Cry all you want, as you would no matter what. They adjusted and won after a poor start. And also some ppl finally stepped up defensively.

8Th ranked auburn has dropped 2 in a row to unranked teams. What happened to your boy?

Everyone is going to try and slow uk down and play physical...then didn't fold.

As always...you play the season for a reason. You get different tests, you either respond, adjust, or learn.

What the heck is this all about? It feels like this show has happened before. Not feeling it.

So what the heck is going on with this team?????!!!!!!

We are CONSTANTLY dealing with at least 1 player being out and sometimes 2 or 3.

h/t to @Travis Graf on this one. He posed this question to us earlier today. Fun exercise, a ton of good options.

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We have 6 Q1 games left. Not that many. The most winnable Q1 road games we lost already TaMU and usc. MS st, UT, Auburn all on the road. Then at home UT, Gonzaga (they could end up Q2), and Alabama. We re 2-3 right now in Q1 games.

I’m not saying it’s impossible but given our road performances thus far im not counting on winning any of those road games. Then the home games. Gonzaga we beat even though they could end up Q2 after a loss to us. Bama I’m confident about at home. UT I’m 50/50.

So here’s how I see it if cal is going to turn it around. He has to win the 3 home games and take one of those road games. We would be what 6-5 then in Q1 and probably push for a 3 seed. That of course is running the table in these other games which vandy on the road is always concerning.

here's to winning a rock fight on the road.
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Next week, the Cats face Florida who ranks 14th in offensive efficiency and Tennessee who ranks 19th in offensive efficiency. Time to step it up.

No matter how you, the NET, or KenPom dissect it, that is a helluva win. Back against the wall and nothing is falling but still come out, PLAY DEFENSE, stay the course and make shots is huge. Great for us as fans but bigger for the guys in the locker room celebrating tonight.

... and let the players who are doing decent make you win the game?

I hate to admit but Cal did change something. When Wagner had 3 turnovers in the first part of the second half, he sat him and put Shep at the point. That long duration. is what propelled us to win.

You win the game. It's clear that Wagner, Shep, Mitchel, Reeves and Ugo were the best 5 today to win us the game.

It's crazy how Ugo is miles above Bradshaw right now.

I mean.....really?

NM

The coach needs to get a handle on both!

Let’s do it

Big Z over/under 25pts?

Both seem to be gametime decisions. Rob is a little under the weather and Justin is banged up per Pilgrim

His entire history as a coach supports this argument.

Look at the win totals:

When he has a top 5 pick on the current team:

1996: 35-2 record
2008: 38-2 record
2009: 33-4
2010: 35-3
2012: 38-2
2015: 38-1
2017: 32-6

Sample Size: 7 years
Average wins and losses:
35.6 wins and 2.9 losses

When he has a 6-10 pick on the roster:

2002: 23-7
2011: 29-9
2013: 21-12
2014: 29-11
2016: 27-9
2018: 26-11

Sample Size: 6 years

Average wins/losses:

25.8 wins and 9.8 losses

When he has a 11-30 pick on his roster, but no top 10 picks:

2006: 33-4
2019: 30-7
2020: 25-6
2021: 9-16
2022: 26-8
2023: 22-12

Sample Size: 6 years

Wins/loss average:

23.8 wins and 8.8 losses


When fans downplay not landing elite draft pick level talent, they're really accepting the inevitable: Cal is Tubby-level when he's not landing top shelf NBA draft picks.

The sample size is sufficient.



He's a 9 to 10 loss per season coach when he doesn't have top 5 picks.

This current roster doesn't feature any top 5 guys, and I'm willing to bet we don't see more than 30 wins with this group.

Just twice in Cal's whole career did he win more than 30 games without a top 5 pick on his roster. That was back in 2006 and 2007 when he coached in the garbage Conference USA league.

This morning, Lunardi tweet out his seed list. We were 13 behind: Dayton, Auburn, Kansas. He had us ahead of Baylor. I know Lunardi isn't perfect, so I'll add anothr reputable source.

BrackMatrix had us at #14 behind: Dayton, Auburn, Kansas, and Baylor.

All 4 of those teams took an L today. While it's not quite as simple as every loss moves you down a bit, it's not terribly far off. Kansas and Auburn are the highest rated of the 4. But both have hit a rough patch. Kansas has lost 2/3 and 3/5. Auburn lost 2 in a row.

We should be firmly back on the 3 seed line, and arguably as high as #9 overall or the top 3 seed. Marquette would potentially move as high as the last 2 seed.

