Knew they'd be desperate, didn’t know they'd be Golden State

[IL Wildcat]

2 big things about this A&M game...
1. Our defense is obviously a big problem, and that includes rebounding. That's got to be what we address first and foremost.

2. Come on! This A&M team came in shooting 27% from three but made 12 today and shot 50% in the 2nd half. Apparently, the Aggies not only were desperate, they became the Golden State Warriors.

I hate losing, with a passion. This is exactly the kind of thing UK deals with on a regular basis. These teams, these fans, make their season if they can beat Kentucky. Truly, they should be ashamed of themselves, their team, their coaches, their fans... not of winning today but of playing so terribly in their previous games. These guys scored 53 and 57 in their last 2. And they get 97 today. And they'll be back to the 50s in the next game.

As for UK, I think we're gonna be fine in the long term. Gotta defend. Gotta rebound. Gotta win.

 

[STL_Cat]

we have to play better defense period. Or we’ll make every team look like Golden State. And good lord, get a damn rebound.

 

[jameslee32]

This years GSW. They shot 40%.

 

[cats2010]

Cal will continue to make things easy for other coaches by never mixing things up. Coaches know how we are going to defend and prepare their teams accordingly. It’s not really that hard to figure out why we struggle defensively as much as we do.

 

[CincyUKFan]

2 big things about this A&M game...
1. Our defense is obviously a big problem, and that includes rebounding. That's got to be what we address first and foremost.

2. Come on! This A&M team came in shooting 27% from three but made 12 today and shot 50% in the 2nd half. Apparently, the Aggies not only were desperate, they became the Golden State Warriors.

I hate losing, with a passion. This is exactly the kind of thing UK deals with on a regular basis. These teams, these fans, make their season if they can beat Kentucky. Truly, they should be ashamed of themselves, their team, their coaches, their fans... not of winning today but of playing so terribly in their previous games. These guys scored 53 and 57 in their last 2. And they get 97 today. And they'll be back to the 50s in the next game.

As for UK, I think we're gonna be fine in the long term. Gotta defend. Gotta rebound. Gotta win.

I get what you’re saying, but Kansas, Duke, UNC, Nova when they were hot, anyone who is ranked number 1 at a given time, etc. deal with the same thing.

Our D is atrocious. But our offense in OT was atrocious as well.

If the overtime is a glimpse into how we’ll play when teams slow us down and make us play half court offense, that’s not good 😬

 

[bbncal02]

I get what you’re saying, but Kansas, Duke, UNC, Nova when they were hot, anyone who is ranked number 1 at a given time, etc. deal with the same thing.

Our D is atrocious. But our offense in OT was atrocious as well.

If the overtime is a glimpse into how we’ll play when teams slow us down and make us play half court offense, that’s not good 😬

Cal has NEVEE been a good half court offensive coach. Ever. As much as we gripe about his style, if teams slow him into a half court game it becomes very hard for us.

 

[CatOfDaVille]

Look, I agree that the defense needs a ton of work, but the points against us is misleading. We play so fast that there are a ton more possessions in our games this year vs years past, so naturally we'll see higher scoring games. It's also why we score 90 pts/gm. We are 7th in the country in possessions/gm. The only major team higher than us is Arizona.

Better metrics to look at are opponent's FG %, 3 pt %, and defensive efficiency. Definitely areas we need to improve upon, but we definitely aren't garbage on defense.

You'll get no argument from me on rebounding though.

 

[CincyUKFan]

Look, I agree that the defense needs a ton of work, but the points against us is misleading. We play so fast that there are a ton more possessions in our games this year vs years past, so naturally we'll see higher scoring games. It's also why we score 90 pts/gm. We are 7th in the country in possessions/gm. The only major team higher than us is Arizona.

Better metrics to look at are opponent's FG %, 3 pt %, and defensive efficiency. Definitely areas we need to improve upon, but we definitely aren't garbage on defense.

You'll get no argument from me on rebounding though.

I’ve seen a couple people say our defense wasn’t bad. But defensive rebounding is a huge part of defense. Rebounding opponents misses is how you complete a defensive possession.

So I’d say, yes, we are garbage defensively because not only do we fail to defend the three and give up tons of straight line drives, but we often fail to finish the job defensively by not grabbing rebounds as well.

