1) To start with, that was the best effort we've given all year as a team and if we played anywhere close to that level for most of the year we'd be sitting at something like 21-5 right now and talking about seeding and not whether we can run the table and get a 10 seed. So it was very encouraging and disappointing at the same time.
2) Our best score and our best defender played a total of 23 minutes and we took the #2 team to OT. Pretty impressive by the rest of the team to step up and max out their ability for the most part. That said, we get 50 minutes out of those guys and we probably win.Ravern is an idiot but it also potentially shows a lack of team leadership that someone on the team could help get his head straight. Jarvis just made 3 terrible fouls like night which iscompletely unlike him - he was just too amped up.
3) Kentucky is very, very talented. I didn't realize how good a passer Cousins was and his footwork isway above most college players.Wall is a stud and Patterson had a great game last night.
4) Congrats Stans -for the first 37 minutes of the game - that's how a motion offense is supposed to look. We still took some bad shots, but we cut that in half from what we take on most night and did a much better job attacking the basket with dribble penetration and cuts. I better not see regression on that the rest of the year.
5) I continue to fail to understand why Stans thinks Barry can create his own shot in crunchtime. We've probably put the ball in his hands to end a half/game 20+ times over the past 2 years and the Houston game is the only on I can think of that he got off a good shot and made it. Most of the time we end up with a piss poor shot and last nights was probably the worst I've seen.
6) It was clear the last 10 minutes we were getting tired. Our defenisve rotations were a step slower and we didn't move as well on offense.
7) The final 3 minutes were justa disaster. I don't mind the slowdown game and against a more talented team plus it was clear we were getting tired. But you have to be able to get a decent shot at least every other possession and our "kill the clock" offense is just putrid for the past few years. Let's recap last night:
3:00 - Bost makes 2 FT's to put us up 7. Don't feel good but at this point you feel pretty good
2:44 - KY hits a big 3 pt. shot off a nice pass out of a double team by Cousins
2:12 - we run some nice clock but Osby gets out of control and throws up a brick in an attempt to avoid a charge leading to a fast break and
2:06 - easy layp by KY cutting it to 67-65 and our lead has evaporated quickly
1:49 - Bost gets called for the charge. Just a huge play there as it would have been Cousins 5th and we would have shot FT's if it's called a block.After surving two 3 pt attempts.
0:59- we isolate Barry and he actually makes a good move to get around his guy but dribbles into a triple team and turnsit over.Really bad possession there as we had to get a good shot and we didn't.
0:39 - Patterson hits a HUGE shot. We made their PF hit a 15 ft shot from the baseline to tie the game and he hit it. No problem with thedefense on doubling inside - their guy just hit theshot
0:07 -Barry, Barry, Barry - just a horrible play. I think the ball has to be in Bost hands thereas much as possible but Stans went with Barry and for the secondstraight time he basically fails to get a shot off.
........so we don't even get a legit shot off in our last 3 possessions. I'd rather have just seen us shoot one of our 3's from the timeline than what I saw. Damn - just damn.
8) We got mutilated on the boards - 42 to 25. They just got so many second chance opportunities with Cousins and his offensive rebounding ability.
9) We asked 18 minutes out of Benock and he wasfine.
10) We gave Osby 38 minutes and he did not perform overall that well. Defensively he was ok, butfor the most part he really struggled on offense. Some bad passes, looked indecisive on a lot of possessions and stillgets out of control when driving as he commits to trying to dunk of layup instead of possibly pulling up for a 6 ft shot to avoid a charge. He's got some talent but it still needssome work.
11)Kodi played hard as well, even on defense. Still not my favorite playerbut more effort out of him last night.
12) If Bost works on his jumper hard this offseason he's going to be a beast
13) Turner continues to amaze me with his instincts on defense.
14) This game showed that we're a legit team that has the ability to hand with top talented teams. I continue to believe that we're talent wise a 20-30 team but this team simply can't protect a late lead. We find a way to win Richmond, close out ARK and this game and we're a solid Top 20 team. This year is just one big wasted opportunity unless we win out and win a few games in the SEC tourney.
