***Kentucky vs Kansas Official Game Thread**

[EliteBlue]

Not time to relax yet, as I wouldn’t be surprised to see a less sloppy version of Kansas in the second half. I absolutely love the fight our guys are showing so far though! Win or lose, this will be something to build on for our young team, but hopefully we can finish this off.

If we don’t back off and keep pushing tempo then I think they’ll still be sloppy. It’s hard to match the amount of speed we have at every position and average guards (what 90% of teams have other than maybe 1 guard) hate feeling sped up….even more so for forwards and bigs.

Just have to gang rebound and keep applying intensity and offensive pressure. You don’t have to be lock down defensively if you can score fast and often. It’s defense through the offense bc most teams don’t have the overall firepower to keep up over 40 minutes so you ultimately need less stops. No different than the 90mph spread no huddle offenses in football except in football if the other team can extend drives on offense and get off the field on D they still get to rest and have control. In basketball it’s possession for possession so it’s even more dangerous.

 

[megablue]

Shooting FT’s at a decent clip

Mos Def !!!

 

[IowaMuse]

What have your hawkeyes ever won?

Lots of wrestling titles. Lots.

 

[ukcatz12]

100% this ^^^ ... he's human.

It's always funny to me how much of this board doesn't get that. People claiming Cal benched Dilly after his run when he was clearly gassed and needed a breather. Dilly obviously didn't do what Cal told him and got a talking to on the bench because of it.

 

[kywildcat41086]

He told cal to STFU

Cal has always let his players mouth off to him so that’s nothing new.

 

[bbncal02]

Cal’s going to give Wagner his minutes no matter how bad he plays. After all, he’s somebody’s son.

We gotta get him going. Have to. But again, it doesn't have to be tonight.

 

[ukfan1622]

Nah. He is fine.

I didn't say he wasn't fine; he is. I'm just saying he is better when he is playing with other shooters. Probably everybody is I guess, like baseball players being better hitters with runners on base.

 

[ck-2]

Cal needs to be the coach and tell players their roles and make them play within that role for the betterment of the TEAM. This is something he has refused to do for YEARS. Wagner is a driver, his perimeter shot isn’t there yet. Adou is a garbage man. Rebound, drive, and put backs is his strengths.
Please don’t let Wagner shoot us out of this season
And it seems like Reeves chokes on the big stage. I hope he proves me wrong in the second half. Edwards is weak and timid.

 

[dickieVIII]

DJ and Edwards attack the basket, if you dont have a shot, kick it to Rob or Reed. This is DIFFERENT. GO CATS

 

[TheDude73]

Cal’s going to give Wagner his minutes no matter how bad he plays. After all, he’s somebody’s son.

UK fans would rather see Cal think about the son of the one player UK fans really care about (hint: Shep).

 

[CrazyCat74]

Edwards just needs to slow the game down and he's a difference maker for us when he gets comfortable

 

[CatPhight]

Edwards is the most talented player on the floor but lacks any physicality and effort.

So far looks a lot like EJ Montgomery 2.0

 

[KampusKat]

Need Dilly, Reeves, and Shep starting this 2nd half. If we can keep the rest of the Jayhawks in check (except HD) i think we will look good

 

[blackcat714]

Gotta get your best decision maker in on that last offensive possession (Sheppard), mix with Dilly, Reeves, Edwards and Thiero and hold for last shot. Went too early. That’s on Cal.

Agree Cal should had Reed in for that last play cost us some points

 

[crawfords corner]

We scored 48 points in that half and Reeves was 1 for 8 from the field overall and 1 for 6 from 3. We're going to need him in the 2nd half.

 

[RunninRichie]

So far looks a lot like EJ Montgomery 2.0

Damn that's accurate and sad.

 

[dickieVIII]

Just wait until we get 1, 2, or even 3 seven footers! #9 GO CATS

 

[SophiesDad]

Edwards and Wagner need to give some of their NIL $ to Thiero tonight

 

[MidseasonTweak]

Mitchell has been a nice bright spot. Quietly making plays at the right time.

 

[Lempface]

We gotta get him going. Have to. But again, it doesn't have to be tonight.

Exactly. He went a half missing everything including a FT. Not your night son. Focus on driving, layups, defense, setting up your teammates. Get back to the gym and sure up the shot later. He had 3 bad shots early in the clock that given to someone else might have had the lead closer to 14-15.