 

[K_TIME]

1. I agree Aggies got hot in last five minutes of regulation and that turned rhe tide. Shooting step back threes off dribble was great offense….and Dilly / Shep aren’t long dudes to distract
2. But Cal refusal to zone and mix up defense just kills us. They ran ball screen wjtb a big essentially the entire second half and it was comical how bad we were on that action. Our big would be out of position giving Aggie guards an open lane, we never trapped , we were etc….run the same action again and again to no avail

 

[MdWIldcat55]

I didn’t expect to win down there and was actually impressed by the young Cats’ fight and clutch shooting.

1. Remember, the 2015 team after destroying Kansas, UCLA, Louisville when they were good and UNC only won in Double OT against AM down there. And that was lucky. It’s a tough place to get a W.

2. They are one of those teams with a bunch of 24 year old 6-year transfers. The heart of Kentucky's team are kids still two months into college play. This will help them grow up.

3. A&M played so far over their heads all you can do is laugh. That’s basketball. They were desperate, fired up by a home crowd, and a couple guys played the games of their life.

Glad the Cats have one extra day before playing again. This is the perfect game to spend a lot of time watching on film, breaking down things that need to get better, and having a couple focused practices.

I think the Cats will play well Wednesday.

 

[Titpwhami2014]

I’m typically surprised at the end of the game and look at the other team’s box score. The 3 point percentage is usually lower than what it felt like in real time. I’ve determined it’s because of the timing of the opponent’s makes. Usually it’s a barrage at the very beginning (like yesterday, which puts us on our heels), or in crunch time. Much like last year’s Kansas State game, if it’s a close game, and we are close to pushing a small lead to an insurmountable margin — the other team will usually make a 3 (or several) to prevent that from happening.

Some will say “well that’s just basketball.” Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. And I’m sure there are “clutch stats” that I haven’t seen that will negate my take. But my goodness, our opponents’ clutch rating is off the charts this year. 🤬 It oftentimes feels like a video game that’s rigged by the computer. Like yesterday with Taylor—I knew he was hitting those last 2-3 jumpers when he let them go. Same with the Kansas game with DaJuan Harris (who is an average shooter) and the UNC game with RJ Davis. I know we’re a bad defensive team, but the guy on the other team still has to make the shot. And they almost always do against this team.

 

[UKAlum84]

I'd be surprised if this loss puts us out of a top 10 ranking.

Reason: Texas A&M home court advantage, sec conf game, and refs did make some biased calls.

I think its gonna be a bumpy ride, would not be surprised if the top seed in sec has some sec losses this year.

 

[docholiday51]

2 big things about this A&M game...
1. Our defense is obviously a big problem, and that includes rebounding. That's got to be what we address first and foremost.

2. Come on! This A&M team came in shooting 27% from three but made 12 today and shot 50% in the 2nd half. Apparently, the Aggies not only were desperate, they became the Golden State Warriors.

I hate losing, with a passion. This is exactly the kind of thing UK deals with on a regular basis. These teams, these fans, make their season if they can beat Kentucky. Truly, they should be ashamed of themselves, their team, their coaches, their fans... not of winning today but of playing so terribly in their previous games. These guys scored 53 and 57 in their last 2. And they get 97 today. And they'll be back to the 50s in the next game.

As for UK, I think we're gonna be fine in the long term. Gotta defend. Gotta rebound. Gotta win.

You could see this coming a mile away. A&M had been playing so bad they were over due to play like they did.

On the positive side it is a minor miracle that we took them to overtime .We had chances to win but just couldn't get the bucket we needed from about the 6 minute mark till the 3 minute mark. UGO had his best game as a Cat, he is going to have to be on the floor on a regular basis.

On the other side of the coin. we can't rebound with a physical team and only get stops when the other team misses shots. High ball screens and straight line drives we can't seem to stop. Honestly I'm not sure we can/will fix either or that Cal will try anything different to addresss the issues.

 

[UKAlum84]

our high school coach used to stress "Hands" so much on defense.

You just don't see that language used as much these days.

Coach Cal should tell them on the perimeter to always have a hand in the ball handler's face.

 

[Disappointed Cat]

2 big things about this A&M game...
1. Our defense is obviously a big problem, and that includes rebounding. That's got to be what we address first and foremost.

2. Come on! This A&M team came in shooting 27% from three but made 12 today and shot 50% in the 2nd half. Apparently, the Aggies not only were desperate, they became the Golden State Warriors.

I hate losing, with a passion. This is exactly the kind of thing UK deals with on a regular basis. These teams, these fans, make their season if they can beat Kentucky. Truly, they should be ashamed of themselves, their team, their coaches, their fans... not of winning today but of playing so terribly in their previous games. These guys scored 53 and 57 in their last 2. And they get 97 today. And they'll be back to the 50s in the next game.

