Cal finally said it

[LXWildcat]

After the game he said basically he knows the defense is not the best and that they will have to outscore teams to win.

Which I know they can score in bunches but it worries me going into the tournament giving up 90+ points to teams who haven’t scored that many points all season long. Have to also worry about an off night for the offense.

 

[Thats An Awful Idea]

After the game he said basically he knows the defense is not the best and that they will have to outscore teams to win.

Which I know they can score in bunches but it worries me going into the tournament giving up 90+ points to teams who haven’t scored that many points all season long. Have to also worry about an off night for the offense.

Wait... you actually needed Cal to tell you the defense wasn't good?

 

[UKWildcats1987]

When we have an off night we lose. Same with most teams.

 

[LXWildcat]

Wait... you actually needed Cal to tell you the defense wasn't good?

No but he actually admitted that they will have to outscore teams to win. Not sure if he’s done that at all this season

 

[LXWildcat]

When we have an off night we lose. Same with most teams.

But most teams can back that up with a defense and unfortunately I don’t think this one can. Hope I’m wrong and they go all the way but having 6 consecutive games of scoring 90+ points is going to be tough against some teams.

 

[MidseasonTweak]

All gas and no brakes. The best D is a nuclear offense.

 

[cats2010]

But most teams can back that up with a defense and unfortunately I don’t think this one can. Hope I’m wrong and they go all the way but having 6 consecutive games of scoring 90+ points is going to be tough against some teams.

They are capable though. Good defensive efforts against ole miss, @auburn, and first half against LSU. They don’t even have to be good for 40 minutes. Even just good defense for 10-15 minutes throughout the game would be enough for them on most evenings.

 

[Wildcats1st]

After the game he said basically he knows the defense is not the best and that they will have to outscore teams to win.

Which I know they can score in bunches but it worries me going into the tournament giving up 90+ points to teams who haven’t scored that many points all season long. Have to also worry about an off night for the offense.

We won’t go far without a defense. You don’t win 6 in a row in the tourney without the ability to shut teams down. Think about the nba and it’s wide open style. You can outscore your opponent in 4 of 7 but it’s more likely you will drop a couple games.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

But most teams can back that up with a defense and unfortunately I don’t think this one can. Hope I’m wrong and they go all the way but having 6 consecutive games of scoring 90+ points is going to be tough against some teams.

Most teams can't back up an off night defensively with UKs offense either. It works both ways.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Note to RR. We won!!🏀👍

 

[The_Answer1313]

Cal has mentioned this before. He's known this for weeks. He's even made comments about completely focusing on defense in practice.

Thing is acknowledging and realizing it being an issue is only part of it. Whether or not something can actually be done about it is another thing lol.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

WVU 2010 says hello. Just keep chucking 😂

 

[sefus12]

But most teams can back that up with a defense and unfortunately I don’t think this one can. Hope I’m wrong and they go all the way but having 6 consecutive games of scoring 90+ points is going to be tough against some teams.

Another way to look at it is that our “off night” offense is still better than most offenses. May as well lean into the offense as opposed to trying to make this team into a defensive stopper.

 

[Wildcats1st]

Note to RR. We won!!🏀👍

Yay we beat a losing team with a love triangle of gayness and a coach who can’t leave quick enough. We let that team hang 100 on us and almost pissed the game away.

 

[JwUKFan11]

Since the beginning of basketball you have had to outscore your opponent to win.

 

[Seth_C]

Literally, the *only* way to win is by outscoring the other team. That’s it. That’s the single requirement to win basketball. This is not a revelation.

 

[susan2361]

I guess I'm just stupid because I don't understand what is so hard about defense that this team can't/won't do it.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

I guess I'm just stupid because I don't understand what is so hard about defense that this team can't/won't do it.

We’ve seen them lock down vs Bama.

 

[Mash 2.4]

But most teams can back that up with a defense and unfortunately I don’t think this one can. Hope I’m wrong and they go all the way but having 6 consecutive games of scoring 90+ points is going to be tough against some teams.

I think this team may be learning that they can play good defense in stretches and still beat people because their offense is so good. For example the last few minutes today. There was some decent defense played. I’d still rather be really good offensively and able to turn it up defensively in crunch time than be offensively inept.

 

[The_Answer1313]

I guess I'm just stupid because I don't understand what is so hard about defense that this team can't/won't do it.

I mean sometimes you got players that are defensive specialists right? Guys that aren't good on offense but maybe they are a big that can block shots.

The inverse is also true. You can be really talented on offense but not be good on defense.

We just happen to have a bunch of those guys.

 

[chattanoogawildcat]

No but he actually admitted that they will have to outscore teams to win. Not sure if he’s done that at all this season

Last I checked, you have to outscore teams to win.

 

[MethodUK]

Agree with most of these replies. Have to outscore to win...

But a few kills, a few forced turnovers, some shots changed with length, and the energy from defense can win big games. Especially in March.

My question is what's the last team to win the Chip with poor defense?

 

[Fox2monk]

After the game he said basically he knows the defense is not the best and that they will have to outscore teams to win.

Which I know they can score in bunches but it worries me going into the tournament giving up 90+ points to teams who haven’t scored that many points all season long. Have to also worry about an off night for the offense.

Keep working, keep scoring and playing the right guys. Maybe, just maybe Cal switch up the defense here and there for a new look.

 

[Fox2monk]

Agree with most of these replies. Have to outscore to win...

