A Step in the Right Direction

[IL Wildcat]

Yes, Monmouth was 0-7. Yes, UK was favored by 23. Yes, it should have been an easy win. (Although West Virginia only beat these guys by 18 and their worst loss was by 24)

However, I like what I saw from our team- forget Monmouth....
1. We played with more intensity and effort on defense. We forced turnovers in this one. We jumped into passing lanes mutliple times. 8 steals is pretty good.
2. We took better shots. We made shots. 6 different guys made a 3.
3. We shared the ball better. 15 assists still isn't great but it's a step in the right direction.

I liked the fact that we didn't let off the gas once the game was out of reach. The intensity remained high. The effort was still there. We won the first half 44-22. We won the second half 46-22. That is the most even effort of the season.

This is the first time in this early season we've seen the kind of intensity we saw in the Bahamas.

This is something to build on. I'll take it.

 

[lakercat]

Yes, Monmouth was 0-7. Yes, UK was favored by 23. Yes, it should have been an easy win. (Although West Virginia only beat these guys by 18 and their worst loss was by 24)

However, I like what I saw from our team- forget Monmouth....
1. We played with more intensity and effort on defense. We forced turnovers in this one. We jumped into passing lanes mutliple times. 8 steals is pretty good.
2. We took better shots. We made shots. 6 different guys made a 3.
3. We shared the ball better. 15 assists still isn't great but it's a step in the right direction.

I liked the fact that we didn't let off the gas once the game was out of reach. The intensity remained high. The effort was still there. We won the first half 44-22. We won the second half 46-22. That is the most even effort of the season.

This is the first time in this early season we've seen the kind of intensity we saw in the Bahamas.

This is something to build on. I'll take it.

Yep. Team looked a lot better; even Richards played harder. Sometimes, getting benched (Cal said that he will play three bigs and rotate in the fourth big) is motivation. I know Monmouth was awful, but the effort and intensity was there. I was pleased with tonight. I went to the game, and Rupp was like a morgue. I was the loudest in section 240, and I'm not that loud. An older couple were complaining about me. Really?

 

[westerncat]

Agreed.… defense looked much better tonight. This team is coming along nicely where some of the other teams may be peaking to early.
This is the kind of game that Cal can experiment with on different plays and improve on defense.

 

[*CatinIL*]

Easy IL...don't be getting all positive now! Seriously, I think the CATS played the way anyone should have expected them to play considering the team they were playing. They smacked them down but that was to be expected...but that's what they did. The CATS just need to keep moving forward and improving!

 

[Louis_Skunt]

Cant tell anything against Monmouth. The tests on how far they've come will be in 3 weeks when they play UNC.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

They gave a lot more effort tonight ... gotta keep that effort level consistent now

 

[I bleed big blue]

Cal likes his team. I love my team. #gocats.

 

[Col. Angus]

keep that level of consistent effort and willingness to take open shots and they're really a top 10 caliber team.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Cant tell anything against Monmouth. The tests on how far they've come will be in 3 weeks when they play UNC.

I respectfully disagree. I would agree that we can't make any definite conclusions, but we can see progress. We can see increased intensity and effort. We can see a guy moving his feet on D instead of reaching and grabbing. We can see guys running at shooters with hands up and not down. And we saw extra passes and better shots on offense. And we also saw that there are multiple guys who can make shots. They looked more relaxed. They looked like they were having fun.

I'm not saying this is a turning point or anything but I like what I saw, and the team really needed a game like this.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Didn't see anything from IQ.
I actually think he lost ground to Ashton tonight.
IQ may be along with Quade the most physically limited PG that Cal has brought in.
This was a bad team but he still didn't seem to be able to blow by any of there guards.
Fortunately Quade can get buckets.
IQ may have won some 3pt contests but it hasn't translated to games thus far.

As with the bigs, one of the guards will have to get his minutes slashed soon.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

IQ made a couple of great drives to the basket.. he’s gotta get better than 19% from 3 though. Yikes

 

[kybassfan]

Cant tell anything against Monmouth. The tests on how far they've come will be in 3 weeks when they play UNC.

