UCLA vs. Kentucky: Game Thread

[George]

Cal says in the postgame that he's kicking himself for not having a morning shootaround.

He's talked about having to call a timeout early in the game, but the best Kentucky played was really at the beginning. It's the only time we were doing what we do, which is forcing turnovers and running.

After that we just did nothing defensively that created any resistance.

I don't quite understand how that would've made the difference.

[Joneslab]

I don't quite understand how that would've made the difference.

Think he feels like it might have got their energy up. Talked a lot about how UCLA had the extra juice, which is strange as they should have still been on Pacific time.

Mychal Mulder tweeted an emoticon showing somebody's lips being zipped. May not be pleased about getting no clock.

[TrueblueCATfan]

Heard Willis say Several players were sick.....He said he spent the night in the bathroom

the reason there was no shoot around this morning

[George]

Think he feels like it might have got their energy up. Talked a lot about how UCLA had the extra juice, which is strange as they should have still been on Pacific time.

Mychal Mulder tweeted an emoticon showing somebody's lips being zipped. May not be pleased about getting no clock.

Clearly Mulder doesn't know Cal very well. If he thinks he'll get a favorable response to that, he's out of his mind.

[George]

Heard Willis say Several players were sick.....He said he spent the night in the bathroom

If they had enough energy to score 92 points, then they had enough energy to play defense.

[TrueblueCATfan]

If they had enough energy to score 92 points, then they had enough energy to play defense.

True!!!!

[Joneslab]

Clearly Mulder doesn't know Cal very well. If he thinks he'll get a favorable response to that, he's out of his mind.

It's the old Jorts Harrellson move.

I still don't know what Mulder would have brought to that game necessarily.

[George]

It's the old Jorts Harrellson move.

I still don't know what Mulder would have brought to that game necessarily.

Might've knocked down some shots. We weren't playing defense anyway, and we lost by five. Maybe Mulder could've knocked down a couple.

Doubt it though. I haven't seen enough to make me trust him in big games.

[TrueblueCATfan]

Think he feels like it might have got their energy up. Talked a lot about how UCLA had the extra juice, which is strange as they should have still been on Pacific time.

Mychal Mulder tweeted an emoticon showing somebody's lips being zipped. May not be pleased about getting no clock.

He deleted that!!!

[BobS]

Mulder would have helped. Fox and Briscoe took 13 threes. Inexcusable

[Ratt]

Well - I think many of you guys summed a lot up...

1. Defensively - we struggled - switching too much and helping too much - typical Cal defense that sometimes comes and bites the team in the butt.
2. UCLA - went on a stretch where they were hitting everything. It happens. They have UKs number the last two seasons. Maybe we need to play them at UCLA as it's not fairing well at UK.
3. Mulder - Should have played. No reason to have Briscoe and Hawkins on the court at the same time if you need shooters - same goes with Willis - very disappointed in him.
4. Gabriel - Yeah, he was getting a little lost defensive but he was the only guy in there battling for rebounds. Willis couldn't stop a fence post today.
5. Willis - He was terrible today. Sorry but he was getting beat non-stop defensively, standing around and not rebounding - so what he hit a big 3 at the end, did nothing else the rest of the game and shouldn't have been on the court so much. Yeah he's had a thumb injury but he's not played well all year in my opinion. Sure, he'll have a game here and there where he'll hit a 3 or get a nice dunk or even the 50/50 ball he laid out for. That's all great. But his lack everywhere is not helping the team. I'd play Gabriel over him all day long.
6. TYPICAL - I love Cal. And as long as he is at UK, their going to have an exciting team year in and year out. BUT as usual, his half-court offense blows. Bigs standing there doing nothing at the mid-high post while one or two guys try to drive. A team with some size that packs the middle is going to cause problems all year as it normally does. The ball needs to go into Bam more. There were several times where he established the post and they didn't get the ball to him. Bam needs to rebound. Some of his sets on the floor - wow.
7. Briscoe - I really like him. He is a beast going to the basket. IF he was 6-8, he would be a monster. BUT - he has got to stop shooting so much. He's not a shooting and he shouldn't out there chucking 3s when the team needs one. Might as well put in Johnny David. He'll probably have a higher percentage.
8. UCLA -- Their a pretty solid team that played great today. Yeah, there was quite a bit of chicken-winging going on between Leaf and Alford but give them props. They played well for the most part and got the job done.

