3 takeaways from today

[dickieVIII]

1. That was a bad U6 team but it felt and looked a little better overall. Florida A&M was bad and we didn't play good against them. We ran a couple of nice offensive sets and the spacing seemed better. Long way to go but today was a step in the right direction.

2. I said this in the game chat but its worth repeating, our best offense is when Livingston and Toppin attack the basket. It opens up the 3 point line and lets Oscar get position to score or rebound. If they attack, and Wallace, Frederick, Reeves can knock down 3's, we will be tough to guard.

3. I don't hate Wheeler, but I wish he took care of the ball better. As a point guard it is tough sometimes. They often feel pressure to force it or try to be a spark if things are stale, but he has to be under control more. I like his defensive mindset, and he seems to alway be around the ball (someone made a bad pass today and he was there to make sure it wasnt a turnover.)


I remain optimistic and hope our next 3-5 games we keep building on what we saw today. Go Cats

 

[Catapult]

There was some marginal improvement. Remains to be seen if just a one game anomaly versus a really awful team.

 

[yabbadabbadoo]

What I saw was a desperate, embarrassed team, who kinda punked a BAD UL, but allowed WAY too many easy baskets.

 

[bnewt]

UK defense was terrible
Gave up way too many layups
Seems like they play better with Livingston in lineup

 

[kyjeff1]

Good teams won't allow us to do what UofL allowed us to do today.

Our guys had space to operate in and UofL's crappy zone was poorly executed. Toppin had 10' of space once he got the ball at the FT line.

We'll know much more after next week.

 

[sefleming]

Hope this game was not fools gold.

 

[CatPatrick13]

1. That was a bad U6 team but it felt and looked a little better overall. Florida A&M was bad and we didn't play good against them. We ran a couple of nice offensive sets and the spacing seemed better. Long way to go but today was a step in the right direction.

2. I said this in the game chat but its worth repeating, our best offense is when Livingston and Toppin attack the basket. It opens up the 3 point line and lets Oscar get position to score or rebound. If they attack, and Wallace, Frederick, Reeves can knock down 3's, we will be tough to guard.

3. I don't hate Wheeler, but I wish he took care of the ball better. As a point guard it is tough sometimes. They often feel pressure to force it or try to be a spark if things are stale, but he has to be under control more. I like his defensive mindset, and he seems to alway be around the ball (someone made a bad pass today and he was there to make sure it wasnt a turnover.)


I remain optimistic and hope our next 3-5 games we keep building on what we saw today. Go Cats

As much as I hate watching Wheeler play, he is like 30th in the country in assist- turnover ratio. Not bad at all.

 

[dickieVIII]

As much as I hate watching Wheeler play, he is like 30th in the country in assist- turnover ratio. Not bad at all.

I am not as "anti-Wheeler" as some on here and I will agree he does do some very good things. He sees the floor well and plays hard on defense all the time. I get upset when he dribbles into a help defender and doesn't know what to do. He makes some amazing passes. He also makes some amazing mistakes.

 

[dickieVIII]

Good teams won't allow us to do what UofL allowed us to do today.

Our guys had space to operate in and UofL's crappy zone was poorly executed. Toppin had 10' of space once he got the ball at the FT line.

We'll know much more after next week.

I agree. The story will be either this game was the turning point or just a fair showing against the worst team in the power conferences, maybe all of basketball.

 

[eppsfan]

Livingston only recently getting minutes makes we wonder if Cal attends practice

 

[Catapult]

I am not as "anti-Wheeler" as some on here and I will agree he does do some very good things. He sees the floor well and plays hard on defense all the time. I get upset when he dribbles into a help defender and doesn't know what to do. He makes some amazing passes. He also makes some amazing mistakes.

He does make some mistakes (who doesn't). Certainly a significant number of those happen late in shot clock when he has to do his Archie Goodwin 2.0 impression, something he is just not big enough to do.

