So thats what defense looks like??!! Great effort and hustle especially for an exhibition game. I thought our switching was phenomenal.
Our defense and hustle!!!
- Thread starter KYFOSSIL
- Start date
Night and day different from last season.
yes it’s an exhibition. But our rebounding weakness was evident in the exhibitions last year.
it’s a strength now.
yes it’s an exhibition. But our rebounding weakness was evident in the exhibitions last year.
it’s a strength now.
Manhandled them and quicker to the ball. And Moreno is a man chield
Jelly had a couple of great defensive sets on the mismatch with the point guard.
Rebounding may have been the biggest difference with the defense tonight...when the Purdue missed a shot, the possession ended almost every time...
57 FG attempts, 7 offensive rebounds... so 1 offensive rebound for roughly every 8 possessions.
How many times last year did the team play pretty solid defense only to give up an off rebound for an eventual score by the opposition?
This team is very athletic and long, that is going to bother some teams. It almost reminds me of some old Pitino teams.
Agreed. The defense is much better. Our rotations are solid with this group. The pick and roll killed us last season, as did the ball screens, back screens, even screens for guys to cut across the lane. I was especially impressed with Diaboute defending the big men on screens and in the lane. He was solid hedging on screens, helping stop dribble penetration, getting back to his man on the roll. There were only a few times their guys got good looks. But if you watched this Purdue team last year, you know that they destroyed multiple teams with pick and rolls and multiple screens all over the floor, and they did it over and over again. They were not running their offense like they did last spring, despite their best efforts. And they should be ahead of UK, given all their returning players.
I'm gonna say the defense will carry this team's this season, especially early on. And imagine this- this UK teams hasn't really had much chance to build chemistry on offense yet. The defense is in sync, no doubt, but the offense will get better.
I was laughing at Jimmy Dyke's comments at the end, as he was saying how much better Purdue will be if these teams meet again I was thinking...
Aren't we missing our starting pg?
Isn't this UK team just developing chemistry?
How much better will our offense get?
It's just a joke, really. UK was clearly better tonight and, given the returning players for Purdue who shouldn't have missed a beat and the fact that we were missing our starting pg, there is every reason to think UK will improve more over the season than Purdue.
I'm gonna say the defense will carry this team's this season, especially early on. And imagine this- this UK teams hasn't really had much chance to build chemistry on offense yet. The defense is in sync, no doubt, but the offense will get better.
I was laughing at Jimmy Dyke's comments at the end, as he was saying how much better Purdue will be if these teams meet again I was thinking...
Aren't we missing our starting pg?
Isn't this UK team just developing chemistry?
How much better will our offense get?
It's just a joke, really. UK was clearly better tonight and, given the returning players for Purdue who shouldn't have missed a beat and the fact that we were missing our starting pg, there is every reason to think UK will improve more over the season than Purdue.
Again I know it’s early but I felt like I was finally watching a team that represents Kentucky. The old Kentucky! Defense all over the court and constant pressure. Great rebounding! I feel like a kid again.
Having guys like Mo D, Garrison, Aberdeen, etc.. they can switch and defend most players on the court. It’s why Garrison is better than most think. He is very good defending wings on the perimeter in switching situations.
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Last year we had a freshman Perry playing a lot of minutes at the point after Butler went down. He did the best he could, but every SEC school took advantage of him on the defensive end and it broke down the defense. This year, Lowe goes down, but the guy in his spot is Aberdeen. Night and day. Our bigs are better defensively and faster getting down the floor, our wings are more athletic. Its night and day, and maybe the best defensive play in the country is still on the way
Purdue looked slow and out of shape by comparison. Kentucky's depth was a huge factor.
Coach has our squad ready to go. Reminds me of Pitino’s old conditioning. Out work, out hustle and out grinding people will win you a lot of damn games.
My old coach used to make us push a dog in a stroller up Richmond Road when we messed up. Super embarrassing.
I honestly thought that's where this team struggled a bit was switching off screens which put Purdue on the free throw line a lot more than they should’ve been. We bailed them out multiple times, in a tight game, that’s oftentimes the difference between winning or losing.
We did.
And that will improve. Because they have the ability to improve.
Last year’s team just didn’t have the ability.
But I said all season our first shot defense wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t great, just not terrible. Our defensive rebounding was awful and just gave up too many 2nd and 3rd shots.
Now the defense is improved and the defensive rebounding is outstanding.
And will be even better with JQ.
The offense will come. Pope’s teams will always score.
Now we can beat teams when the offense is not clicking.
Good points all around, ILWildcat....
I thought the same thing at the end, we're down Lowe and JQ ( two starters by seasons end... )and Dykes comments were kinda head scratching. The veteran Purdue team's ceiling looks like it's hit a plateau, and UK's looks to be sky high.
We just looked like a more poised, polished, mature team, and the reality is, those guys have been playing together a long time, the overall team speed and athleticism (quickness, size,m length, everything gave Painter's squad more than they could handle. You'd think it would be just the opposite!
So many shots were affected and altered by our overall team length, Smith had several possessions where his shot was altered, same with Kauffman renn or whatwever his name was... theyre good, and will win the Big Ten, I have little to no doubt about it. At least they will finish one or two in that conference, and its stacked too, this year.
When you look at how we have improved defensively and the rebounding will be a huige plus this year, I think this team is really going to put some beatdowns on some good teams.
You'll have to give us some pre game previews if you can find the time this year, always welcomed to see your analysis and to give us all a heads up on the opponewnts and our matchups.
Bottom line for me, is that we have a legitimate title contender with this team, that' s all i can ask every year .... and there is no reason to think we cant win it all this year. I have a feeling we are going to be there in that last game of the season this year....
Go Big Blue !
Cant wait to see what our defense looks like with JQ holding down the paint
And to think, we didn’t have our starting PG or top 10 / 20 NBA draft pick center.
Makes it all the more impressive. I was seeing so many complain about the roster and I couldn’t understand why? Mark already had really good players returning and still brought in a haul that consist of a national champion, one of the best defenders in the conference who’s got a final four, an NBA top 10 pick in Williams, an all star future NBA center……
Not understanding people that didn’t think this roster was superb. That #9 national ranking was horrendous and I think fooled many people. Said before the year started now really believe it. This is a top 3 team in the nation when healthy, maybe the best.
Makes it all the more impressive. I was seeing so many complain about the roster and I couldn’t understand why? Mark already had really good players returning and still brought in a haul that consist of a national champion, one of the best defenders in the conference who’s got a final four, an NBA top 10 pick in Williams, an all star future NBA center……
Not understanding people that didn’t think this roster was superb. That #9 national ranking was horrendous and I think fooled many people. Said before the year started now really believe it. This is a top 3 team in the nation when healthy, maybe the best.
Yep, rebounding looked strong.
OR % for each team is below.
We grabbed almost a third of available opportunities against a program that prides itself on rebounding. And we held them to an offensive rebounding rate under 20%.
Purdue = 17.9% = 7/39
Kentucky = 30.9% = 10/33
it’s just one game, and an exhibition at that, but we have a lot of positives to build on and lots of deficiencies to rectify after this game. Glad we got to play a real opponent like Purdue in an exhibition setting to give the coaches some insight into how to accelerate this teams development.