Yeah, actually you can tell a lot against from the Monmouth game. We were in the passing lanes more. We were rotating and protecting the weak side better. In others words there was many things we performed technically better than any game we’ve played on defense. Don’t get me wrong. Our defense is still piss weak. UNC will shred us if it doesn’t improve. That said, we came a LONG way in our execution of a defensive strategy. You gotta be a blind man not to see it.

We still have a long way to go. Very long way. This should be a lesson to some about the desperate state our defense was in.

 

[jedcat]

We gave up way fewer easy drives to the basket. Hopefully that is indeed a good sign and not a product of Monmouth being that bad.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

We good









(Getting there)

 

[Cats192]

Remember how after the Bahamas we were talking Championship. Final 4 for sure.

Now--a win over an 0-7 team is something to build upon.

I don't disagree with your point--but my God how far we've fallen in a month.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Remember how after the Bahamas we were talking Championship. Final 4 for sure.

Now--a win over an 0-7 team is something to build upon.

I don't disagree with your point--but my God how far we've fallen in a month.

What? I don’t understand this. All OP did was literally try and bring some positivity and highlights from the game including what he thought we did well

How does that constitute us “falling far?”

Nobody said we were world beaters, nobody even remotely alluded we’re where we need to be, nobody acted or said we were top notch. We literally just have like minded Kentucky FANS talking about some of the positives from our game tonight.

Sometimes it’s nice to just... ya know.... have a discussion that isn’t about how bad we suck or how terrible Herro and Hagans are or how far Cal has “slipped” or Wisemen/ Penny/ Memphis blah blah or how amazing Zion and duke is.

Try and not be jaded so much (in life.) I promise it’s worth it

 

[sgrooms]

won the first half 44-22. We won the second half 46-22. That is the most even effort of the season.

59-42 and 59-42 was fairly consistent, too.

 

[STL_Cat]

I liked what I saw from Hagans last night. He won't turn into SGA like I've seen a few people mention on here, he's not a crafty guy with the ball. But he is a bulldog and seems like he has a more killer mentality than our other PGs.

I'd like to see Hagans turn into Cliff Hawkins.

 

[KentuckyMildCats]

That was the most defensive energy I’ve seen out of the whole team all season. I really enjoyed seeing that.

 

[BBUK]

59-42 and 59-42 was fairly consistent, too.

Dang dude....just dang...

 

[TankedCat]

without any sarcasm I am envious of those who find joy in this win.

While there are certainly things we saw last night that showed potential, doing it against a hapless team that was no more competition than exhibition games limits my ability to be inspired to any degree by it.

And the only reason I'm posting this is because at some point someone will undoubtedly play the "where were you after a win" when I post issues/concerns about a game we didn't do particularly well in.

So for those of you so inclined to pull the "they only come out after a loss" line, please take note of my posting.

I see little value in discussing negatives or positives playing against a team that at the moment has no floor to how bad their season can be. As we've seen UNC and Louisville are both very beatable teams that will provide enough challenge to show whether UK is moving forward.

I will continue to reserve judgement using the criteria - we get thru December without a loss - then we have something to be positive of in terms of growth.

 

[Ocornett]

59-42 and 59-42 was fairly consistent, too.

WTF is wrong with you Louise? Please just no. Stop posting now or I’m calling the Mods. Just read like you’ve been doing it seems to work for you.

 

[KYtotheCore]

Yes, Monmouth was 0-7. Yes, UK was favored by 23. Yes, it should have been an easy win. (Although West Virginia only beat these guys by 18 and their worst loss was by 24)

However, I like what I saw from our team- forget Monmouth....
1. We played with more intensity and effort on defense. We forced turnovers in this one. We jumped into passing lanes mutliple times. 8 steals is pretty good.
2. We took better shots. We made shots. 6 different guys made a 3.
3. We shared the ball better. 15 assists still isn't great but it's a step in the right direction.

