For most of this season Kentucky's offense has looked phenomenal. Occasionally, they have been weirdly ... not ... and it has looked nothing like what you typically see.
I think you have to give South Carolina a lot of credit for the way they played defense tonight. They were really tough and physical guarding the ball and contesting everything Kentucky attempted near the rim. At the same time, you don't expect Kentucky to miss that many shots from outside.
Will have to go back and figure out how much this factored in, but did seem like UK played with much bigger lineups at time. It's a situation where they have three big men and Cal is trying to keep them all happy, find how they can help, etc., but I'm sure some will believe UK should have played smaller lineups at times.
Thought David made some good observations during the game about UK needing to finish through contact. Expect opponents to really body Kentucky moving forward and they will have to respond better than they did tonight.
Kentucky gave up a bunch of open three point attempts tonight. The concern in the big picture is that sometimes Kentucky feels like Gonzaga. Typically great offense, but are they tough enough against an athletic, physically mature team that can disrupt their typical stuff. Maybe it's just one loss. Road conference losses aren't something I ever put a lot of stock into on the surface.
Very interesting that John Calipari said pre-game that he thinks Adou Thiero should be playing based on what he's watched him do in practice. Read that like Calipari isn't going to take the blame for all of these lingering situations anymore.
Will be honest, this performance does impact my opinion in the big picture a little bit just because it reinforces some of the concerns that you might have had going in.
I think you have to give South Carolina a lot of credit for the way they played defense tonight. They were really tough and physical guarding the ball and contesting everything Kentucky attempted near the rim. At the same time, you don't expect Kentucky to miss that many shots from outside.
Will have to go back and figure out how much this factored in, but did seem like UK played with much bigger lineups at time. It's a situation where they have three big men and Cal is trying to keep them all happy, find how they can help, etc., but I'm sure some will believe UK should have played smaller lineups at times.
Thought David made some good observations during the game about UK needing to finish through contact. Expect opponents to really body Kentucky moving forward and they will have to respond better than they did tonight.
Kentucky gave up a bunch of open three point attempts tonight. The concern in the big picture is that sometimes Kentucky feels like Gonzaga. Typically great offense, but are they tough enough against an athletic, physically mature team that can disrupt their typical stuff. Maybe it's just one loss. Road conference losses aren't something I ever put a lot of stock into on the surface.
Very interesting that John Calipari said pre-game that he thinks Adou Thiero should be playing based on what he's watched him do in practice. Read that like Calipari isn't going to take the blame for all of these lingering situations anymore.
Will be honest, this performance does impact my opinion in the big picture a little bit just because it reinforces some of the concerns that you might have had going in.
