Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky: Game Thread

[Joneslab]

And now you're looking at a situation where Kentucky could fall to the 5th seed in the SEC Tourney.

If we lose to Arkansas, Tennessee beats Auburn, and Missouri beats Ole Miss then we're out of the double bye.

Last night really messed things up for this team. Gotta protect the home court.​

[Joneslab]

That and free throws and Reeves being ice cold. Basketball is still about putting the ball in the basket.

Vandy played with five guards for a long stretch in crunch time. I believe Oscar only got one paint touch during that stretch unless he rebounded a miss.

How? Why?

[TrueblueCATfan]

This team kills me..We can crush Auburn..beat top 10 Tennessee twice but lose to Vandy at home

[40bill]

This team has shown flashes of what they can do, and that leads to frustration. When all is clicking this team ranks between good and very good on offense, but defensively at its best it is....average maybe?

The times it does click though are extremely inconsistent, and unfortunately offense and defense very seldom click at the same time.

beneficial draw this group of kids could actually get to SWeet 16, perhaps even Elite 8......which would be a shock.
It could also how out to anyone in round 1 and I wouldn't consider it an upset by any means.

[Lighthouse]

I know Cal was in a bind at the PG position especially in the 2nd half. I don't understand why he didn't use Therio some. Sure he had a terrible turn over, but he got a key basket and he hustles all the time. It would have at least eased the pressure on Reeves.

[Joneslab]

I know Cal was in a bind at the PG position especially in the 2nd half. I don't understand why he didn't use Therio some. Sure he had a terrible turn over, but he got a key basket and he hustles all the time. It would have at least eased the pressure on Reeves.

Had a couple of really bad turnovers. And when he doesn't turn it over he is very shaky. I like him (a lot) but he's not a point guard.

I actually thought Fredrick and Reeves got the ball to where it needed to be most of the time. We just couldn't hit shots. Missed so many little push shots pretty much right in front of the rim. Oscar was the only one who could really operate consistently and honestly he should've got the ball on every single possession. Just every time, same thing.

[Lighthouse]

Had a couple of really bad turnovers. And when he doesn't turn it over he is very shaky. I like him (a lot) but he's not a point guard.

I actually thought Fredrick and Reeves got the ball to where it needed to be most of the time. We just couldn't hit shots. Missed so many little push shots pretty much right in front of the rim. Oscar was the only one who could really operate consistently and honestly he should've got the ball on every single possession. Just every time, same thing.

I agree, but Reeves was handling the ball way more than he's used to. He was already having a bad shooting game, and in crunch time it got worse. We shot 32% from the field, 16% from 3 and missed 10 FT's and only lost by 1. And Vandy had 2 ridiculous 3's drop in. Very frustrating loss.

Oscar was the only consistent scorer we had late and he didn't get the ball. That reminds me of our worse loss when the same thing happened to KAT,

[Joneslab]

And Vandy had 2 ridiculous 3's drop in.

That one in the second half where it hit the back of the rim, died, and fell in was crazy. It defied physics.

That was the moment I knew we were in serious trouble.

[George]

Our love of long two’s certainly didn’t help matters. Read somewhere that those shots comprised a little over half of every attempt we made.

[Joneslab]

Reeves was a major part of the long 2 percentage. Guy had trouble getting anything going.

I'm not big on long twos but Kentucky shoots a lot of them and I'm generally okay with it because they mostly come from Oscar, Wallace, or Reeves (with some Toppin sprinkled in).

Analytics guys hate that shot but we're hitting it at about 39%, which is okay, particularly because we offensive rebound our shots at a super high rate.

However last night we should've just posted Oscar and played bully ball. Reeves was part of way too much late in the game and Oscar was part of way too little. That's coaching.

[KCKUKFan]

Vandy spread us out with five guards and beat us one on one over and over and over. It was a mirror of the St. Peter's game.

That we refused to zone or punish them with Oscar every time down the floor is a complete systems failure on Calipari.

[Joneslab]

Vandy spread us out with five guards and beat us one on one over and over and over. It was a mirror of the St. Peter's game.

That we refused to zone or punish them with Oscar every time down the floor is a complete systems failure on Calipari.

The most frustrating thing about Kentucky's defensive strategy is that it never changes. Even when it's not working.

By my count that's the third time this season when Kentucky has given up 20-point games to two players. Lost every one, obviously.

[GOCAT15]

That one in the second half where it hit the back of the rim, died, and fell in was crazy. It defied physics.

That was the moment I knew we were in serious trouble.

I won't lie and say I sit and watch other college basketball games every night for hours, but there is no doubt in my mind that the amount of lucky threes that we have shot on us outnumber every other team combined. I was like you Will, when that ball died on the back of the rim and dropped in I just said, here we go again.

[Joneslab]

I won't lie and say I sit and watch other college basketball games every night for hours, but there is no doubt in my mind that the amount of lucky threes that we have shot on us outnumber every other team combined. I was like you Will, when that ball died on the back of the rim and dropped in I just said, here we go again.

Speaking of lucky shots, I thought we guarded Wright's game-winner pretty well.

But when you let guys get going like that, they tend to throw in wild shots. That's happened to us a few times this year, and I actually think it's why other teams shoot such a high free throw percentage on us. We don't exactly strike a lot of fear in the opponent.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Agreed about all the highlight fluke shots other teams make against us, seems like it's always happening against us...