As for UK, I think we're gonna be fine in the long term. Gotta defend. Gotta rebound. Gotta win.

It is not about A & M, if we continue to rebound and play defense the way we did today....we will make every opponent look like the Golden State Warriors. Don't expect to win when you give up 25 offensive rebounds.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

You could see this coming a mile away. A&M had been playing so bad they were over due to play like they did.

On the positive side it is a minor miracle that we took them to overtime .We had chances to win but just couldn't get the bucket we needed from about the 6 minute mark till the 3 minute mark. UGO had his best game as a Cat, he is going to have to be on the floor on a regular basis.

On the other side of the coin. we can't rebound with a physical team and only get stops when the other team misses shots. High ball screens and straight line drives we can't seem to stop. Honestly I'm not sure we can/will fix either or that Cal will try anything different to addresss the issues.

Cal pisses me off when he refuses to try something different defensively. It’s been an issue his entire time here! We just allowed Taylor and Radford to catch the ball and get us in ISO. Allowed high ball screen with no rotation over and over again. Baffling that a HOF coach couldn’t try anything else to slow that down.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I didn’t expect to win down there and was actually impressed by the young Cats’ fight and clutch shooting.

1. Remember, the 2015 team after destroying Kansas, UCLA, Louisville when they were good and UNC only won in Double OT against AM down there. And that was lucky. It’s a tough place to get a W.

2. They are one of those teams with a bunch of 24 year old 6-year transfers. The heart of Kentucky's team are kids still two months into college play. This will help them grow up.

3. A&M played so far over their heads all you can do is laugh. That’s basketball. They were desperate, fired up by a home crowd, and a couple guys played the games of their life.

Glad the Cats have one extra day before playing again. This is the perfect game to spend a lot of time watching on film, breaking down things that need to get better, and having a couple focused practices.

I think the Cats will play well Wednesday.

The 5 and 6 year players is going to be a bigger problem for Cals young teams than we realize. Young talent can get by 3rd and 4th year players. But when you get guys who are mid 20s and have a half decade of college ball under their belts, youthful talent doesn't always win.

 

[Jakerz]

it’s time we stop acting like these teams are playing out of their minds and say what it really is. Inept defense

 

[HalHR2500]

I didn’t expect to win down there and was actually impressed by the young Cats’ fight and clutch shooting.

1. Remember, the 2015 team after destroying Kansas, UCLA, Louisville when they were good and UNC only won in Double OT against AM down there. And that was lucky. It’s a tough place to get a W.

2. They are one of those teams with a bunch of 24 year old 6-year transfers. The heart of Kentucky's team are kids still two months into college play. This will help them grow up.

3. A&M played so far over their heads all you can do is laugh. That’s basketball. They were desperate, fired up by a home crowd, and a couple guys played the games of their life.

Glad the Cats have one extra day before playing again. This is the perfect game to spend a lot of time watching on film, breaking down things that need to get better, and having a couple focused practices.

I think the Cats will play well Wednesday.

TAM missed 49 FGA (33-82) so they weren’t on fire

They just got whatever they wanted shot wise in every possession

 

[Cats192]

I get what you’re saying, but Kansas, Duke, UNC, Nova when they were hot, anyone who is ranked number 1 at a given time, etc. deal with the same thing.

Our D is atrocious. But our offense in OT was atrocious as well.

If the overtime is a glimpse into how we’ll play when teams slow us down and make us play half court offense, that’s not good 😬

Yup. All the top teams deal with it. And all the top teams also lose because of it.

In the past week: Purdue lost, Kansas lost, UT lost, Arizona lost. Houston lost twice. Kansas should have lost twice.

When you say "but all the top teams deal with it" it reads like you're implying the other teams are always overcoming it. They're not. It's certainly not a Kentucky only thing. But we aren't the only program losing those games, either.

 

[Cats192]

TAM missed 49 FGA (33-82) so they weren’t on fire

They just got whatever they wanted shot wise in every possession

It's moreso the 12/32 from 3. 38% on 32 shots is really good. Some of that is bad defense on our part.

Some of that is them hitting ridiculous 3's.

 

[ala_kat2]

I get what you’re saying, but Kansas, Duke, UNC, Nova when they were hot, anyone who is ranked number 1 at a given time, etc. deal with the same thing.

Our D is atrocious. But our offense in OT was atrocious as well.

