2nd half: Kentucky=4 fouls! Enough said.
- Thread starter buckydog
- Start date
No doubt Kentucky was better than we were in the 2nd half, but the foul disparity had a lot to do with them climbing back into the game which allowed them to maintain their way of play. I just looked over the recap of the 2nd half, and KY made 15 free throws in the 2nd half whereas we only ATTEMPTED 8. That can't be written off as situational fouls late in the game either. We only fouled once after the 3 minute mark. Also, 2 of our 8 free throws were due to the technical freebies. This **** just gets so old. If I remember correctly, the same story played out two years ago. I think the fouls were something like 9 to 0 in the last 3 minutes of regulation plus overtime. The officials did this on our home floor in an environment that we haven't had in quite a while. I am very rarely one to blame officiating and usually get frustrated when I hear someone else blaming a loss on officiating but damn! I mean, weren't we leading the league in fewest fouls per game? I'm so 17'n tired of going into the KY game every year knowing that our team is down 10-15 points before the game even tips off. When the game was in question (between the 12 and 6 minute mark of the 2nd half), KY shot 11 of their 17 2nd half free throws(really attempted 12 b/c one was waved off for lane violation). So that's two 17'n free throws a minute during the most crucial stretch of the game. Some things other than the foul disparity aren't as obvious, but made just as much of a difference like Wendell getting gang banged on his dunk attempt, and Moultrie being hacked on the follow. Even though inexcusable, the frustration from the no call lead to Moultrie's tech which was essentially a 7 point swing that resulted from one play. Damn I wish we could get into the tourney somehow and get a rematch with KY with non-SEC officials.
You do know we were outscored 25-6 in the last 6 minutes, right? The "foul" on Jalen was ******** and was ultimately the turning point (also the no-call on Moultrie), but we got outscored by that margin because we didn't have Hood, Sidney was in foul trouble, and I don't think we made a substitution outside Lewis and Sidney in the final minutes of the game. Also, MKG shut Bost completely down because he wasn't preoccupied with Hood. I might have blamed the officials for several Kentucky games in years past, but this year, we killed ourselves more than the officials could have helped Kentucky. Also, not to mention, we had a 13 point lead going into the half and scored 23 points the remainder of the game.
When I saw him on crutches to start the half, I immediately commented on how much of a disadvantage that would cause us in the 2nd half. My point is simply that we played so well in the first half that I feel like we would have had just enough to gut it out had the officiating not been so lopsided in the 2nd half. As I said, I very rarely blame officiating, but last night's crew deserves the finger pointed in their direction. They MADE 7 more than we attempted. When Sidney was sidelined, the officials had no one pick on so they started calling tacky fouls on our guards. Just look at our last three close games with them (the last two at home and SECT). The missed lane violation cost us the tourney title. I wouldn't complain about something like a lane violation, but John Wall committed the violation and happened to be the player who rebounded the intentional miss. I mentioned the foul situation in the last minutes of the game two years ago, and last night just did it for me. Last night, if you take away the difference in free points in the 2nd half, we have a 10-15 point lead with 6 minutes left. I don't give a 17 how much KY freshmen "play with maturity", they are still 18 and 19 years old. They haven't been down big that late in a game and they, as any young team would do, would've have started to play with desperation. But, it's over now, so now that I've pretty much stated the obvious from last night, I will move on and try to accept the fact that we will never have the benefit of a fairly called game when we play them regardless of location. 17 you Mike Slive and your agenda.
I will blame the refs to the extent that during the 2nd half when we were clawing to hold onto our lead it became apparent that if UK could not make the comeback by themselves the stripes would help them do it. It was almost like you could see the handwriting on the wall. My mom called me at the half not believing how well we were playing and I said not to get too excited because they are not called reftucky for nothing. She had not heard that term and I explained it to her. About halfway through the 2nd half I called her back and asked if she now saw why they were called reftucky and she said yes. Sidney did not goal tend, Lewis was criminally assaulted on his drive, UK got two shots on a 1 & 1, and the beat goes on. I know they were exhausted from trying to play to that level of intensity and that losing Hood only made that more pronounced but it is easy to just say 17 it when it becomes obvious the game is being played 8 to 5. The big time programs always get protected. UK in basketball and Alabama in football. They are the conferences best chance at a huge payday and national recognition and they will be protected at all costs.
when you don't get fouled attacking the basket, you don't go to the free throw line. The reason was, outside a few times, we never attacked the basket... because we couldn't. We shot 3 pointers and long jump shots (the same thing we have done all year). We should have gotten two more attempts when Moultrie got mugged, but other than that, they took away our ability to take jump shots. The reason why they were able to go to the line a lot more is because they got the ball inside through penetration (the same thing Auburn, LSU, and Georgia did to us). They established their game in the paint and we didn't. We have failed to do that all year.
Seshomoru,
I think it was their first freethrow in the bonus. We were called for a foul and went to a media timeout and when they came back he shot two free throws on what I am pretty positive was a non-shooting foul. If I am wrong then I will admit it but I remember thinking at the time what are they doing getting two shots.
I think it was their first freethrow in the bonus. We were called for a foul and went to a media timeout and when they came back he shot two free throws on what I am pretty positive was a non-shooting foul. If I am wrong then I will admit it but I remember thinking at the time what are they doing getting two shots.
It was an opposite end of the court foul. I remember them taking forever to sort something out. I sarcastically thought they'd say the guy was shooting and give him three. They were just trying to figure out who was supposed to be shooting since Cal sent Davis up there.