But a few kills, a few forced turnovers, some shots changed with length, and the energy from defense can win big games. Especially in March.

My question is what's the last team to win the Chip with poor defense?

Probably a Carolina team if I had to guess. Not terrible but not ranked super highly.

 

[NociHTTP]

But most teams can back that up with a defense and unfortunately I don’t think this one can. Hope I’m wrong and they go all the way but having 6 consecutive games of scoring 90+ points is going to be tough against some teams.

I think this team doesn't WANT to step up the defense. So much laziness.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

After the game he said basically he knows the defense is not the best and that they will have to outscore teams to win.

Which I know they can score in bunches but it worries me going into the tournament giving up 90+ points to teams who haven’t scored that many points all season long. Have to also worry about an off night for the offense.

He has to embrace the pace. This is a NBA like team. Let them go. Back to the basket Ugo hopes are dead. We have depth and shooters galore. Let them try to catch us. If Dilly and Shep are off DJ and Reeves will get them. If they're off Theiro and Z will get them. Run baby run.

We are not going to beat any of the top teams trying to play lock down defense and half-court offense. Embrace what this team us. When I saw Reed is shooting over 50% from 3 I couldn't help scream shoot more!

Does anyone realize we haven't shot under 30% from 3 since at FL Jan.6. Most games we are over 40-50% from 3. Embrace who you are.

 

[chevyman 50]

Hard to understand why all the high price assistants and Cal cannot have an interior d.

 

[TankedCat]

some bad takes on here thinking our offense will carry us


Defense is what allows you to have an off night, without you'll have to be on fire. We were down 9 to Arkansas, 13 to Miss St

Miss St shot 51% in the game, Arkanasas shot 53%, Alabama 57%

All 3 scored above 95 points against UK.

even with the wins, its fools gold

UK is 96th in defensive efficiency

At least this team knows they have to score in bunches.

 

[bradscats]

While I agree the defense is bad, you do have to consider the fact that if Kentucky scores very quickly, the other team gets the ball back very quickly. Arkansas had 13 more possessions than their season average. The points per possession is the bigger concern. They had 0.14 more points per possession than their season average, which is actually significantly lower than they have averaged over their last three games where they scored 88 and 82. Still way more efficient than they have been on the road at any point in the league.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Seeding is going to be important for this team. Get a 3 or even a 2 seed and I think our speed, offense and tempo will blitz the lesser teams we face.

Our schedule the last 6 weeks has been pretty stiff. And with Arkansas playing out of their minds yesterday, the only real gimme game during this stretch was Vandy. I think UK might pound the first two teams they face in the tournament.

 

[The_Answer1313]

The wild thing is it would not surprise me one bit if we happen to go out in the tournament and it's our defense that plays well that game but the offense lets us down lol.

I've seen this happen many times to teams like this lol.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

After the game he said basically he knows the defense is not the best and that they will have to outscore teams to win.

Which I know they can score in bunches but it worries me going into the tournament giving up 90+ points to teams who haven’t scored that many points all season long. Have to also worry about an off night for the offense.

No point in worrying about it. They aren't winning anything of significance in the tournament. Enjoy what's left of the season. They are fun to watch. Frustrating as well. But no point in worrying about something you have zero control over.

 

[podgejeff_]

Something tells me life for us will be better when we get away from SEC officiating.

 

[irishcat1965]

WVU 2010 says hello. Just keep chucking 😂

Surely you’re not comparing the shooters on this team to Wall and company. The Wall team couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn compared to this team. Two different animals. So yes, this team needs to keep chucking.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

No I definitely know this team is insanely better at shooting than the wall team. But that team wasn’t horrible at threes, and they went like 3-23 and kept chucking. I just hope we don’t have a cold night during our 6 games to a title.

 

[mc140]

Most teams can't back up an off night defensively with UKs offense either. It works both ways.

The problem is in a single elimination tournament it will be hard to simply "out score" people for three weeks winning games 110-100.

 

[ukfan117]

Relying on offense without at least working on defense will bite this team. Let Kentucky go against Purdue or another team where the refs call everything for players like Edey. Arkansas's Battle for example at Rupp got a lot of FT attempts.

 

[chroix]

Relying on offense without at least working on defense will bite this team. Let Kentucky go against Purdue or another team where the refs call everything for players like Edey. Arkansas's Battle for example at Rupp got a lot of FT attempts.

They’ve made some slight adjustments on defensive end. Didn’t show up against Arkansas but the Bama and Auburn games showed progress on that front.

 

[UKAlum84]

We are basically backwards if we think we can win a championship without defense.

To move forward, you got to guard contest shots and focus on rebounding better.

 

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

They are capable though. Good defensive efforts against ole miss, @auburn, and first half against LSU. They don’t even have to be good for 40 minutes. Even just good defense for 10-15 minutes throughout the game would be enough for them on most evenings.

This seems like the best assessment to me. As long as a lot of the offense is firing (and with this team, it doesn’t have to be every player) then if they play lockdown defense during a few stretches, they can win. They don’t have to be great on defense the whole game; they just have to be good enough during stretches that they can put some cushion in the score. They especially have to be good during the 5-10minutes a game when the offense gets a little discombobulated.

An under appreciated aspect of this team is that sometimes they do get too sped up, too disorganized, but instead of letting that effect the entire rest of the game, they seem to be able to take a breath, gather themselves, and get back to playing pretty offense. Despite the criticism of Wagner, both Wagner and Reed seem to be good at settling themselves and then settling the team.