If the overtime is a glimpse into how we’ll play when teams slow us down and make us play half court offense, that’s not good 😬

Almost all of Cal’s teams struggle in half court offense because, IMO, he prioritizes up-tempo and getting out on the break. Problem is, if you can’t play decent defense and defensively rebound well you’re stuck in a half court game.

 

[yoshukai]

Cal pisses me off when he refuses to try something different defensively. It’s been an issue his entire time here! We just allowed Taylor and Radford to catch the ball and get us in ISO. Allowed high ball screen with no rotation over and over again. Baffling that a HOF coach couldn’t try anything else to slow that down.

Come on man . You know that he is in the HOF because of recruiting. Not actual game coaching.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Come on man . You know that he is in the HOF because of recruiting. Not actual game coaching.

Of course I do lol

 

[DreadLox]

Yup. All the top teams deal with it. And all the top teams also lose because of it.

In the past week: Purdue lost, Kansas lost, UT lost, Arizona lost. Houston lost twice. Kansas should have lost twice.

When you say "but all the top teams deal with it" it reads like you're implying the other teams are always overcoming it. They're not. It's certainly not a Kentucky only thing. But we aren't the only program losing those games, either.

I watched the replay. It didn't even vaguely resemble the general comments here. The game was rated a toss-up. It went to overtime. What do people imagine "toss-up" means? It implies that there's not much difference between the teams.

People predict things like 2 losses in the next 7 games. What kind of loss, then, won't send posters into a tizzy when it happens? Surely an OT loss in a game labeled a toss-up ought to be a tizzy-free loss.

But it isn't. It doesn't keep Moral Horror level hand-wringing at bay. It seems to encourage it. Nobody celebrates a loss, but jeez-louise people, a little bit of perspective. As the woman to her ululating brother said, "Ach, Conor, have a bit of wit." C'mon RRers, have a bit of wit.

 

[bigbluedon]

2 big things about this A&M game...
1. Our defense is obviously a big problem, and that includes rebounding. That's got to be what we address first and foremost.

2. Come on! This A&M team came in shooting 27% from three but made 12 today and shot 50% in the 2nd half. Apparently, the Aggies not only were desperate, they became the Golden State Warriors.

I hate losing, with a passion. This is exactly the kind of thing UK deals with on a regular basis. These teams, these fans, make their season if they can beat Kentucky. Truly, they should be ashamed of themselves, their team, their coaches, their fans... not of winning today but of playing so terribly in their previous games. These guys scored 53 and 57 in their last 2. And they get 97 today. And they'll be back to the 50s in the next game.

As for UK, I think we're gonna be fine in the long term. Gotta defend. Gotta rebound. Gotta win.

They got a ton of baskets on layups because our guards can’t stay in front of anyone. They try to help too much and the go for every shot fake at every position. Pitiful.

 

[ManitouDan]

well they were. 38 % from 3. ,and 63% from the line ... we didnt get some unreal effort , we are just not that great . College ball is a new thing though , you dont have to be that great to be top 10 . Our D is non existent , and I;d say we are top ten . But with Cal you have to have talent that waaaaay above the other team to truly have a great year , I'm not sure these guys are committing to winning as to looking good and collecting NIL . Or simply just overrated in our starvation for a good team .

 

[IUfanBorden]

we have to play better defense period. Or we’ll make every team look like Golden State. And good lord, get a damn rebound.

This. Same with IU. Our fans always say---"teams laways shoot lights out vs us.."---Well, yeah. That's because they are wide the **** open.

 

[Mike-McD]

I’m typically surprised at the end of the game and look at the other team’s box score. The 3 point percentage is usually lower than what it felt like in real time. I’ve determined it’s because of the timing of the opponent’s makes. Usually it’s a barrage at the very beginning (like yesterday, which puts us on our heels), or in crunch time. Much like last year’s Kansas State game, if it’s a close game, and we are close to pushing a small lead to an insurmountable margin — the other team will usually make a 3 (or several) to prevent that from happening.

Some will say “well that’s just basketball.” Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. And I’m sure there are “clutch stats” that I haven’t seen that will negate my take. But my goodness, our opponents’ clutch rating is off the charts this year. 🤬 It oftentimes feels like a video game that’s rigged by the computer. Like yesterday with Taylor—I knew he was hitting those last 2-3 jumpers when he let them go. Same with the Kansas game with DaJuan Harris (who is an average shooter) and the UNC game with RJ Davis. I know we’re a bad defensive team, but the guy on the other team still has to make the shot. And they almost always do against this team.

