MJ thoughts on Auburn win
- Thread starter rick64
- Start date
I listened to him yesterday on this.
Here is the thing though - he is right - we always have one or two of these 'back against the wall' games where the fans are really doubting the programs chances and the players pull off what is considered an upset.
ok, not to be a continual debbie downer but those games always seem to serve as beacons of hope on an otherwise concerning trajectory, just in time to get people pumped that UK is built for March.
But you have to go back 10 years for that to happen. If past history is an indicator of future success, UK will have some bright spots, and a couple of low spots, do enough to get a bye in the SEC tournament but not enough to win it, get a 4 seed in the tourney and then end up losing a heartbreaker to a team they have no business losing to (think Kansas St).
I mean I hope I'm wrong but its Charlie Brown kicking the football territory here.
Here is the thing though - he is right - we always have one or two of these 'back against the wall' games where the fans are really doubting the programs chances and the players pull off what is considered an upset.
ok, not to be a continual debbie downer but those games always seem to serve as beacons of hope on an otherwise concerning trajectory, just in time to get people pumped that UK is built for March.
But you have to go back 10 years for that to happen. If past history is an indicator of future success, UK will have some bright spots, and a couple of low spots, do enough to get a bye in the SEC tournament but not enough to win it, get a 4 seed in the tourney and then end up losing a heartbreaker to a team they have no business losing to (think Kansas St).
I mean I hope I'm wrong but its Charlie Brown kicking the football territory here.
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Agreed. We won a HUGE game last year at UT that proved to be fool's gold.
One thing we can count on when Cal wins a big game: The cockiness returns in spades. Swaggy Cal berates all the Bennies. Then, he'll be brought back down to Earth in the next couple games.
I hope the Auburn game proves to be the exception to what has become the norm over the past several seasons.
Ole Miss our defense held them to their lowest output all season long
Auburn our defense held them to their second lowest output all season long.
I think what you need to do is just take things with a grain of salt here. These are STEPS in the right direction. It COULD signify a massive turnaround on defense. Or it could just be a solid two game stretch.
We play some pretty good teams to close out the season. We'll also more than likely play some really good teams in the SEC tournament. Let's see where we are at in March.
Auburn our defense held them to their second lowest output all season long.
I think what you need to do is just take things with a grain of salt here. These are STEPS in the right direction. It COULD signify a massive turnaround on defense. Or it could just be a solid two game stretch.
We play some pretty good teams to close out the season. We'll also more than likely play some really good teams in the SEC tournament. Let's see where we are at in March.
I still think this team doesn’t make the second weekend. 🤷♂️
That said, I’d love to be wrong.
That said, I’d love to be wrong.
“I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was” . RIP Toby Keith.
The only way Kentucky wins at a championship level is somehow DJ and Edwards become true top level like they were supposed to be. Maybe Bradshaw too. Why? Because Cal is going to play them.
I'm not a fan of the cockiness, I mean I love it when its merited, it just pissed me off when its not. Like what the hell does he have to be cocky about after losing 3 straight in Rupp? Feel good about the win, talk about how UK can build on it and he's getting buy in
but FFS , stop acting like the world owes you an apology after your second noteworthy win of the season and its February 17.
taking Cal with a grain of salt is not possible, especially when he acts like its 2016.
The team could be on putting in some defensive work, they could be at a place where he realizes who can contribute and who can't and will commit to it
Will never be a fan of trying to figure out if we have a title contender in mid February.
I tend to agree. We are gonna struggle against the first round opponent but win.
Then we will lose a close game to the round of 32 opponent. All of Cals tourney losses are close losses.
I'd say WVU n 2010 was closest to a blowout loss. We had a chance to cut it to 2 with 10 seconds left though if a 3 pointer went in (laughing as I type this) but I think 7 is the worst margin.
My hope here is that we actually have some truly talented guards and wings, which I don't think we had in recent years. Not all that high on Ty or Cason. Grady was injured, Wheeler was not very great.
I look at it this way, Reeves was our only offensive threat last year and we leaned on him to basically save us. But not we have Dilly and Reed. You have DJ and Edwards who are getting better. And you have two improving sophomores in Ugo and Thiero.
What we don't have now, is Oscar. But I'd rather have capable guards and wings than a capable big. I think this team is in a better shape than the last 3 of the last 4 seasons, with the IQ team being an unknown.
I look at it this way, Reeves was our only offensive threat last year and we leaned on him to basically save us. But not we have Dilly and Reed. You have DJ and Edwards who are getting better. And you have two improving sophomores in Ugo and Thiero.
What we don't have now, is Oscar. But I'd rather have capable guards and wings than a capable big. I think this team is in a better shape than the last 3 of the last 4 seasons, with the IQ team being an unknown.
I would agree with all of that.
well I thought Cason had a lot of potential. He'd play on this years team.
I keep thinking this but then I have nightmares about us getting absolutely blasted on the boards by like Uconn or Houston in this thing lol.
Agree. Two years ago it was the KU beat down on the road, and we ended the season losing to a 15 seed.
Last year in addition to the UT win on the road in Jan, we had a big win over a good Arkansas team on the road to end the regular season. We immediately followed that up by losing to Vandy in the SEC tournament, barely beating Providence, and then losing to KSU in the round of 32.