I liked the fact that we didn't let off the gas once the game was out of reach. The intensity remained high. The effort was still there. We won the first half 44-22. We won the second half 46-22. That is the most even effort of the season.

This is the first time in this early season we've seen the kind of intensity we saw in the Bahamas.

This is something to build on. I'll take it.

Great assesment. I'v put the Bahamas out of my memory. I feel like these guys are cubs learning to kill, which is fine. I see them putting it together, and intensity was obvious, which is refreshing considering our teams sometimes have an issue getting up for lesser opponents.

 

[STL_Cat]

Does PJ even want to be here? Sure doesn’t look like it.

 

[-BBH-]

Cant tell anything against Monmouth. The tests on how far they've come will be in 3 weeks when they play UNC.

I am of the opinion that UNC isn't very good right now either. I'll be at that game, will make for a really crappy Christmas if we lose.

 

[IL Wildcat]

without any sarcasm I am envious of those who find joy in this win.

While there are certainly things we saw last night that showed potential, doing it against a hapless team that was no more competition than exhibition games limits my ability to be inspired to any degree by it.

And the only reason I'm posting this is because at some point someone will undoubtedly play the "where were you after a win" when I post issues/concerns about a game we didn't do particularly well in.

So for those of you so inclined to pull the "they only come out after a loss" line, please take note of my posting.

I see little value in discussing negatives or positives playing against a team that at the moment has no floor to how bad their season can be. As we've seen UNC and Louisville are both very beatable teams that will provide enough challenge to show whether UK is moving forward.

I will continue to reserve judgement using the criteria - we get thru December without a loss - then we have something to be positive of in terms of growth.

TankedCat, if you can't find ANY joy in the win last night, I feel sorry for you my friend. Monmouth came in without any wins, but they have been competitive in nearly every game, including against West Virginia. They only lost to WVA by 18. We just beat them by 46. It was a dominating performance. What we saw from our Cats was improvement defensively and consistency offensively, and effort and intensity was high the entire game. Again, if you can't find any joy in a 90-44 win over ANYONE, I can't help what is ailing you.

 

[-BBH-]

If you cannot see that. . .

A) They played with a ton more energy
B) Shared the ball better
C) Played for a full 40 minutes
D) Cal tightened up the rotation
E) Increased effort on both sides, especially on Defense. . .

Then you haven't paid much attention the first few weeks. Best 40 minutes they have played so far. I don't care who the opponent is. Honestly most of us thought they would 78-62 or something. It's one game, but I am hopeful.

 

[TankedCat]

TankedCat, if you can't find ANY joy in the win last night, I feel sorry for you my friend. Monmouth came in without any wins, but they have been competitive in nearly every game, including against West Virginia. They only lost to WVA by 18. We just beat them by 46. It was a dominating performance. What we saw from our Cats was improvement defensively and consistency offensively, and effort and intensity was high the entire game. Again, if you can't find any joy in a 90-44 win over ANYONE, I can't help what is ailing you.

yea I get it.

but I want you to think about how you just had to frame our win...

" They only lost to WVA by 18"

 

[UKGrad93]

This team seems to be deeper version of the 2011 Wildcats, minus Brandon Knight. Point guard play seems to have the potential of a Marquis Teague.

The team did what they needed to do last night. I couldn't ask the kids for anything more. That we played bad team is on Cal or whoever makes the schedule. We didn't play down to their level.

 

[TankedCat]

The team did what they needed to do last night. I couldn't ask the kids for anything more. That we played bad team is on Cal or whoever makes the schedule. We didn't play down to their level.

fair points and put in that perspective, I completely agree. I did read that Monmouth was a 20+ win team 2 years ago so from a scheduling standpoint, I doubt anyone anticipated them falling off a cliff at this point.

 

[CatEye2010]

You joined nine years ago and your second post is one of the most idiotic in the history of the board. I hope it takes another four years or so for you to think of something equally stupid.

