Cleveland St and UK

[DJD]

I turned it on thinking...ok let me see what kind of Knockout Game UK is putting on Cleveland St. They were getting beat by Cleveland St????? What? I watched it thinking oh my....here is a young team that better get its head screwed on straight. Of course C.S. was playing hard and really had nothing to lose but everything to gain so a team like that usually tries harder since they are not expected to win anyway. Well it was close! I actually like liked the game since UK had to step up and win. Until those young men realize that putting on a UK jersey doesn't mean a win they will have some close games and lose some they should have won. Coaching staff better figure something out for these boys......nice comeback though.

[mhall]

I even thought the ref's got a little whistle happy there at the end helping UK. If not for that short stretch of non scoring by CS then UK was beat at home. I love Randall's game but he and those Harrison twins are so full of themselves it's not funny. They need to get hungry and quit reading about themselves in the Lexington media.
Julius Randall is the real deal, Young is an awesome player, the Harrison twins are vastly over rated but will be solid players in two years. I do not feel either of them are one and done's, quite frankly they aren't that good right now. Kentucky plays weak defense right now and rebounds when they want to. They have 6 to 7 losses coming this year I'd bet on it.
Will they be there in March......we'll see, God knows they have the talent, unfortunatley they have the Ego's to, lets see how it plays out.
On a side note, I had a complete hard on watching Calipari grab at straws in his shallow bag of coaching tricks and nothing was working, very enjoyable to watch, lol....

[MrSplitshot]

I even thought the ref's got a little whistle happy there at the end helping UK. If not for that short stretch of non scoring by CS then UK was beat at home. I love Randall's game but he and those Harrison twins are so full of themselves it's not funny. They need to get hungry and quit reading about themselves in the Lexington media.
Julius Randall is the real deal, Young is an awesome player, the Harrison twins are vastly over rated but will be solid players in two years. I do not feel either of them are one and done's, quite frankly they aren't that good right now. Kentucky plays weak defense right now and rebounds when they want to. They have 6 to 7 losses coming this year I'd bet on it.
Will they be there in March......we'll see, God knows they have the talent, unfortunatley they have the Ego's to, lets see how it plays out.
On a side note, I had a complete hard on watching Calipari grab at straws in his shallow bag of coaching tricks and nothing was working, very enjoyable to watch, lol....

Kentucky didn't play for 32 minutes. They stood around like a bunch of stoners looking for a bag of Doritos. At about the 8:00 minute mark in the 2nd Half, it was like "Hey...wait a minute...you mean these guys might actually beat us?"

I'm not seeing much team basketball yet...and I'm really kind of tired of the "I can't believe you called that" hands on your head crap too. Quit acting surprised. They're going to call a ton of fouls this year and they are going to call them on both sides of the ball. Deal with it.

The Harrison twins are very overrated, I agree...and something about them just rubs me the wrong way. I love Julius Randle...he's a beast...but he also has to learn that when they bring 3-4 defenders at you, it's probably a good idea to pass the ball. There are a couple guys open somewhere. He learns that and things get easier. Until he does, it's selfish basketball.

It's a broken record every year of "This team is so young, they have so much to learn, they have so much growing up to do." That's to be expected when you are recruiting the kids we are recruiting, so it's no surprise. They have had their assess patted and told how amazing they are since they were old enough to hold a basketball. My problem is that the 2012 squad set the bar for me in proving what CAN be done when kids have the right attitudes. That was a special, special group....anchored by a once in a lifetime player like Anthony Davis. It's going to be dang hard to top 2012 for me.

But it's a process and the team will develop. It's one thing to have pride in your program...and we do...but there's a point where it crosses over into entitlement. I love John Calipari's passion...and wouldn't want another coach...but the way he promotes the program does feed the egos big time. If you think that simply because you were a High School 5-Star, and simply because you come to Kentucky, that the fundamentals of basketball don't matter and that 110% effort don't matter and that you're going to win every game by 30 because every fan and every media talking head tells you so...well...good luck with that. Nothing torques me off worse than a kid that can't get pumped up for a game. I don't care who you are playing...there are thousands of kids who would give a testicle to put on that Kentucky jersey and step on the court. Play with heart and play with effort or sit down.

But I love our team...

[mhall]

Brian your post is spot on. I'm a Cardinal fan but I don't hate Kentucky as much as many think. I don't like Calipari AT ALL and I've made that more than clear, old news.

If I was a UK fan I would not be into this one and done business. Calipari's comment of ''I coach for the name on the back of the jersey not the front'' would have made me mad as a fan but maybe that's just me.
You are right that 2012 team was super special and Davis was as good a college player as I personally have ever watched bounce a ball. They had swagger but not in an obnoxious way. Gilchrest went full bore 24/7, he had one gear and it was full speed.
You are as sensable a fan as I have ever talked ball with, very refreshing.....

[elnutsmalljaws]

Darius Miller, Darius Miller, Darius Miller!!!! The 2012 team had 1 player this team does not, Darius Miller!!!! A Senior that played, a Senior Homebred Kentuckian that played and contributed on the floor and off. Miller could say something to the Freshmen and they could believe it because he was a Senior that actually was on the floor battling. Polson and Hood may be Seniors but they are mop up players at best. These Freshmen can hear them say something and may believe it because they are Seniors but not because of game time experience. Add this to the fact that the 2012 Team had returning Sophomores off an Elite 8 team versus this years Sophomores off the NIT loss and more reasons to doubt the "experience" on the team. If this team goes on to bring back #9 to Lexington, then it will be Calipari's greatest coaching job ever.

[Fishin is life]

I agree with pretty much everything thats been said. One thing i will add, Randle plays his arse off for spurts and gets really tired really easy. His conditionIng isnt what it needs to be to be an elite player and it sometimes makes it look like hes not playing hard. Defense will make or break this team, and right now its breaking them. Even as a UK fan i agree that the refs got a little whistle happy in UKs favor toward the end of the game, but they finally removed head from rear and started attacking, often thats rewarded. We need all the players to play with the intensity that WCS brings to the floor.

On a different note, this new freedom of movement foul fest thats being called is ridiculous. Its killing the flow of most every game ive watched this year. I can really see it being a problem for UL when they play top tier teams if they play defense the way they have in years past. I dont like it and think its bad for the game, and the refs need to find a happy medium between what they called last year and what theyre calling this year. I enjoyed the way the cards pressed, other than the one gAme a year when they played the cats

[MrSplitshot]

Agree 1000% on Darius Miller. Key.

I also hate this new foul situation. The flow of these games is painful to watch and it takes 2-1/2 hours to play. If they are going to call every hand check, then they need to call offensive fouls when a player ducks his shoulder and drives into a defender. I think it *****. I enjoy watching teams press and these rules make it real hard to.