UK Woes

[DJD]

I know Brian mentioned it in another post but I didn't want to bog that post down with sports. So what is up with these boys? They play like having Kentucky on the uniform means people are going to let them win when in fact it's the opposite. Man I saw some lazy unmotivated play last night. I know the assumption is Cal will have these boys ready come march but how many slap downs do they need to get the idea?

[mhall]

I watched the game and came away thinking they just flat out got out played. I did think Stein and the Harrison pair got a little pouty for being yelled at but overall I thought LSU out played them. Freshmen will struggle on the road and they have proven that over and over. Randall had a so so game but I do think he was trying. The Harrison twins need to come to grips with the fact they really aren't Micahel Jordon as they thought and they never will be. Good yes but they have to high of an opinion of themselves sometimes. Humble and hungry is a lethal combination and some on this team have that quality, others need to quit listened to Matt Jones on KSR and tune their game and attitude.
Just my two cents

[GeoFisher]

come on, they really don't play for Kentucky............They are playing to get noticed, but more importantly, to STAY HEALTHY and get the check at the next level.

This is how/what Kentucky Fans want.

I don't know how many times I hear bla, bla bla bla.........the NBA is made up of all Kentucky Players.

Well you know what. That may be true but I have not seen a Kentucky Team with HEART in a long time. It is the tradeoff you get when you constantly get the players GUARANTEED to be in the next level.

I'd personally love to see Kentucky players FIGHTING for their spot.

It amazed me last year that even Calapari quit on the team, because they simply didn't want to put in the effort to be competitive.

If I was a Kentucky fan, I'd be pretty honked off with the attitude of some of the players. They play for KENTUCKY.....Not future draft pick number 5.....

[know1]

They played without much effort at all and that is the result you get.

I am a big UK fan and I will say that this is not what I want. What I want is for UK to compete for National Championships every year. 1 year where that doesn't happen is forgivable. By the second year of not being competitive, I start to get upset.

The first 4 years of Cal recruiting only superstar players worked out. We went to Final 4s, Final 8s and won the Championship. The last two years...not so much.

I personally do not want him recruiting only the superstars if we're going to often not be competitive enough to be a serious challenge to win it all.

I also do not like the fact that UK plays no discernible offensive scheme under Cal and I think he's poor at making any kind of in-game adjustments. Poythress has been playing better than anyone lately and he's only getting 15 minutes a game.

[kentuckykingfisher]

I'm going to agree with geo on the having no heart thing. Some of these players are so used to being superstars in highschool that they think they can just go into the college game and play half heartedly and still dominate. As we have all seen this isn't the case. IMO I don't see any of the guys going pro besides maybe randle and young. As far as the twins go I believe they could use another year or 2 to grow up. I will however tip my hat to lsu as they had a game plan coming in and it worked like a charm. They dominated the game at just about every level. Does anybody else believe calipari isn't really the best X's and O's coach? Sure you can win with talented players but if they're not being led the right way we get the results we got last year. Haha anybody remember those 40-0 shirts those morons made for this team this year?

[Bonefish]

I have listen to or watched most all games that the Kentucky basketball teams have played for the past 60 years. I even have all the news paper clippings during those years of their victories. All I want to say is the true Kentucky fan can forgive a loss, but when players do not try their best that's a whole different problem. That is what I saw last night. The Kentucky sports program should not ever loose the best athleletes in the state to other schools. They will come back to kill you as happened last night. Kentucky players might not be one-and-done, but they will come to play. Kentucky players in the past understood how important it was to play good defense, know how to shoot foul shots, and have the killer instint when they went onto an opponents home floor. That was Kentucky Basketball. They knew how to compete because they understood and took pride in their game each and every night they played. Last nights game was painful to watch, and now, they will have to suffer being knocked completely out of the top 26. That is big at this time of the year. I hate to see this happen to this great group of players. When you snooze you loose as the old saying goes I guess.

[elnutsmalljaws]

One way to get these knuckleheads to stop playing for their own individual teams and start playing for the team on the front of the jersey is THE BENCH. Lets see how many Future First Round NBA Draft Picks can ride the pine at one time. Attention Getter: starting lineup at Missouri would should and NEEDS to be Poulson, Hawkins, Willis, Johnson and Poythress. The first 3 because they are Kentucky home grown boys that have shown hustle when they get in the game. The last 2 have shown the best effort from all the rest. Bench the rest for the first half at Missouri, the whole first half. Use Hood, Lee and walk-ons for subs the first half. Worst case we are down 20, which we did last night in no time with the "superstars" playing last night. Then see how they respond the second half. Why wait until March to see if they are going to give the effort. Losing I have no problem with as long as you are giving your best effort. But losing while not trying your hardest I have an issue

[GeoFisher]

One way to get these knuckleheads to stop playing for their own individual teams and start playing for the team on the front of the jersey is THE BENCH. Lets see how many Future First Round NBA Draft Picks can ride the pine at one time. Attention Getter: starting lineup at Missouri would should and NEEDS to be Poulson, Hawkins, Willis, Johnson and Poythress. The first 3 because they are Kentucky home grown boys that have shown hustle when they get in the game. The last 2 have shown the best effort from all the rest. Bench the rest for the first half at Missouri, the whole first half. Use Hood, Lee and walk-ons for subs the first half. Worst case we are down 20, which we did last night in no time with the "superstars" playing last night. Then see how they respond the second half. Why wait until March to see if they are going to give the effort. Losing I have no problem with as long as you are giving your best effort. But losing while not trying your hardest I have an issue

I completely agree..........

I'm not a UK fan by any stretch, but I will admit they are FUN to watch when they are playing University of Kentucky caliber ball. They are not have have not played that caliber all year. Heck I don't think they played it last year either.

I think they have the talent to go deep this year, but they play for the name on the back, and that is a problem.

Later,

Geo

[DJD]

One way to get these knuckleheads to stop playing for their own individual teams and start playing for the team on the front of the jersey is THE BENCH. Lets see how many Future First Round NBA Draft Picks can ride the pine at one time. Attention Getter: starting lineup at Missouri would should and NEEDS to be Poulson, Hawkins, Willis, Johnson and Poythress. The first 3 because they are Kentucky home grown boys that have shown hustle when they get in the game. The last 2 have shown the best effort from all the rest. Bench the rest for the first half at Missouri, the whole first half. Use Hood, Lee and walk-ons for subs the first half. Worst case we are down 20, which we did last night in no time with the "superstars" playing last night. Then see how they respond the second half. Why wait until March to see if they are going to give the effort. Losing I have no problem with as long as you are giving your best effort. But losing while not trying your hardest I have an issue

I don't stayed glued to the tv during UK games but when I watch and Johnson is playing I'm thinking he is a beast. What's his story? I mean has he been earning more time and about to shine or just coming off the bench as needed. He seems to have more fire underneath than others.