I may be wrong, but I think that when a member of another rivals site, i.e. IU, posts here, their post count starts at zero for here, even though they may have thousands of posts on their own site.

So it's an easy way to tell if they're just a drive-by troll and not a UK fan.

 

[KentuckySir2]

PJ always looks lost and bored. He gives us nothing basically he kills the energy. I’d take EJ and Reid in there all day long.

 

[STL_Cat]

PJ always looks lost and bored. He gives us nothing basically he kills the energy. I’d take EJ and Reid in there all day long.

I agree. Like I said earlier, he honestly looks like a guy who doesn’t really want to be out there. And all his smirks, I don’t know man. I want him to be the beast I know he can be, but right now he’s playing with a real “IDGAF” attitude.

 

[IL Wildcat]

yea I get it.

but I want you to think about how you just had to frame our win...

" They only lost to WVA by 18"

The reason I framed it that way, and the reason I wrote the original post the way I did, is because it is natural for people who know nothing about an opponent who comes in 0-7 to assume that team is pure garbage and not even competitive. That is not the case. I don't know if you listened to the broadcast last night or not, but this was pointed out by the commentators. Nevermind they led West Va much of the first half of their game and were within 10 of them with about 6 minutes to go in that game before the Mountaineers stretched it to 18 late. Nevermind that they nearly beat Princeton on Monday but lost on back to back 3-pointers late. These are things the casual fan doesn't know. That's why I framed it the way I did. Because those who are dead set on downplaying anything positive at this point can understand that a 46-pt win was a step in the right direction. We will learn more from this weekend's game with UNC Greensboro. And we will learn more and more as December rolls along, with each game becoming more difficult.

 

[STL_Cat]

I’ll be honest, I don’t know how that team stayed within 20 of WVU. They looked awful. Like, worse than our exhibition opponents.

 

[TankedCat]

The reason I framed it that way, and the reason I wrote the original post the way I did, is because it is natural for people who know nothing about an opponent who comes in 0-7 to assume that team is pure garbage and not even competitive. That is not the case. I don't know if you listened to the broadcast last night or not, but this was pointed out by the commentators. Nevermind they led West Va much of the first half of their game and were within 10 of them with about 6 minutes to go in that game before the Mountaineers stretched it to 18 late. Nevermind that they nearly beat Princeton on Monday but lost on back to back 3-pointers late. These are things the casual fan doesn't know. That's why I framed it the way I did. Because those who are dead set on downplaying anything positive at this point can understand that a 46-pt win was a step in the right direction. We will learn more from this weekend's game with UNC Greensboro. And we will learn more and more as December rolls along, with each game becoming more difficult.

If we're going to get into it....

I think the issue here is you don't think a 46 point win can stand on its own and feel the need to pump on Monmouth as something more than an 0-7 team coming into Rupp.

Again, these types of efforts by the fans speak volumes to the state of the UK program at this moment in time.

My post on this was to simply document that I was around after a big win so the "where were you when we gave Monmouth a 46 point beatdown" statements are negated.

 

[Joneslab]

Think we got 30 good minutes last night.

We've been getting about 18-22, so in that way it was an improvement.

Problem is, when Kentucky goes bad we go really bad. The breakdowns begin to happen all over the place. Defensively mostly, but they'll also turn it over. They'll miss lay-ups. That snowball effect will start.

I remember the Randle/twins team well. That team had a hellacious time getting the avalanche to stop. They'd give up a three, then they'd turn it over, then they'd miss a shot...Just could not stop the bleeding.

This team has had a lot of that happen, which is how you get what we saw against Duke. That probably comes back to a lack of a leader, the absence of a guy who can step in and say, "No. This is not happening." One thing you'll notice about this team is that the upperclassmen are all pretty quiet guys. Even Quade seems kind of in his own head at times. When they huddle and talk it's usually Tyler Herro who has the floor. That's evidence of a team that doesn't yet have an alpha.

 

[IL Wildcat]

If we're going to get into it....