 

[Gromcat]

The problem is we’re losing prestige. Nothing else matters except getting back to CONSISTENCY in this program. Kansas is losing us in the wins lead. We’re losing our records against rivals in conference. We’re losing our dominance in conference. We’re in losing final four and titles records to the other blue bloods. We can’t continue on this pace and pretending we’re just looking at improvements and “all can be okay” we’ll see next week!!! isn’t going to cut it.

We are UK and we have a huge problem. You can’t be a blue blood without sustaining excellence and we’re losing that.

I’m sorry but these post are rather meaningless. We need to dominate instead of looking for positives from the position of a middling SEC program.

 

[true blue1]

1. Louisville is really bad
2. Our defense was bad
3. If only Toppin could play like this against tough competition, kid would play in the league.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Not a Wheeler fan, as most know, but he is probably our best bet in the backcourt beside Wallace.

That’s not a good thing.

 

[UKLone]

Louisville played no defense and we actually hit shots. Good momentum win going forward but we should dominate. Inexcusable!

 

[bbncal02]

I agree. The story will be either this game was the turning point or just a fair showing against the worst team in the power conferences, maybe all of basketball.

We did the same thing to FAMU and then got spanked by Mizzou.

 

[WTF Cat]

I am not as "anti-Wheeler" as some on here and I will agree he does do some very good things. He sees the floor well and plays hard on defense all the time. I get upset when he dribbles into a help defender and doesn't know what to do. He makes some amazing passes. He also makes some amazing mistakes.

He had 9 assists but 5 turnovers: not good against a crap team

 

[Sparkaces1]

1. Louisville is really bad
2. Our defense was bad
3. If only Toppin could play like this against tough competition, kid would play in the league.

Louisville’s zone was horrible, no way Toppin will be that open the rest of the year and I really never want Toppin dribbling. If you really watch Toppin had Oscar wide open several times and waited a long time to pass, against a decent team it’s turnovers. Plus Toppin is a horrible defender and rebounder for his athletic ability, I assume this has been the reason he hasn’t been playing. Livingston should be playing the 4 but we all know that.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

1. That was a bad U6 team but it felt and looked a little better overall. Florida A&M was bad and we didn't play good against them. We ran a couple of nice offensive sets and the spacing seemed better. Long way to go but today was a step in the right direction.

2. I said this in the game chat but its worth repeating, our best offense is when Livingston and Toppin attack the basket. It opens up the 3 point line and lets Oscar get position to score or rebound. If they attack, and Wallace, Frederick, Reeves can knock down 3's, we will be tough to guard.

3. I don't hate Wheeler, but I wish he took care of the ball better. As a point guard it is tough sometimes. They often feel pressure to force it or try to be a spark if things are stale, but he has to be under control more. I like his defensive mindset, and he seems to alway be around the ball (someone made a bad pass today and he was there to make sure it wasnt a turnover.)


I remain optimistic and hope our next 3-5 games we keep building on what we saw today. Go Cats

I agree with alot but the tough part is Kentucky has 2 of their toughest 5 remaining games coming up

 

[dickieVIII]

The problem is we’re losing prestige. Nothing else matters except getting back to CONSISTENCY in this program. Kansas is losing us in the wins lead. We’re losing our records against rivals in conference. We’re losing our dominance in conference. We’re in losing final four and titles records to the other blue bloods. We can’t continue on this pace and pretending we’re just looking at improvements and “all can be okay” we’ll see next week!!! isn’t going to cut it.

We are UK and we have a huge problem. You can’t be a blue blood without sustaining excellence and we’re losing that.

I’m sorry but these post are rather meaningless. We need to dominate instead of looking for positives from the position of a middling SEC program.

I understand what you are saying, and mostly agree. This might sound crazy, but sitting here tonight, I am more worried about our next game rather than catching Kansas. I love our history (retired history teacher as well), but that history doesn't win games here and now. I know you blame Cal for letting things slip, and I agree with you. He has had way too much talent to not have at least 2 titles, and last season's ending was unacceptable. I just don't agree with saying improving little things not do not matter. You do not climb a ladder with one single jump. You take it one step at a time and eventually, you get to the top.

