The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Duke Edition

[KentuckyWild2020]

I've made this comparison to a few friends. Stevens and Pope are both guys that could be successful at anything they wanted to try, they both just decided it would be basketball. I think there's an argument that they're too intelligent to be a basketball coach.

In regards to your recruiting comment above, one would certainly think this locks up Caleb Wilson as he was in attendance last night.

We are very fortunate to be in this situation, could have ended up with another Billy G or someone in that nature who just wasn't a right fit, we ended up with the best of both worlds. It's still early anything can happen but this was a great hire.

[KCKUKFan]

Butler and Robinson are a little similar in that they both kind of get too cool sometimes. I've noticed Butler will almost just start to float around...which you can't do at his size.

When he's playing at maximum force and speed he can be a game-wrecker. But when he's not...he can be a liability. When he finally kicked it in last night, the game started to change. I hope Pope can work out some of his (and Robinson's) bad habits as we go forward here because they're both indispensable for where we want to go.

In Robinson's case, I'm not sure it's just a bad habit. He wanted NONE of the physicality in that game last night. They were pushing him around and he wilted.

I saw him do that against good teams a couple times last year at BYU. I fear he's going to be one of those guys that scores 30 in games where he's comfortable and a non factor in certain games.

You could tell he wanted none of that game. And that's not a big deal when you're a freshman, but Robinson is a senior. It might just be who he is.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Final note about this Kentucky Duke game..

Not sure if anyone noticed but before Tip off Pope and Scheyer where both at mid court speaking to the reporter. Pope cut it off and said let's handle this out on the court lol lol...No time for small talk, he was ready to get it on....


That right there fired me up from the get go....

[justford]

Kerr not being mentioned much but he brought some toughness and energy to the game when we needed it.

[Joneslab]

Kerr not being mentioned much but he brought some toughness and energy to the game when we needed it.

I like Kerr a lot. He just does what he needs to do out there. Plus he's a villain who tries to get in guys' heads and every team needs one of those.

He almost etched himself in UK lore with that late three. It looked like it was going in.

[DA#23]

^ He definitely brings some juice to the group. I’m a fan.

[Catsrock]

Kerr not being mentioned much but he brought some toughness and energy to the game when we needed it.

I’ll brag a little. Claimed a few weeks ago Kerr wouldn’t let us forget about him when the chips began to fall. Pure gamer with Eastern European attitude.

[Jeff ROCKober]

What a great win for Kentucky. Duke came close a few times to stretching the lead out, but Kentucky fought and stayed close. Maluach cramping seem to fuel the CATS to coming back. Flagg (32 minutes played) and Knueppel (37 minutes played) were out of gas at the end. Knueppel was crazy good in the first half and Pope made some great adjustment to stymie his game in the second half.
Oweh was great the last 10 minutes of the game. I like his toughness and also grabbed 6 rebounds. Carr came up big at the end. Kentucky will need his leadership.
I am so happy for Coach Pope. A great way to start here in Lexington. I love the energy he brings and watching his games makes me feel 30 years younger.

[Lighthouse]

WOW, in game adjustments And halftime adjustments. Kentucky Basketball is back and this old dude is so happy to see it. We are slowly learning about our team and I like what we see. We already know our Big's are improving but still need work. We know Carr, Oweh and Butler need to be in at the end of games. it's fun again.

[Joneslab]

Joy.

https://x.com/KentuckyMBB/status/1856789413487161541

[DA#23]

^ Happy to see that.

[Matt Dillon]

This from Matt Jones:

Matt Jones

@KySportsRadio


Last night at Champions Classic, teams used a Spalding basketball that teams don’t normally play with Kansas shot 29% from 3 Duke shot 17% from 3 Michigan St shot 12% from 3 Kentucky shot 40% from 3…and Pope said afterwards the team practiced with the Spalding ball all week

[Ratt]

Don't want to hijack a thread but watching Arkansas right now and my god am I glad Cal is gone along w/the players. Watching them play is terrible. Terrible, typical offense. Wagner is playing himself into a 4 year player. Same old garbage, can't shoot, will dribble 2/3 steps to the right and then cut back left. Adou - Same garbage. And then Big Z who is just not very good at all. SO glad to have something different.

[Catsrock]

Don't want to hijack a thread but watching Arkansas right now and my god am I glad Cal is gone along w/the players. Watching them play is terrible. Terrible, typical offense. Wagner is playing himself into a 4 year player. Same old garbage, can't shoot, will dribble 2/3 steps to the right and then cut back left. Adou - Same garbage. And then Big Z who is just not very good at all. SO glad to have something different.

Nearing halftime. Troy has 10 turnovers. And leads by 2

[KentuckyWild2020]

I'm watching it too. I posted over in Cals press conference.

Wanted to see progress of Wagner Thiero Z.

I don't miss anything about the entire previous coaching staff.

Wagner is a horrible defender, just lost.

Wagner and Fland(mainly Fland) is NBA showcasing, every body just watching.

Davis thinking "why did I come here?" Oh that's right, they offered the most.

Big Z getting clock because of injuries but changes once Aidoo is healthy.

Typical Cal, stomping and hollering..