I think the issue here is you don't think a 46 point win can stand on its own and feel the need to pump on Monmouth as something more than an 0-7 team coming into Rupp.

Again, these types of efforts by the fans speak volumes to the state of the UK program at this moment in time.

My post on this was to simply document that I was around after a big win so the "where were you when we gave Monmouth a 46 point beatdown" statements are negated.

You're telling on yourself TankedCat. This preemptive "I was there when we blew out Monmouth" to excuse your premeditated slamming of the team in the event of a loss makes it very clear. And it doesn't count that you were here if you're only here to save face for later and be negative about the team. What you're telling me is that you think the team sucks and you want to say so. I think it's pretty clear where you're coming from on this. I understand your feelings. My brother and I (both lifelong UK fans) were complaining to each other over Thanksgiving about the way this team has played. We both lamented the Duke game. We both wondered where the team that played in the Bahamas went. We both complained about poor defense and not having the elite athletes we've had before. I hear you man. I haven't talked to my brother today yet, but I would say he would agree with me that last night's game (assuming he watched it), was a sign of life, a positive step.

Just for the record TankedCat, you can say that the game was a positive step without saying we're going to win anything. Is it really championship or bust? Would an Elite 8 be a good year? Or maybe a Final Four? If you can't be happy with a 46pt win and you already are preparing to blast the team after the next loss (which is sure to come), why follow this team? Seems a depressing pass-time.

 

[kl40504]

Yes, Monmouth was 0-7. Yes, UK was favored by 23. Yes, it should have been an easy win. (Although West Virginia only beat these guys by 18 and their worst loss was by 24)

However, I like what I saw from our team- forget Monmouth....
1. We played with more intensity and effort on defense. We forced turnovers in this one. We jumped into passing lanes mutliple times. 8 steals is pretty good.
2. We took better shots. We made shots. 6 different guys made a 3.
3. We shared the ball better. 15 assists still isn't great but it's a step in the right direction.

I liked the fact that we didn't let off the gas once the game was out of reach. The intensity remained high. The effort was still there. We won the first half 44-22. We won the second half 46-22. That is the most even effort of the season.

This is the first time in this early season we've seen the kind of intensity we saw in the Bahamas.

This is something to build on. I'll take it.

I agree. I saw a big improvement.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Think we got 30 good minutes last night.

We've been getting about 18-22, so in that way it was an improvement.

Problem is, when Kentucky goes bad we go really bad. The breakdowns begin to happen all over the place. Defensively mostly, but they'll also turn it over. They'll miss lay-ups. That snowball effect will start.

I remember the Randle/twins team well. That team had a hellacious time getting the avalanche to stop. They'd give up a three, then they'd turn it over, then they'd miss a shot...Just could not stop the bleeding.

This team has had a lot of that happen, which is how you get what we saw against Duke. That probably comes back to a lack of a leader, the absence of a guy who can step in and say, "No. This is not happening." One thing you'll notice about this team is that the upperclassmen are all pretty quiet guys. Even Quade seems kind of in his own head at times. When they huddle and talk it's usually Tyler Herro who has the floor. That's evidence of a team that doesn't yet have an alpha.

Reasonable post Joneslab. I might stretch the 30 good minutes to 34 or maybe 35. The worst stretch from an energy and defensive standpoint was from the 14-minute mark until about the 9-minute mark of the first half. We were up 17-6 at the beginning of that stretch and they had cut it to 22-18 at the end of that stretch. There is no excuse to let them climb back into the game at that point. So, I agree with you. And you're right about the way things have gone for this team early- one bad play leads to another, and another. The stretch I'm talking about here was stopped by a PJ Washington tip dunk which was followed by a Tyler Herro steal and trip to the FT line. I suppose that's the good thing about it- if this team can see a couple good plays, those tend to multiply as well.

As for leadership, I think it's got to be PJ, Quade, or Travis. I think Reid doesn't want to be that man yet, but he can be. And as for Herro, as he becomes more comfortable with himself, I think he will step into that role more.