 

[Gromcat]

I understand what you are saying, and mostly agree. This might sound crazy, but sitting here tonight, I am more worried about our next game rather than catching Kansas. I love our history (retired history teacher as well), but that history doesn't win games here and now. I know you blame Cal for letting things slip, and I agree with you. He has had way too much talent to not have at least 2 titles, and last season's ending was unacceptable. I just don't agree with saying improving little things not do not matter. You do not climb a ladder with one single jump. You take it one step at a time and eventually, you get to the top.

I get that and you have to focus on the game ahead of you, but I just don’t see how we can be consistent and maintain our prestige under the guy so it’s frustrating to me. Reason being even if we do well this season, or even win a title next season, he would probably follow that up with an NIT and lose more gains. I just can’t handle Kentucky not being consistent.

When Calipari said years ago the SEC tournament doesn’t matter, and a lot of our fans began to push that, I wanted to load a Glock and shoot a chicken after thanksgiving dinner. That’s our history we’re letting go. And nobody should have followed him down that road. It’s why we have an apathy problem today.

I am so pissed off at this entire situation I can’t stand it. We should never forget the list, it’s why we’re Kentucky. And any coach who says the list doesn’t really matter should be escorted out.

 

[JC CATS]

1. That was a bad U6 team but it felt and looked a little better overall. Florida A&M was bad and we didn't play good against them. We ran a couple of nice offensive sets and the spacing seemed better. Long way to go but today was a step in the right direction.

2. I said this in the game chat but its worth repeating, our best offense is when Livingston and Toppin attack the basket. It opens up the 3 point line and lets Oscar get position to score or rebound. If they attack, and Wallace, Frederick, Reeves can knock down 3's, we will be tough to guard.

3. I don't hate Wheeler, but I wish he took care of the ball better. As a point guard it is tough sometimes. They often feel pressure to force it or try to be a spark if things are stale, but he has to be under control more. I like his defensive mindset, and he seems to alway be around the ball (someone made a bad pass today and he was there to make sure it wasnt a turnover.)


I remain optimistic and hope our next 3-5 games we keep building on what we saw today. Go Cats

The offense has a semblance of being run today

 

[Jmeeks54thebest]

This game told me nothing. Neither negative nor positive. If it showed you something then you are too easily swayed. Louisville is in the bottom 1-3 of all 300+ D1 teams. We should’ve won by 40-50 honestly.

Lol. If we played and beat Lexington Catholic by 30 some of y’all would be like “is this fools gold? We’ll find out next week I guess.”

I say all that with love.

 

[DreadLox]

Louisville’s zone was horrible, no way Toppin will be that open the rest of the year and I really never want Toppin dribbling. If you really watch Toppin had Oscar wide open several times and waited a long time to pass, against a decent team it’s turnovers. Plus Toppin is a horrible defender and rebounder for his athletic ability, I assume this has been the reason he hasn’t been playing. Livingston should be playing the 4 but we all know that.

It's not what we don't know that gets us in trouble. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so

 

[aikenite4uk]

I get that and you have to focus on the game ahead of you, but I just don’t see how we can be consistent and maintain our prestige under the guy so it’s frustrating to me. Reason being even if we do well this season, or even win a title next season, he would probably follow that up with an NIT and lose more gains. I just can’t handle Kentucky not being consistent.

When Calipari said years ago the SEC tournament doesn’t matter, and a lot of our fans began to push that, I wanted to load a Glock and shoot a chicken after thanksgiving dinner. That’s our history we’re letting go. And nobody should have followed him down that road. It’s why we have an apathy problem today.

I am so pissed off at this entire situation I can’t stand it. We should never forget the list, it’s why we’re Kentucky. And any coach who says the list doesn’t really matter should be escorted out.

Dude, it sounds like you're so full of anger and stress you should probably walk away from following UK....at least for a while.