Anyone who is anything more than cautiously optimistic at this point is setting themselves up for disappointment based on the last few years.
Not really have to go back 10 years.
7 years ago (6 tournaments ago) we made a run to E8, only stopped by a corrupt ref and still took OT
Then 5 years ago we made a run to E8, also ended in OT also with at least questionable refs.
And 4 years ago we had what looked like a contender to make a run before tourney was cancelled.
Otherwise I get your point and don’t disagree with it.
I'm actually not sure if he would. I think he'd find himself on the bench with not a whole lot of opportunities, simply because you can't keep Reed and Dilly off the floor.
Or at least he shouldn't be in over them. I think Cason has talent, but he was one of those guys who didn't show much as a freshman and probably should have/could have come back for a year.
yea but I don't recall the Fox /Monk team as fitting the mold of head scratching losses. Maybe I have selective memory but there was always an optimism that this team could do some damage. I'm really focusing on the teams that got off the rails mid season and people were looking for reasons to be optimistic with a particular win
yea, I"m not saying he'd start by any stretch but I think he'd get some play. I think he had some defensive prowess. Maybe I'm looking back with blue colored glasses.
Yep...everything is leading to our performance in March, and I too, am worried about not getting out of the first weekend.
Yeppers. I wonder how different last year would've went had Welch been on staff. Still. We have more scorers this season than last year. I think we can make some noise if the defense continues to trend up.
Just not true that you have to go back 10 years. You can wallow in whatever you want. But that doesn't change the facts. We have had 1 bad year. '20 had turned into a great team. Won the SEC by 3 games. I know the SEC doesn't matter for a whine unless we don't win it. At least a 2 seed, probably a 1 after we won the SEC tourney that wasn't meant to be. '21 was just awful. Even though it was Covid, it was for everyone else too.
'22 was a great season and a 2 seed. We got upset.
'23 was a good, not great, season and we were seeded about right and got beat by a better team. Probably overachieved with the talent.
'24 is still being written. Cal always has a team playing it's best by the end of the season and this appears to be no exception. Some years we get there sooner than others. This year hasn't had a full compliment of players except for 1 game.
And matt jones is never right about anything. A broken clock has him beat twice a day.
Now, imagine you have Calipari's responsibility. And right in the middle of the season, three 7 footers have to be accounted for. They haven't been in practices. The other players aren't used to them. None of the 7 footers have ever played with any of them. (Well, 1 played with 1.). Maybe you'll snap your fingers and everything will be copacetic. Because, after all, it's something every coach has to do 5 or 6 times a decade. Everybody knows how to do that. Oh, and you can't increase your practice times. And the season's games don't hit pause to let everybody on your team catch up. And though the innertubes are howling for your head and berating your players venomously and daily, you're expected to be the adult in the room and pretend that nothing bad is happening.
Yeah agreed, he certainly wasn't bad or anything. But just kind of.. didn't do a whole lot got me. I think if I'm ranking our our guards and wings over the last 4 years.. I'm putting Shep, Dilly and this year's Reeves probably in my top3. Maybe Ty sneaks in there. Maybe Grady or T. Clarke, but they were injured.
Actually I think if you power ranked every player from the past 4 teams.. you'd find this years team would probably land pretty favorably.
2023 was not a good season. They won nothing that mattered and lost 12 games. That is in no definition a good season at Kentucky.
We had our backs against the wall, NCAA tournament lives at stake, and pulled out a win against UF, top 5 in Kenpom at the time, in our last home game in 2013. We went on to lose to Vandy in the very next game by 20 points lol
This season has a different feel. I've been puzzled by the lack of defense prior to last week. If these guys have figured out they have to play hard at both ends of the floor then this team is set up for March.
Last time I checked he was well compensated for that responsibility.
That person is not a fan whatsoever. They have to be either a fan of another team or they are employed by Cal. They have ZERO credibility.
Lately Cal has rarely had any team playing its best at the end. What have you been watching?
you're paid handsomely to not only be the adult in the room but to be able to deal whatever adversity you face, especially if its by your own creation
you're not following what I"'m saying, I've explained it in a previous post. I'm not talking about every season the past 10 years, just the ones that followed the pattern we are in now.
heck, against every Cal team , this team would rank favorably. They have no shortage of team and individual player-leading statistics, they just have a major Achilles heel.
Wheeler. It very great???? He was awful. How can you put wheeler and great in the same sentence unless it’s the “greatest loser”. He was awful he helped bring our program to where it is. Him and Devin askew. Cal whiffed big time on pg decisions.
Wheeler actually wasn't bad at getting the ball to the rest of the team. Not great, but certainly not bad.. abd I'd argue that he's been better at this than DJ has to date.
Wheelers problem though, was that he wasn't good at anything else. No shooting or scoring. Not good at defense. Poor decision making at time, undersized so he had a tough time with better guards.
When he had wings around him, he was actually effective. When he had a healthy TY and Grady, things were going well. But he NEEDS talent around him.
For every good play getting the ball to a teammate for a play he made 3 bone head errors whether TO, Ill advised shot, etc. He was a net negative. You’re right wheeler good at nothing else.
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