I mean granted we did hold Nichols to like 15 in the first half.....
Yeah. I keep looking at the disjointed nature of the Nichols game, the irony of starting without our PG, so much like we had missed Lamont last year being healthy 100% for 100% of the time, same for all our warriors from last year. And it's first game nerves, sure. It's showtime. Give them a half to get some kind of feel inside Rupp like that. It's a huge advantage, and we showed in the second half how this is going to go.
BUT
15 points. I laugh about it. This team is not going to lose a single game this year if they hold the other team to 15 points in EITHER half.
If it were that they sucked so bad and didn't hit us with what Nichol's would say was thier "A" game .... or if our defense was THAT much bigger, stronger, quicker,faster, taller and more athletic & physical than those other guys.......
Let the eye test tell ya'. I know what mine told me. Hell, we're used to having "Insert random name of other teams player going off on us for a career game" ... at Rupp Arena.... I'll take it any way we produce it. I'll say that the past kentucky teams had severe defensive issues and physically did not match up well with some teams because they were bigger and more athletic (shocking for me to say asa fan) but it's true. Bama has become a prime example, and it has continued to the point that our defense and rebounding is what has been holding these past teams back.
Imagine IF Cal couldve gotten them defensively just a lil bit better? We wouldnt have CMP now. So I am happy it happened. Been wanting Cal gone for years anyways ....
What this team will have as its' starting lineup, by the end of the year, presumably, I have thought it all along ....
Oweh (it begins and ends here, ultimately)
JQ
Lowe
Aberdeen
Mo D.
That looks to me like how it NEEDS to be. But that's also IMHO.
We have yet to get Lowe out there. We won't see how the rotation patterns, substitution patterns, and flow of the game goes until the roster gets healthy, everyone on the floor, and we can have some time to figure out what each player's BEST particular role will end up being, by the time it is all said and done.
So, for me, I''ll sit back and enjoy it all this year. My eye test tells me we're in for a great ride. How bout you all ?
Trust in Coach Pope - Go Big Blue !