 

[MTsandfly]

UL is really, really bad. Happy for the win but we made an awful team look better than they actually are. I hope Kenny Payne stays there forever!

 

[westerncat]

I don't remember seeing a Div. 1 team as bad as UL and I hope they stay that bad for years to come.

 

[TheDude73]

Fans are going to see what they want to see. Just read through here and the usual flower mouths and diarrhea heads are doing their typical thing, regardless of the outcome of that game yesterday.

Lovers are going to see nothing but positives and ignore just how bad UL is (although they are improving over what they started as this season), and the fact that we still reverted to the "go make a play" offensive scheme in the 2nd half. No amount of losing or bad play will ever plug their rainbow farts. They are OK with the idea of an average UK team under Calipari for fear of a worse scenario under a new coach that flops.

Haters are going to see only one thing - UL sucks and any perceived positives were 100% due to a bad UL team (ignoring the fact that other cupcakes this year we had very little positive to discuss). No amount of winning or even some kind of offense coming together, even a little at a time, will change their perception. They are dead to Calipari at UK and would hire a ham sandwich over him right now.

Then there are those more centric that although they know Cal is in dire need of a rapid change in his ways, they are holding out hope that the pressure will eventually result in that change - be it Cal makes the change or he quits and is replaced (neither extreme of hater or lover). They saw the positives, but also noticed that the 1st half offensive improvements were non-existent for most of the second half. However, the glimmers of positivity - even against bad teams - gives them some hope that we can at least salvage the season with a turnaround in SEC play and maybe a decent E8 or better tourney run. Key word here is HOPE (these people aren't Cal lovers or haters - they just want success at UK regardless of coach). These people are much more tolerable to be around because they show the mental capacity to be able to reason and don't play one side or the other, they balance.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Wheeler would honestly be fine if he took care of the ball better.. not driving into dense traffic.. not these one handed sailing passes that are too risky..

If he could be a little more efficient on the floaters and layups, along with the above.. he'd be a pretty great PG.

 

[KyCatFan]

Until they prove differently against better teams.

 

[TheDude73]

Dude, it sounds like you're so full of anger and stress you should probably walk away from following UK....at least for a while.

He's definitely a one-man wrecking crew on Rafters. It's clear he has made it his #1 goal to convince anyone and everyone how stupid everyone else is for not agreeing with his doomsday opinion (not saying I disagree with some of his takes, but just don't agree with the obsession and over the top extremist deliveries).

However, there are probably as many 100% flower pumper extremists with every Cal apology in the book on the ready as there are 100% obviously can't stand Cal around here, and thankfully the number of very vocal from both sides appears anecdotally to be less than 20 total (Ed, kybass, 1catmandoo, HerroHeroes, etc. vs. Grom, ukjenn, yabababaddadado, LowCountryCat, etc.).

At least the rest of the fans fall somewhere in the middle, because I'm not sure I could stand being on this forum if it were 50/50 lovers vs. haters. I don't put people on ignore, but there are a handful of folks that when I see their posts (haters and lovers), I just (try to) skim right over because they are most of the time over the top in their one-sided, anyone who disagrees is a moron viewpoints. Their overall theme never changes, and neither will ever be caught dead giving in to the "other side".

 

[federalcat]

Fans are going to see what they want to see. Just read through here and the usual flower mouths and diarrhea heads are doing their typical thing, regardless of the outcome of that game yesterday.

Lovers are going to see nothing but positives and ignore just how bad UL is (although they are improving over what they started as this season), and the fact that we still reverted to the "go make a play" offensive scheme in the 2nd half. No amount of losing or bad play will ever plug their rainbow farts. They are OK with the idea of an average UK team under Calipari for fear of a worse scenario under a new coach that flops.

Haters are going to see only one thing - UL sucks and any perceived positives were 100% due to a bad UL team (ignoring the fact that other cupcakes this year we had very little positive to discuss). No amount of winning or even some kind of offense coming together, even a little at a time, will change their perception. They are dead to Calipari at UK and would hire a ham sandwich over him right now.

