocate of the floppy action.

[Joneslab]

Don't tell Jimmy Dykes. He's a major advocate of the floppy action.

To be honest after the first 5 or so minutes, the sets we were running last night worked fairly well. I mean we were okay. We definitely got Fredrick and Reeves open looks.

Dykes has been saying the last two games that our defense is the problem. He's right in a sense.

But when you're as bad as Kentucky you can't just look at one thing. It's defense, it's the sets, it's our toughness, we can't rebound, it's guys playing out of position, it's guys who aren't ready for playing 5 minutes getting 30 minutes, there seem to be chemistry issues...on and on.

I mean, you have to crack into like 10 things to even get a feel for what's going on.

[Lighthouse]

For some reason this made me laugh out loud. The idea of a player just walking out of Rupp seems absurd...but you could totally see it happening on this team.

Re: Wallace, though, Cal said after the game that he had back spasms.

I want to believe that, but why was he not on the bench the second half?

[Joneslab]

I want to believe that, but why was he not on the bench the second half?

Not sure. Treatment?

My son said he *thought* he saw the player where Wallace got hurt but wasn't 100% certain. Cal said that Wallace had complained about back spasms before.