The Fighting Leonard Hamilton’s are up 41-36 at the half.

He looked way down on the bench tonight. Didn’t really even stand up during our big moments. It was kinda pitiful. He could be a very good player in a couple years but no way he sticks around. I don’t hardly blame him with Edwards continuing to get his shot and Burks hasn’t seen the floor in several games. I’d say Hart and Burks are 100% gone.

KENTUCKY HC JOHN CALIPARI OFFICIAL POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:

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*****
JOHN CALIPARI UK RADIO NETWORK Q&A:

* This is how his old UMass teams used to win games. Shoot bad and grind it out, figure out a way to win.

* Laments Adou missing those 3 layups at one point. Said that crazy foul at the end of the game was a mental lapse from him still thinking about missing those shots.

* Ugo was the difference today, Cal says, "and everybody on our team knows it." Long and active, can move his feet, and is better offensively than we give him credit for.

* Big Z needs to catch up on the defensive end, some toughness things, before he can play a lot more. This wasn't a game for him.

* Had some wrinkles they tried after halftime. This team can handle it because they're so smart.

* Missed at least 7 layups tonight.

* Some defensive growth tonight. They took pride in it. Reeves did a fantastic job on Mark.

* Reed was 0-for at the half, but said "Stick with me, coach, I'll be fine."

* They didn't learn about Dillingham until the shootaround. Had to send him back to the locker room with his stomach issues.

* Tre and Ugo was good on the boards. Adou was good on the glass, too, just couldn't make a basket. Maybe because of the layoff.

9-16 team and roster.

Not quite as bad but good Lord, those guys stink. El Ellis, really. See Deebo Davis finally hit the door, what an asshat he was.

The freshman wall, a period characterized by mental exhaustion by a roster's freshman, usually taking place between January and February. Remember this with John Wall, among others.

Excerpts from various articles.

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"In my experience,” Self said at a weekly media availability (in 2023), “it comes in early February, or late January, so now's the time that they would start hitting it."

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The freshman wall is no myth, and Thornton said he ran straight into it at the start of the new year.

“It definitely hit me. You get to a point where you start doubting yourself,” Bruce Thornton said in an interview at the Schottenstein Center Tuesday. “Me, it took some maturing, especially (when coaches asked me to step up as a leader). I need to keep my head high. I know if I keep working, do everything I do every single day, I’ll get out of it.”
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YaleDailyNews

So what exactly does it mean to “hit the freshman wall?” Consider the athlete who, on the strength of the raw talent, instincts and athleticism that got him recruited in the first place, excels immediately during his initial season in college. An extraordinary showing during preseason camp lands him a significant role for the start of the season, which he dominates in the limelight. As a result, there comes the media hype, the awards talk, the coronation as the big man on campus, the comparisons to Reggie Bush, Kevin Durant, Stephen Strasburg — life is good for our young up-and-comer.

Then, out of nowhere, bam! The budding athlete slams right into the wall. And suddenly, he falls back to earth, disoriented. Be it the onset of increasingly unbearable fatigue, the discovery of a certain predictability in his game, or a sudden sense of anxiety in the face of all the pressure that comes with such high praise, he struggles to get back on track. Should he fail to replicate the heroic deeds of his pre-wall career, this athlete is reduced to nothing more than yet another ex-phenom who couldn’t hack it on the big stage. A bust.

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Jan 27, 2020
ATHENS — For once, it seemed, Georgia basketball freshman Anthony Edwards was not at ease talking basketball on Saturday evening.

The Bulldogs had just dropped their third game in a row, falling at home to an Ole Miss team that had lost six straight and was sitting last in the SEC.

Edwards squirmed, he fidgeted, he smiled and he frowned. An 18-year-old young man who should still be in high school by birthdate, Edwards didn’t know what to do or what to say in this curious, awkward and pressure-filled situation.

Four nights earlier, Edwards was held scoreless in the first half at Kentucky and committed five turnovers.

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In 2013, Willie Cauley Stein said:

"Huh," he said. "There's no — how can I say this? — there's no chance to hit a freshman wall here."

"I don't know what a freshman's wall is," Cauley-Stein said. "I don't think it's possible to hit it here. He'll make sure that in practice you don't hit a freshman wall."

Absolutely massive week coming up.

If we can hold serve against Florida, Saturday night will be one of those atmospheres we only get once every 3-4 seasons.

Probably the biggest home game and best atmosphere since we steamrolled #1 UT in 2019?

What in the world?