The Leach Report
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© Dennis Wierzbicki [/caption]
It’s understandable to be disappointed about Kentucky’s loss to Michigan State. But surprised? No. This is a Spartan team viewed, along with Kentucky, as one of the half-dozen or so legit national title contenders and MSU returned 84 percent of its offense from last season and 79 percent of its rebounding.
Whether it’s missed free throws, 17 turnovers, not blocking out Michigan State’s best offensive rebounder on the Spartans’ final possession or giving up too many transition baskets (something that a key point in the scouting report on MSU), it’s easy to say Kentucky could have won with just slight improvement in any one of those areas. In the heat of the moment, no coach is going to say “boy, I’m glad we lost that game because I’ll have their attention now” but John Calipari may look back on the outcome later in the year (say maybe in Dallas while contemplating a Final Four matchup) and think this game served a very young team well.
Coach Cal has compared this year’s team most often to his first one, the John Wall-Demarcus Cousins group. And it’s worth noting that those Cats didn’t have to face a ranked opponent until they beat number 10 North Carolina on December 5. Kansas was only ranked 12th when the eventual national champion team of 2011-12 beat the Jayhawks in the Champions Classic and that UK team had two sophomores and a senior in the top six.
This the highest-ranked opponent that Kentucky has faced the earliest in the Calipari era and Michigan State had a veteran backcourt to show the way. Those two things are especially important to consider when discussing the play of the Harrison twins, point guard Andrew in particular. Those two are extremely hard on themselves but what they’ll come to learn is that it’s okay to be a perfectionist, as long as the thing they’re thinking most being perfect is the team. In high school, individual play for guys like them is directly tied to the team’s wins and losses. But now, with so much talent around them, the Harrisons and every player on this team can come to understand that the team can still win even if they don’t play their best. If the shots aren’t falling, get rebounds. Make a turnover? Get it back by locking down your man on defense.
Learning lessons hurts when it means you lose a game. It took the 2010-11 Cats a bunch of tough losses to learn what they needed to learn but in the end, they were two points away from playing for a national title.
= = =
One of the first steps in elevating the Kentucky football program will be winning the games against the other teams fighting to make that climb up the SEC ladder, teams like Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. The Cats play both on the road and they came up a little short at State, so this game at Vandy is an opportunity to take a significant step in growing this program. Rich Brooks will tell that coming back from 13-0 down to beat Vandy in ’04 and winning a 48-43 shootout in ’05 were important steps in starting that run of five straight bowls that began in 2006.
KEY STORYLINES
Can Kentucky sustain drives. An encouraging stat lost in a 48-17 defeat to Missouri was that Kentucky had multiple long scoring drives in the second half against a very good defense. That’s a noteworthy element of improvement for the UK offense and they will likely need to repeat it this week, as Vandy ranks first in the SEC in allowing the fewest plays of 20-plus yards.
Continue to avoid turning it over. Kentucky is tied with Alabama for fewest turnovers (seven) in the SEC Vandy will test that trend as the Commodores have been making a living off turnovers lately. Against Florida, the ‘Dores turned three interceptions into touchdowns and in the last three games, they have had eight scoring drives that started inside the opponents’ 40-yard line. Getting those turnovers and being productive with them is why Vandy is averaging 32 points per game (to UK’s 23) while averaging only 19 yards-per-game more in total offense.
Win the battle v. VU’s offense on first down. Vandy ranks last in the SEC in rushing yards and if the Cats can force the ‘Dores into having to throw it often on third down, it’s noteworthy that Vandy completes only 43 percent of its third-down passes.
© Dennis Wierzbicki [/caption]
It’s understandable to be disappointed about Kentucky’s loss to Michigan State. But surprised? No. This is a Spartan team viewed, along with Kentucky, as one of the half-dozen or so legit national title contenders and MSU returned 84 percent of its offense from last season and 79 percent of its rebounding.
Whether it’s missed free throws, 17 turnovers, not blocking out Michigan State’s best offensive rebounder on the Spartans’ final possession or giving up too many transition baskets (something that a key point in the scouting report on MSU), it’s easy to say Kentucky could have won with just slight improvement in any one of those areas. In the heat of the moment, no coach is going to say “boy, I’m glad we lost that game because I’ll have their attention now” but John Calipari may look back on the outcome later in the year (say maybe in Dallas while contemplating a Final Four matchup) and think this game served a very young team well.
Coach Cal has compared this year’s team most often to his first one, the John Wall-Demarcus Cousins group. And it’s worth noting that those Cats didn’t have to face a ranked opponent until they beat number 10 North Carolina on December 5. Kansas was only ranked 12th when the eventual national champion team of 2011-12 beat the Jayhawks in the Champions Classic and that UK team had two sophomores and a senior in the top six.
This the highest-ranked opponent that Kentucky has faced the earliest in the Calipari era and Michigan State had a veteran backcourt to show the way. Those two things are especially important to consider when discussing the play of the Harrison twins, point guard Andrew in particular. Those two are extremely hard on themselves but what they’ll come to learn is that it’s okay to be a perfectionist, as long as the thing they’re thinking most being perfect is the team. In high school, individual play for guys like them is directly tied to the team’s wins and losses. But now, with so much talent around them, the Harrisons and every player on this team can come to understand that the team can still win even if they don’t play their best. If the shots aren’t falling, get rebounds. Make a turnover? Get it back by locking down your man on defense.
Learning lessons hurts when it means you lose a game. It took the 2010-11 Cats a bunch of tough losses to learn what they needed to learn but in the end, they were two points away from playing for a national title.
= = =
One of the first steps in elevating the Kentucky football program will be winning the games against the other teams fighting to make that climb up the SEC ladder, teams like Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. The Cats play both on the road and they came up a little short at State, so this game at Vandy is an opportunity to take a significant step in growing this program. Rich Brooks will tell that coming back from 13-0 down to beat Vandy in ’04 and winning a 48-43 shootout in ’05 were important steps in starting that run of five straight bowls that began in 2006.
KEY STORYLINES
Can Kentucky sustain drives. An encouraging stat lost in a 48-17 defeat to Missouri was that Kentucky had multiple long scoring drives in the second half against a very good defense. That’s a noteworthy element of improvement for the UK offense and they will likely need to repeat it this week, as Vandy ranks first in the SEC in allowing the fewest plays of 20-plus yards.
Continue to avoid turning it over. Kentucky is tied with Alabama for fewest turnovers (seven) in the SEC Vandy will test that trend as the Commodores have been making a living off turnovers lately. Against Florida, the ‘Dores turned three interceptions into touchdowns and in the last three games, they have had eight scoring drives that started inside the opponents’ 40-yard line. Getting those turnovers and being productive with them is why Vandy is averaging 32 points per game (to UK’s 23) while averaging only 19 yards-per-game more in total offense.
Win the battle v. VU’s offense on first down. Vandy ranks last in the SEC in rushing yards and if the Cats can force the ‘Dores into having to throw it often on third down, it’s noteworthy that Vandy completes only 43 percent of its third-down passes.
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