The Good
* March 28th, 1992. You're 14 years old. A freshman in high school. You're sitting there, somehow alone in your house because your best friend wanted to make a convenience store run. You've got a never-shaved mustache that makes Kerr Kriisa's look like Burt Reynolds'. You watch a game on TV that you know, even as it's happening in front of you, is capital-H Historic. It's partly the players, partly the coaches, but it's more about the way the game is being played. Then Sean Woods hits the miracle shot and every part of you feels lifted, like you're ready to charge through the wood-paneled living room wall. You run to the telephone, which is what we called them back then, pick it up, get ready to dial your Duke friend's number to gloat...and then Duke inbounds. For most of us the rivalry started as Laettner caught that pass, and in the span of 2.1 seconds it re-arranged something in our brains. Before then, Duke was just another team. After that, Duke loomed large in all our minds as the embodiment of college basketball villainy. What happened last night doesn't vanquish Laettner, but the game felt a little like that one in March all those years ago. And when that buzzer went off, man, I immediately remembered that 14-year-old me, holding that telephone and literally crying. And for only the third time since then, I loved it for him.
* The Fight. In so many early-season games under John Calipari, Kentucky had the fight brought to them. We've seen games that have been relatively close in the last 10 minutes only to just fall apart as older, better coached teams wore us down. We've seen teams hit big shots late and we just wilted. We've told ourselves in all these Novembers that we're young, that we're going to be good, that we'll win those games in March. Last night we took the fight to Duke late in the game. As they were cramping, we were rising. As the great, pre-pubescent-looking Cooper Flagg was trying to do too much, we were gelling as a team. As John Scheyer was running out of timeouts (shades of 1998), Mark Pope was orchestrating. And that, as we all know, is how you win.
* The Curse, Lifted. Feels good to wake up on a brisk November morning and tell ourselves that we went in there and won a Champions Classic game. It was beginning to look like we maybe didn't even (gulp) belong in the event. Now? Now on the morning of November 13th, 2024? That stuff is over.
* Here in my Carr I Feel Safest of All. Andrew Carr was tremendous in that game. His three-point play late was the play that pushed UK over, but he did so many other things. Mainly he was a presence, punishing Duke's front line with his strength and just playing that controlled, un-assuming game you expect in older players. Pope clearly wants the offense to run through him in clutch situations, and he rose to the challenge.
* Fortunate Garrison. I was really impressed with Brandon Garrison's play in the second half. He was all in that win. One key moment was when he was switched on Flagg and he locked him down, arguably the first time all night we'd been able to really turn either Flagg or Knueppel out of the lane and force them into a tough shot. Right there at that moment was a signal: Kentucky could win the game.
* The Warriors. We had several players play rough first halves only to rise up in the second. Otega Oweh was the main one, just battling down to the end of the game and dragging out an offensive rebound that iced it. But special mention to Lamont Butler, who I thought had a really rough first half only to come to take people's souls in the second. His play down the stretch was key to our winning that game, and it's a good thing, too. He's obviously critical for the team.
* They Call it Coaching. More than anything, what we saw last night was the mark of a solid coach. There were all kinds of little plays in that game that Pope had his hands all in. Of course there was the gutsy, incredible run-out at the end that I heard with my own ears Pope drawing up during the timeout. But there were others, including the Carr and-one where he called from the sideline a clear-out for Carr. There was also the interesting choice to spring a press on a flagging (I said it), exhausted Duke and to try and push them out of their offense. If Kentucky was a team just trying to stay afloat for 30 minutes of that game, we were fully in control in the last 10. That's how you coach a big-time game in November.
The Bad
* Koo-Koo Ka-Choo Mr. Robinson? Jaxson Robinson had a nightmare game, and you could see it on his face. I think it had to do with physicality: the way Duke was playing, bumping and jostling and (yeah) grabbing on every defensive possession, I just don't think Robinson wanted that sort of game. Others like Oweh and Butler and Carr and even Brea finally embraced the physicality, but not Robinson. He'll have to get better because he's going to play a pivotal role for a team that has so few break-down-the-defense types of players.
* One-Man Weave. This was certainly not a bad for Kentucky, but the way Duke just started to try and play every possession through Cooper Flagg really hurt them. I thought Knueppel was almost as impressive of a player, and we had no one for him...and yet Duke just totally forgot about him. And everybody else. It became the Cooper Flagg Experience, and Kentucky rode it to the win.
* Jaywalk it Back. One of my favorite moments last night was Jay Williams saying at halftime that Duke was the deepest and most talented Duke team he'd seen since 2001. And then, when the game ended, they cut to a huge graphic of Cooper Flagg with Jay Williams standing right in front of it. You know they had that sucker drawn up and ready to go well before they went on the air with it. The stories about Duke and Flagg were already written. But Kentucky spoiled it.
The Ugly
Are you kidding? Kentucky basketball is Kentucky basketball again. We're right here, right where we belong. People are excited. People are thinking about the past and the future--the way it's supposed to be when you follow a sports program. People will go into work this morning and you'll hear talk about that game in the hallways. Kentucky fans can be proud again of what we saw out of those guys last night. We can allow ourselves to dream big...you know, the way you're supposed to when you're a fan. Hope springs, my friends. There is nothing ugly about that.