Then there are those more centric that although they know Cal is in dire need of a rapid change in his ways, are holding out hope that the pressure will eventually result in that change - be it Cal makes the change or he quits and is replaced (neither extreme of hater or lover). They saw the positives, but also noticed that the 1st half offensive improvements were non-existent for most of the second half. However, the glimmers of positivity - even against bad teams - gives them some hope that we can at least salvage the season with a turnaround in SEC play and maybe a decent E8 or better tourney run. Key word here is HOPE (these people aren't Cal lovers or haters - they just want success at UK regardless of coach).

One of the most rational posts I’ve seen lately and I completely agree.

I fall into your third grouping. Not at all happy with the current state of the program, but not shouting from a rooftop about firing cal. It’s really not even worth discussing since it’s not going to happen.

I thought the offense looked better against louisville, but they do suck. Our defense was still porous as hell. We are definitely a work in progress.

 

[Catzman]

Realistically we know we beat a bad team. But you can't NOT see the energy and passion and aggression and not be pleased. Toppin won't average 24 a game on such a high percentage from the floor shooting every night, but if he can just try to rip the rim off as opposed to doing lay ups like he's wearing cement shoes like he did against UL I'd be happy. If he can give that level energy consistently, he can put up 60% of that production for sure. We can't be the team we need to be without him being a 12-14ppg and 6-8rpg 4 for us.

I think Livingston deserves to keep starting. While his stats aren't the best his aggression is amazing and his tenacity on the glass is 2nd only to Oscar.

 

[Ripcord65]

As much as I hate watching Wheeler play, he is like 30th in the country in assist- turnover ratio. Not bad at all.

I'd sure like to see the line-item data that supports the proposition that Wheeler is 30th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio.

 

[yoshukai]

I understand what you are saying, and mostly agree. This might sound crazy, but sitting here tonight, I am more worried about our next game rather than catching Kansas. I love our history (retired history teacher as well), but that history doesn't win games here and now. I know you blame Cal for letting things slip, and I agree with you. He has had way too much talent to not have at least 2 titles, and last season's ending was unacceptable. I just don't agree with saying improving little things not do not matter. You do not climb a ladder with one single jump. You take it one step at a time and eventually, you get to the top.

I agree with this . The fact that we are at this point is the main reason I want Cals ass out of here .

 

[BigCat241]

This game told me nothing. Neither negative nor positive. If it showed you something then you are too easily swayed. Louisville is in the bottom 1-3 of all 300+ D1 teams. We should’ve won by 40-50 honestly.

Lol. If we played and beat Lexington Catholic by 30 some of y’all would be like “is this fools gold? We’ll find out next week I guess.”

I say all that with love.

Beating our top rival by 20+ is always a positive no matter how bad they are.

 

[Sejonesy]

I'd sure like to see the line-item data that supports the proposition that Wheeler is 30th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Not sure where to find the assist/to leaders, but I am sure he is there. I would think it is even better than 30th. He averages 6.7 assists to 2.3 TO per game. I just don’t know why people keep saying he is terrible with the ball. It may have to do with the fact that usually once per game he does something extremely crazy that stands out, but he is doing a very good job taking care of the ball.

 

[Kerry Kat]

Good teams won't allow us to do what UofL allowed us to do today.

Our guys had space to operate in and UofL's crappy zone was poorly executed. Toppin had 10' of space once he got the ball at the FT line.

We'll know much more after next week.

We’re good against average to decent teams but that’s it. It’s fools gold otherwise.

 

[CatPatrick13]

I'd sure like to see the line-item data that supports the proposition that Wheeler is 30th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Check ESPN for his stats then Google top assist/ turnover ratio in the ncaa basketball. That’s what I did

 

[Gromcat]

Dude, it sounds like you're so full of anger and stress you should probably walk away from following UK....at least for a while.

No it sounds like UK needs to get its act together and produce to our standard.