[George]

Mulder would have helped. Fox and Briscoe took 13 threes. Inexcusable

Tough situation. We all know that a player has to keep shooting to break out of a shooting slump, and defenses have to think there's at least a chance those guys can knock down a jumper.

But man, the way they've both played this season, they're the last two who ought to be bombing threes.

[George]

Well - I think many of you guys summed a lot up...

1. Defensively - we struggled - switching too much and helping too much - typical Cal defense that sometimes comes and bites the team in the butt.
2. UCLA - went on a stretch where they were hitting everything. It happens. They have UKs number the last two seasons. Maybe we need to play them at UCLA as it's not fairing well at UK.
3. Mulder - Should have played. No reason to have Briscoe and Hawkins on the court at the same time if you need shooters - same goes with Willis - very disappointed in him.
4. Gabriel - Yeah, he was getting a little lost defensive but he was the only guy in there battling for rebounds. Willis couldn't stop a fence post today.
5. Willis - He was terrible today. Sorry but he was getting beat non-stop defensively, standing around and not rebounding - so what he hit a big 3 at the end, did nothing else the rest of the game and shouldn't have been on the court so much. Yeah he's had a thumb injury but he's not played well all year in my opinion. Sure, he'll have a game here and there where he'll hit a 3 or get a nice dunk or even the 50/50 ball he laid out for. That's all great. But his lack everywhere is not helping the team. I'd play Gabriel over him all day long.
6. TYPICAL - I love Cal. And as long as he is at UK, their going to have an exciting team year in and year out. BUT as usual, his half-court offense blows. Bigs standing there doing nothing at the mid-high post while one or two guys try to drive. A team with some size that packs the middle is going to cause problems all year as it normally does. The ball needs to go into Bam more. There were several times where he established the post and they didn't get the ball to him. Bam needs to rebound. Some of his sets on the floor - wow.
7. Briscoe - I really like him. He is a beast going to the basket. IF he was 6-8, he would be a monster. BUT - he has got to stop shooting so much. He's not a shooting and he shouldn't out there chucking 3s when the team needs one. Might as well put in Johnny David. He'll probably have a higher percentage.
8. UCLA -- Their a pretty solid team that played great today. Yeah, there was quite a bit of chicken-winging going on between Leaf and Alford but give them props. They played well for the most part and got the job done.

#2 - We played at UCLA last year.
#5 - He keeps passing up shots and he'll start riding the pine for entire games.
#7 - If he were 6'8" he wouldn't be a guard. He's a beast no matter what, and we need him on the floor. But yeah, his shot is still awful.
#8 - Not a pretty solid team; they're a great team - maybe a Final Four team. Not just saying that because they beat us.

[Katmendo]

Look, these teams could play 3 more times, and UCLA would win two of the three. Because they have a skilled team. They have COACHED team. They owned the half court. They had a plan, and they executed it. They beat us by 5. Yes. They also committed 18 turnovers, and took only 66 shots. They got 6 fewer free throws.

We can lie to ourselves all day long about how much our defense would have made a difference, but the simple truth is that that team beat us because they were more skilled. They could shoot at multiple positions. They passed well at five positions.

To be blunt, they scored 97 points not because we didn't play defense. they scored 97 points because they were a skilled, talented, and well coached team.

In short, They were better at *basketball*, not just at combine numbers.

[George]

Look, these teams could play 3 more times, and UCLA would win two of the three. Because they have a skilled team. They have COACHED team. They owned the half court. They had a plan, and they executed it. They beat us by 5. Yes. They also committed 18 turnovers, and took only 66 shots. They got 6 fewer free throws.

We can lie to ourselves all day long about how much our defense would have made a difference, but the simple truth is that that team beat us because they were more skilled. They could shoot at multiple positions. They passed well at five positions.

To be blunt, they scored 97 points not because we didn't play defense. they scored 97 points because they were a skilled, talented, and well coached team.

In short, They were better at *basketball*, not just at combine numbers.

This isn't all wrong, but we still could've played defense against a "skilled, talented, and well coached team."