Florida at Kentucky Game Thread.

[JFCats22]

Great game overall. Murray and Ulis are dumb good.

Skal - SMH.

Still hate the Cal stall offense they employed most of the second half. However, big win at a much needed time.

5 out of 6 games have been good to very good.

[TrueblueCATfan]

Rupp was packed today 24,00 plus...thought the CATS looked good.....wish they would play like this all the time

[Westtncat]

Ok, so I think we can end the "hes just not ready" talk when talking about Humphries plying behind Skal. Playing behind WCS or KAT yes, behind skal. You cant even make that argument without being disingenuous.

[Pobilly]

Hope AP is OK. This game showed though that we can play without him. We missed him very much but we still played good basketball. Hope he is back next game. Only guys on this team we cannot play without is Ulis and Murray. The rest are about the same. Lee still just falls in love with some really dumb (Stupid, Lazy) Fouls.

[justafan]

FYI, both Oklahoma and UNC lost tonight. I wonder when the last time #1 & #2 both lost at basically the same time.

[JFCats22]

FYI, both Oklahoma and UNC lost tonight. I wonder when the last time #1 & #2 both lost at basically the same time.

ESPN said first time in 14 years #1 and 2 lose on sale day

[KevinHall]

Just finished watching. Murray just a great game. Hit the open jumper and made some good moves on his own to score. Ulis another fine game too. Everyone was pretty solid I thought. Humphries can play well enough against a team like Florida who doesn't have good men. But against good men he will foul out in about three minutes. But I'm not opposed to him getting more time. He could at least spell Lee or anyone else. Florida is pretty poor defensive team. never really tried any adjustments. Not sure if White will last down there. I really think some of this giving away of leads is due to fatigue. UK is a small team overall and that becomes more and more of a problem as the year moves along. Cal is going to have move more people in out even for just short stretches of time if he expects this team to hold up into March. Still a good win. This team will be good at home and probably won't lose in Rupp. The road is just a totally different bear for them. A home game against Georgia is next.

[Katmendo]

Ok, so I think we can end the "hes just not ready" talk when talking about Humphries plying behind Skal. Playing behind WCS or KAT yes, behind skal. You cant even make that argument without being disingenuous.

When I think about it, at least among the community of fans/followers, there really hasn't been anyone that has overwhelmingly endorsed Skal.

My point being, I also made a comment about this issue of who's ready to play with regards to Skal, and what I realized is that I'm not telling anyone who doesn't know. You know. I know.

So, why did I say it? Because the person that, the entire time, has been the person we've gently stepped around in this assessment has been the ONLY person that we have really been arguing with: John Calipari.

Here's what I think: I think the simple fact is that Skal has been playing because of Cal, and not Skal. I think he talked this guy into coming to this university by selling the fact that this is the stage, and that Cal would put him there. Absolutely agree with his position, because it is part of the allure and why we have success. But, I think he's worked himself to death trying to put on stage a guy who was a highly touted recruit, but is, in fact, a terribly undeveloped player. He slotted him as a starter, hoping he would develop, and he was so bad that he couldn't do it anymore. But, since he has a reputation and probably a degree of a promise to keep, he put him on the bench, said it was his own fault that he pushed so much on the player, and tried to do the one thing he always says he won't do: "Hide" him. Give him enough minutes to at least marginally honor commitments, but try to limit his damage to the team. That was also a failure.
Today, I THINK (I do not know, but I surmise) that Cal's hand was forced because of Alex being out. He was forced to play Humphries, against a good conference foe, and we all saw the truth. And, the truth is ***NOT*** that Humprhies is a NBA player, or a savior. It's that he's a college player that, while he may not necessarily be what causes you to win, he won't, as is simply true of Skal right now, be a huge reason you struggle and/or lose.

Everyone saw it. And, in the postgame, when there was no getting around it, Cal is forced (heck, maybe relieved) to have to concede that Humphries has "earned" PT. Which is a tad strange, since most coaches would refer back to consistency in practices, commitment, or work ethic, and would be unlikely to just change an opinion on readiness to play just because a necessity mandated some positive game time.

[Westtncat]

When I think about it, at least among the community of fans/followers, there really hasn't been anyone that has overwhelmingly endorsed Skal.

My point being, I also made a comment about this issue of who's ready to play with regards to Skal, and what I realized is that I'm not telling anyone who doesn't know. You know. I know.

So, why did I say it? Because the person that, the entire time, has been the person we've gently stepped around in this assessment has been the ONLY person that we have really been arguing with: John Calipari.

Here's what I think: I think the simple fact is that Skal has been playing because of Cal, and not Skal. I think he talked this guy into coming to this university by selling the fact that this is the stage, and that Cal would put him there. Absolutely agree with his position, because it is part of the allure and why we have success. But, I think he's worked himself to death trying to put on stage a guy who was a highly touted recruit, but is, in fact, a terribly undeveloped player. He slotted him as a starter, hoping he would develop, and he was so bad that he couldn't do it anymore. But, since he has a reputation and probably a degree of a promise to keep, he put him on the bench, said it was his own fault that he pushed so much on the player, and tried to do the one thing he always says he won't do: "Hide" him. Give him enough minutes to at least marginally honor commitments, but try to limit his damage to the team. That was also a failure.
Today, I THINK (I do not know, but I surmise) that Cal's hand was forced because of Alex being out. He was forced to play Humphries, against a good conference foe, and we all saw the truth. And, the truth is ***NOT*** that Humprhies is a NBA player, or a savior. It's that he's a college player that, while he may not necessarily be what causes you to win, he won't, as is simply true of Skal right now, be a huge reason you struggle and/or lose.