 

[fisherscatfan]

Wagner absolutely let Kansas back in with that ridiculous shot with 10seconds on the shot clock.

 

[LukaszObrzut]

I know his shot looks bad- and it’s not going in but I’ll still ask- is there any hope that he has some form?

 

[ck-2]

So far looks a lot like EJ Montgomery 2.0

Sadly that’s dead on.

 

[NociHTTP]

Already said Edwards needs to pull his head outta his ass. Add Wagner to that list as well. We’ve got to get something from these guys.

Edwards is struggling because they're forcing him to his left, and he has a slow release. Smart defense. DJ they're leaving him wide open because he can't shoot.

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

I’d rather have Mitchell out there than Edwards. Edwards has given us nothing this game (season?).

Agree.

 

[dickieVIII]

This is happiest I have seen Darlene since TJ Max had 60% off sale in 2020

 

[ukfan1622]

Dilly has to start. Has to. And Sheppard has to see more minutes than Wagner. Wagner can’t shoot. Sheppard does everything well. This is a no-brainer Cal, don’t f*#k it up. You have a title team this year. Play your best players.

But Wagner is our best defender and best traditional point. Wagner just needs to focus on driving more, which he is very good at and lay off the threes. All three are good; it's a good problem to have and all will see plenty of minutes.

 

[KentuckyDad]

That’s fine. With his pedigree no doubt he can handle some time on the bench to stop taking bad shots. It would happen to others. Teaching moment.

I agree bench him if this continues but he should get more than one game before he gets removed the starting 5. He was good in Canada.

 

[CatPhight]

damn...I'm headed to the bar...

 

[LmdCat]

We gotta get him going. Have to. But again, it doesn't have to be tonight.

We need to keep feeding the hot hand. This isn't about getting Wagner going. This team needs to take what the game is giving them and not worry about individual players. If we are worried about individual players, we should be focusing on Reeves before Wagner.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

Self is gonna attack the post every possesion in the second half and he will throw some junk ass defense out to try and slow Kentucky down

 

[UKSanders]

What the hell is was the excuse for taking Delly out to put Wagner in the game. He has given us nothing Delly turned the ball over attempting make something happen for a teammate. Wagner jack up an early 3 and Cal claps for him. What the hell?

Oh. Is an 18 year old tired after 3 minutes of high energy play? I recall running wind sprints for much longer than 3 minutes.

Cal should have never pulled him until he missed or made a stupid forced play. Or if he asked for a sub out.

I often disagree with Cal’s coaching, but I actually thought it was the right decision.

Dilly had picked up a second foul, and the team was still up big. As well as he’s playing, he was more important to save for the second half.

 

[jameslee32]

An argument can be made to stick with what's working even when Bradshaw, Ugonna and Zvon get healthy. The chemistry is good, the speed is fast paste but the rebounding suffers some.

 

[SophiesDad]

This is happiest I have seen Darlene since TJ Max had 60% off sale in 2020

Should’ve seen how happy she was last night

 

[blue cincy]

Called reverse psychology

Just said what all of us thought. The way we looked unprepared. No issues with that. Reed and Dilly made the difference, set the tone, Adou just decided he was going to play hard. Edwards and Wagner has slipped away so far this game. Moment is bigger than them so far.

 

[kywildcat41086]

We all knew if Thiero was given minutes he will produce and here he is producing.

 

[Lazlo7]

I’m not just salty I really am glad Flopingson didn’t choose UK

Dude looks like he is a robot created by coach K. He has Dukie written all over him and the back of his jersey. I am surprised K did not come out of retirement just to coach him.

 

[KentuckyDad]

If I’m Kansas I’m literally just practicing entry passes at HT lol. If they start making better ones they’d probably be winning right now.

 

[KyCatFan]

What are the odds Cal starts the best 5 from the first half? I'm sure he will mess us up trying to get Edwards and Wagner going. Needs to be:

Sheppard
Dillingham
Adou
Burks/Reeves
Mitchell

Reeves is the better shooter but we had some magic out there when Mitchell drew the double, passed to Burks, and when help came he passed to the wide open shooter for 2 straight 3's.

 

[sammysdad05]

That end of the half can’t be understated. Needed to be up 10+ to weather their storm of scoring coming and our inevitable dropping back down to earth shooting.