15) The refs didn't help late but we didn't do what we needed to do those last 3 minutes to win the game. That's the bottom line.</p>
2) Our best score and our best defender played a total of 23 minutes and we took the #2 team to OT. Pretty impressive by the rest of the team to step up and max out their ability for the most part. That said, we get 50 minutes out of those guys and we probably win.Ravern is an idiot but it also potentially shows a lack of team leadership that someone on the team could help get his head straight. Jarvis just made 3 terrible fouls like night which iscompletely unlike him - he was just too amped up.
3) Kentucky is very, very talented. I didn't realize how good a passer Cousins was and his footwork isway above most college players.Wall is a stud and Patterson had a great game last night.
4) Congrats Stans -for the first 37 minutes of the game - that's how a motion offense is supposed to look. We still took some bad shots, but we cut that in half from what we take on most night and did a much better job attacking the basket with dribble penetration and cuts. I better not see regression on that the rest of the year.
5) I continue to fail to understand why Stans thinks Barry can create his own shot in crunchtime. We've probably put the ball in his hands to end a half/game 20+ times over the past 2 years and the Houston game is the only on I can think of that he got off a good shot and made it. Most of the time we end up with a piss poor shot and last nights was probably the worst I've seen.
6) It was clear the last 10 minutes we were getting tired. Our defenisve rotations were a step slower and we didn't move as well on offense.
7) The final 3 minutes were justa disaster. I don't mind the slowdown game and against a more talented team plus it was clear we were getting tired. But you have to be able to get a decent shot at least every other possession and our "kill the clock" offense is just putrid for the past few years. Let's recap last night:
3:00 - Bost makes 2 FT's to put us up 7. Don't feel good but at this point you feel pretty good
2:44 - KY hits a big 3 pt. shot off a nice pass out of a double team by Cousins
2:12 - we run some nice clock but Osby gets out of control and throws up a brick in an attempt to avoid a charge leading to a fast break and
2:06 - easy layp by KY cutting it to 67-65 and our lead has evaporated quickly
1:49 - Bost gets called for the charge. Just a huge play there as it would have been Cousins 5th and we would have shot FT's if it's called a block.After surving two 3 pt attempts.
0:59- we isolate Barry and he actually makes a good move to get around his guy but dribbles into a triple team and turnsit over.Really bad possession there as we had to get a good shot and we didn't.
0:39 - Patterson hits a HUGE shot. We made their PF hit a 15 ft shot from the baseline to tie the game and he hit it. No problem with thedefense on doubling inside - their guy just hit theshot
0:07 -Barry, Barry, Barry - just a horrible play. I think the ball has to be in Bost hands thereas much as possible but Stans went with Barry and for the secondstraight time he basically fails to get a shot off.
........so we don't even get a legit shot off in our last 3 possessions. I'd rather have just seen us shoot one of our 3's from the timeline than what I saw. Damn - just damn.
8) We got mutilated on the boards - 42 to 25. They just got so many second chance opportunities with Cousins and his offensive rebounding ability.
9) We asked 18 minutes out of Benock and he wasfine.
10) We gave Osby 38 minutes and he did not perform overall that well. Defensively he was ok, butfor the most part he really struggled on offense. Some bad passes, looked indecisive on a lot of possessions and stillgets out of control when driving as he commits to trying to dunk of layup instead of possibly pulling up for a 6 ft shot to avoid a charge. He's got some talent but it still needssome work.
11)Kodi played hard as well, even on defense. Still not my favorite playerbut more effort out of him last night.
12) If Bost works on his jumper hard this offseason he's going to be a beast
13) Turner continues to amaze me with his instincts on defense.
14) This game showed that we're a legit team that has the ability to hand with top talented teams. I continue to believe that we're talent wise a 20-30 team but this team simply can't protect a late lead. We find a way to win Richmond, close out ARK and this game and we're a solid Top 20 team. This year is just one big wasted opportunity unless we win out and win a few games in the SEC tourney.
15) The refs didn't help late but we didn't do what we needed to do those last 3 minutes to win the game. That's the bottom line.</p>