* March 28th, 1992. You're 14 years old. A freshman in high school. You're sitting there, somehow alone in your house because your best friend wanted to make a convenience store run. You've got a never-shaved mustache that makes Kerr Kriisa's look like Burt Reynolds'. You watch a game on TV that you know, even as it's happening in front of you, is capital-H Historic. It's partly the players, partly the coaches, but it's more about the way the game is being played. Then Sean Woods hits the miracle shot and every part of you feels lifted, like you're ready to charge through the wood-paneled living room wall. You run to the telephone, which is what we called them back then, pick it up, get ready to dial your Duke friend's number to gloat...and then Duke inbounds. For most of us the rivalry started as Laettner caught that pass, and in the span of 2.1 seconds it re-arranged something in our brains. Before then, Duke was just another team. After that, Duke loomed large in all our minds as the embodiment of college basketball villainy. What happened last night doesn't vanquish Laettner, but the game felt a little like that one in March all those years ago. And when that buzzer went off, man, I immediately remembered that 14-year-old me, holding that telephone and literally crying. And for only the third time since then, I loved it for him.
* The Fight. In so many early-season games under John Calipari, Kentucky had the fight brought to them. We've seen games that have been relatively close in the last 10 minutes only to just fall apart as older, better coached teams wore us down. We've seen teams hit big shots late and we just wilted. We've told ourselves in all these Novembers that we're young, that we're going to be good, that we'll win those games in March. Last night we took the fight to Duke late in the game. As they were cramping, we were rising. As the great, pre-pubescent-looking Cooper Flagg was trying to do too much, we were gelling as a team. As John Scheyer was running out of timeouts (shades of 1998), Mark Pope was orchestrating. And that, as we all know, is how you win.
* The Curse, Lifted. Feels good to wake up on a brisk November morning and tell ourselves that we went in there and won a Champions Classic game. It was beginning to look like we maybe didn't even (gulp) belong in the event. Now? Now on the morning of November 13th, 2024? That stuff is over.
* Here in my Carr I Feel Safest of All. Andrew Carr was tremendous in that game. His three-point play late was the play that pushed UK over, but he did so many other things. Mainly he was a presence, punishing Duke's front line with his strength and just playing that controlled, un-assuming game you expect in older players. Pope clearly wants the offense to run through him in clutch situations, and he rose to the challenge.
* Fortunate Garrison. I was really impressed with Brandon Garrison's play in the second half. He was all in that win. One key moment was when he was switched on Flagg and he locked him down, arguably the first time all night we'd been able to really turn either Flagg or Knueppel out of the lane and force them into a tough shot. Right there at that moment was a signal: Kentucky could win the game.
* The Warriors. We had several players play rough first halves only to rise up in the second. Otega Oweh was the main one, just battling down to the end of the game and dragging out an offensive rebound that iced it. But special mention to Lamont Butler, who I thought had a really rough first half only to come to take people's souls in the second. His play down the stretch was key to our winning that game, and it's a good thing, too. He's obviously critical for the team.
* They Call it Coaching. More than anything, what we saw last night was the mark of a solid coach. There were all kinds of little plays in that game that Pope had his hands all in. Of course there was the gutsy, incredible run-out at the end that I heard with my own ears Pope drawing up during the timeout. But there were others, including the Carr and-one where he called from the sideline a clear-out for Carr. There was also the interesting choice to spring a press on a flagging (I said it), exhausted Duke and to try and push them out of their offense. If Kentucky was a team just trying to stay afloat for 30 minutes of that game, we were fully in control in the last 10. That's how you coach a big-time game in November.
The Bad
* Koo-Koo Ka-Choo Mr. Robinson? Jaxson Robinson had a nightmare game, and you could see it on his face. I think it had to do with physicality: the way Duke was playing, bumping and jostling and (yeah) grabbing on every defensive possession, I just don't think Robinson wanted that sort of game. Others like Oweh and Butler and Carr and even Brea finally embraced the physicality, but not Robinson. He'll have to get better because he's going to play a pivotal role for a team that has so few break-down-the-defense types of players.
* One-Man Weave. This was certainly not a bad for Kentucky, but the way Duke just started to try and play every possession through Cooper Flagg really hurt them. I thought Knueppel was almost as impressive of a player, and we had no one for him...and yet Duke just totally forgot about him. And everybody else. It became the Cooper Flagg Experience, and Kentucky rode it to the win.
* Jaywalk it Back. One of my favorite moments last night was Jay Williams saying at halftime that Duke was the deepest and most talented Duke team he'd seen since 2001. And then, when the game ended, they cut to a huge graphic of Cooper Flagg with Jay Williams standing right in front of it. You know they had that sucker drawn up and ready to go well before they went on the air with it. The stories about Duke and Flagg were already written. But Kentucky spoiled it.
The Ugly
Are you kidding? Kentucky basketball is Kentucky basketball again. We're right here, right where we belong. People are excited. People are thinking about the past and the future--the way it's supposed to be when you follow a sports program. People will go into work this morning and you'll hear talk about that game in the hallways. Kentucky fans can be proud again of what we saw out of those guys last night. We can allow ourselves to dream big...you know, the way you're supposed to when you're a fan. Hope springs, my friends. There is nothing ugly about that.
Comment