You're right, it's uncanny the way these guys hit clutch shots on us in crunch time. It's the kind of thing that sends you home in March.

 

[HalHR2500]

Don’t remember this narrative in 1996 or 2012

LOL

 

[JoeBeeHall]

Seems as though Ky always plays AT tx am.

 

[CincyUKFan]

I watched the replay. It didn't even vaguely resemble the general comments here. The game was rated a toss-up. It went to overtime. What do people imagine "toss-up" means? It implies that there's not much difference between the teams.

People predict things like 2 losses in the next 7 games. What kind of loss, then, won't send posters into a tizzy when it happens? Surely an OT loss in a game labeled a toss-up ought to be a tizzy-free loss.

But it isn't. It doesn't keep Moral Horror level hand-wringing at bay. It seems to encourage it. Nobody celebrates a loss, but jeez-louise people, a little bit of perspective. As the woman to her ululating brother said, "Ach, Conor, have a bit of wit." C'mon RRers, have a bit of wit.

People do have perspective. They look at this Texas A&M team scoring 55 and 53 points, respectively, in their two losses before playing us and ask, "How in the hell do we give up 97?" That's perspective. And an argument that says, "Well, we play at a different pace, so you can expect the opponent to score more against us with the added possessions" doesn't hold water. Why not? Because 1) you're talking about a 40+ point differential and 2) they gained 25 extra possessions on the offensive glass (the frenetic pace had nothing to do with those extra possessions).

 

[TheJuddDome]

I’m typically surprised at the end of the game and look at the other team’s box score. The 3 point percentage is usually lower than what it felt like in real time. I’ve determined it’s because of the timing of the opponent’s makes. Usually it’s a barrage at the very beginning (like yesterday, which puts us on our heels), or in crunch time. Much like last year’s Kansas State game, if it’s a close game, and we are close to pushing a small lead to an insurmountable margin — the other team will usually make a 3 (or several) to prevent that from happening.

Some will say “well that’s just basketball.” Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. And I’m sure there are “clutch stats” that I haven’t seen that will negate my take. But my goodness, our opponents’ clutch rating is off the charts this year. 🤬 It oftentimes feels like a video game that’s rigged by the computer. Like yesterday with Taylor—I knew he was hitting those last 2-3 jumpers when he let them go. Same with the Kansas game with DaJuan Harris (who is an average shooter) and the UNC game with RJ Davis. I know we’re a bad defensive team, but the guy on the other team still has to make the shot. And they almost always do against this team.

Well said.

 

[DreadLox]

People do have perspective. They look at this Texas A&M team scoring 55 and 53 points, respectively, in their two losses before playing us and ask, "How in the hell do we give up 97?" That's perspective. And an argument that says, "Well, we play at a different pace, so you can expect the opponent to score more against us with the added possessions" doesn't hold water. Why not? Because 1) you're talking about a 40+ point differential and 2) they gained 25 extra possessions on the offensive glass (the frenetic pace had nothing to do with those extra possessions).

Perspectives need to be tested against the real world. There's a line in The Lady Vanishes where the "noted brain specialist" was found wrong. "The theory was correct. " he said, "The facts were different."

If you've never seen the Hitchcock version of The Lady Vanishes, do yourself a favor and watch it. Just don't tell me that I got the lines wrong.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Cal will continue to make things easy for other coaches by never mixing things up. Coaches know how we are going to defend and prepare their teams accordingly. It’s not really that hard to figure out why we struggle defensively as much as we do.

Yep. They can count on us switching that ball screen every time even when we obviously don't have the personnel to play that switch. It's insane to keep doing it. Especially when refs were calling every touch as a foul.

I bet anything opposing coaches laugh their a$$ off about knowing we'll just keep doing the same thing no matter if it works or not.

Guess next up is hiring a defensive coordinator. That way cal just doesn't really coach at all.

 

[CincyUKFan]

Perspectives need to be tested against the real world. There's a line in The Lady Vanishes where the "noted brain specialist" was found wrong. "The theory was correct. " he said, "The facts were different."

If you've never seen the Hitchcock version of The Lady Vanishes, do yourself a favor and watch it. Just don't tell me that I got the lines wrong.

You play a lot of dodgeball? Because you did a fine job of dodging the actual content of my post.

 

[Mike-McD]

You play a lot of dodgeball? Because you did a fine job of dodging the actual content of my post.

My advice, set him to ignore. He thinks he's super smart, but he really never says anything.