Everyone saw it. And, in the postgame, when there was no getting around it, Cal is forced (heck, maybe relieved) to have to concede that Humphries has "earned" PT. Which is a tad strange, since most coaches would refer back to consistency in practices, commitment, or work ethic, and would be unlikely to just change an opinion on readiness to play just because a necessity mandated some positive game time.

If there is any truth to what your saying, that is a scary thought. It shouldnt be that hard and it shouldnt work that way. IF a guy can play he plays. Or at least should. In some years I would say in Cal I trust but this is an odd year with a few losses. You have to do what it takes to win. Then again maybe he just now getting around to it?

[Matt Dillon]

When I think about it, at least among the community of fans/followers, there really hasn't been anyone that has overwhelmingly endorsed Skal.

My point being, I also made a comment about this issue of who's ready to play with regards to Skal, and what I realized is that I'm not telling anyone who doesn't know. You know. I know.

So, why did I say it? Because the person that, the entire time, has been the person we've gently stepped around in this assessment has been the ONLY person that we have really been arguing with: John Calipari.

Here's what I think: I think the simple fact is that Skal has been playing because of Cal, and not Skal. I think he talked this guy into coming to this university by selling the fact that this is the stage, and that Cal would put him there. Absolutely agree with his position, because it is part of the allure and why we have success. But, I think he's worked himself to death trying to put on stage a guy who was a highly touted recruit, but is, in fact, a terribly undeveloped player. He slotted him as a starter, hoping he would develop, and he was so bad that he couldn't do it anymore. But, since he has a reputation and probably a degree of a promise to keep, he put him on the bench, said it was his own fault that he pushed so much on the player, and tried to do the one thing he always says he won't do: "Hide" him. Give him enough minutes to at least marginally honor commitments, but try to limit his damage to the team. That was also a failure.
Today, I THINK (I do not know, but I surmise) that Cal's hand was forced because of Alex being out. He was forced to play Humphries, against a good conference foe, and we all saw the truth. And, the truth is ***NOT*** that Humprhies is a NBA player, or a savior. It's that he's a college player that, while he may not necessarily be what causes you to win, he won't, as is simply true of Skal right now, be a huge reason you struggle and/or lose.

Everyone saw it. And, in the postgame, when there was no getting around it, Cal is forced (heck, maybe relieved) to have to concede that Humphries has "earned" PT. Which is a tad strange, since most coaches would refer back to consistency in practices, commitment, or work ethic, and would be unlikely to just change an opinion on readiness to play just because a necessity mandated some positive game time.

Great post, in my opinion, Katmendo.

[Joneslab]

Really good bounce-back win. Needed that one terribly and with TAMU's loss it puts us back into the SEC hunt.

When Murray and Ulis play like that we can maybe make some semblance of a run. Have to hope Poythress is okay and it's nothing serious. Was funny that they were taking him to get X-rays today. (Must have banged the knee? If there were ligament fears it'd be an MRI.)

Proud of the Aussie, but too much is made of the Humphries/Skal thing. Look, Humphries was good. Got in there and hustled. But he gave us 4 points and a couple of rebounds. Not much different than Skal.

The truth is that the front line on this team is a dog and we're going to have to win despite it.

[Westtncat]

Really good bounce-back win. Needed that one terribly and with TAMU's loss it puts us back into the SEC hunt.

When Murray and Ulis play like that we can maybe make some semblance of a run. Have to hope Poythress is okay and it's nothing serious. Was funny that they were taking him to get X-rays today. (Must have banged the knee? If there were ligament fears it'd be an MRI.)

Proud of the Aussie, but too much is made of the Humphries/Skal thing. Look, Humphries was good. Got in there and hustled. But he gave us 4 points and a couple of rebounds. Not much different than Skal.

The truth is that the front line on this team is a dog and we're going to have to win despite it.

He had 4 Points, 2 blocks, and six rebounds in 11 minutes. I would say much better than Skal. If you are talking points,sure. Rebounds, big difference.

[Joneslab]

He had 4 Points, 2 blocks, and six rebounds in 11 minutes. I would say much better than Skal. If you are talking points,sure. Rebounds, big difference.

I didn't realize that he had six rebounds. One thing he did that Skal won't do is that he fought for position. Got in there and banged. Skal won't do that, obviously. Because he's a seven-foot guard.

Also agree with Katmendo's point that Cal was forced to play Humphries. I just don't think Humphries is going to do much for this team going forward...but I hope I'm wrong. Having a guy who could consistently get us six rebounds would be huge.

Just don't think that's going to happen.

[Westtncat]

I didn't realize that he had six rebounds. One thing he did that Skal won't do is that he fought for position. Got in there and banged. Skal won't do that, obviously. Because he's a seven-foot guard.

Also agree with Katmendo's point that Cal was forced to play Humphries. I just don't think Humphries is going to do much for this team going forward...but I hope I'm wrong. Having a guy who could consistently get us six rebounds would be huge.

Just don't think that's going to happen.

Well, I cant argue what we dont know. It did happen once. If nothing else let him absorb some of the fouls.

[Matt Dillon]

If he can just rebound, and be a presence inside, I'll be happy with his play. We don't need him to score 15 or 20 points a game.