Please Explain to Me Why the Sky is Falling

[_ukcat]

The "Sky not Falling" if you wanting wins during the Season but if you wanting Titles as we should be last night tells the same story we have seen with Cal. Cal is going to play certain guys no matter how they are performing in the game to showcase them. Each year I keep hoping that going to change but it isn't and last night game showed that. Cal's lack of coaching in general but especially the last 4 minutes of a Game is just mind blowing. Yes he can't make the shots or hit the FTs on the court but a Good college coach can figure out how to win close games. So when Tourney time gets here the better coached team is going to win and advanced and it not going to be UK with Cal making the coaching decisions.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

The "Sky not Falling" if you wanting wins during the Season but if you wanting Titles as we should be last night tells the same story we have seen with Cal. Cal is going to play certain guys no matter how they are performing in the game to showcase them. Each year I keep hoping that going to change but it isn't and last night game showed that. Cal's lack of coaching in general but especially the last 4 minutes of a Game is just mind blowing. Yes he can't make the shots or hit the FTs on the court but a Good college coach can figure out how to win close games. So when Tourney time gets here the better coached team is going to win and advanced and it not going to be UK with Cal making the coaching decisions.

If it was just not being a good floor coach, but putting individuals over team is hard to take! If we can see who is playing the best, you know he can.

 

[JwUKFan11]

Sky isn't falling but I think most are disappointed to come as close as we did and lose while having our top 2 recruits play terrible. Nothing wrong with wanting us to finish that game and make better decisions.

 

[WeWant9]

It’s always going be frustrating to lose a game when you’re up double digits in the second- it just is.

I did like the fight of this team. They could’ve easily folded when ku came out hot. There’s things to be excited for the future, but some things that raise an eyebrow of concern; but will have to let it play out.

People have been saying Wagner and Edwards have that dog in them. I really haven’t seen it yet, but if they do, this should be an outcome that pisses them off and gets them in the gym. There’s no moral victories, but you can for sure build off this game from the positives and negatives.

I think the season comes down to getting 2 of the 3 bigs back and them living up to their hype. The small ball line up will only get us so far vs the top teams.

I’ll bet dollars to donuts we end up in ku’s region come March. I would gladly take a rematch with our bigs.

 

[LTDukeFan]

• Our top two recruits we 1-18 for 5 points
• Our senior shot 28%
• One of the top 5 players in the nation went for a 20+/20+
• A guy averaging 1 ppg hits 5 threes and a career high 23 points
• Their second best player had a triple double
• We had no one taller than 6'8" play against one of the best big men in the game
• We had only 8 scholarship players

Read all that and you have to think we were beat badly. But we weren't. Everyone thought Kansas would roll us before the game, they didn't.

Dillingham had two horrible defensive possessions late, but shot the lights out early. Shep had a bad possession to end it, but was one of the best players on the court all night.

We got Reeves two really good looks for 3 to tie it in the last minute, but he missed. We actually ran plays for 3s on our last two possessions, we almost never do that. KU just jumped the lane on the double screen to Reeves so it went to the other side a Shep played like a freshman for the first time in the game on the forced 3.

We were right there to beat the supposedly best team in America down 3 players all at the same position. You play them with one of those 3, we win. Harris doesn't shoot the game of his life, we win. You play them with the same teams in a month, we win.

Even Cal showed some much need changes.

• We ran two plays for Reeves at the end.
• He played Shep late over the more highly rated DJ
• Ran some OOB plays, even had Thiero on the lob on one, but the inbounder missed him
• Had a good game plan to let Harris beat us, the guy just stepped up to the challenge
• Kept the offense flowing most of the game. I felt like we got tired late and we slowed down, but the offense only had 2-3 of those everybody stand and watch someone dribble possessions

I'm no Cal lover - so put away Ol' Reliable, been a UK fan since the Sutton era. There were a lot of bad in there too. Pulling Shep for one mistake, taking Dillingham out when he couldn't miss, giving DJ too much run. But many of the thing I and others have been upset at him over he improved on last night. I think the late stall ball was due to fatigue and Shep need a rest before the end was due to the same. We lost 20 points when he went out, but they have to have breaks at the pace we played.

Maybe I'm naïve, but I was very pleased with what I saw. I know that's not fitting with the tone of the board today, so bash away.

I don’t think your post is optimistic. I think it is very realistic. You guys are the real deal.

I’m not a fan of Kentucky, but I do love a good basketball game. The KU/UK game was a great game.

Few teams will be able to match the speed of your Wildcats. A little tighter on D and the game goes the other way.

A few years ago Zion pounded UK and this board was pretty deflated — I think that was an early game in the season. You guys went on to a very long run in the Tournament. Right?

The worst guy on the court for you guys was the one holding the clipboard and he didn’t look bad.

You guys are slotted to finish 4th in the SEC?! Yah, that’s a little low. Last night was very surprising indeed.

LTDF

 

[ULisnotmyman]

Elaborate on that. The style of play we saw last night was not what we had been seeing. Cal didn't grind the game down at the end either. They made a few more plays than we did down the stretch and had a reliable inside presence. So, what are you referring to?

Oh idk, substitution patterns that relate to throwing shit against a wall and hoping it sticks. Leaving guys on the floor for 30+ minutes who were not ready to play. Mainly leaving 2 guys on the floor for about 6-8 minutes too long while we all watched our lead dwindle.

Basically winning the game at hand not being his #1 priority, the same gripe I’ve had with him for the past 7 years.

 

[Mdnerd]

A lot of you are wildly mistaken in your thinking the disappointment and anger is all about the KU game. That game was just a continuation of the losing we’ve been witnessing for many years now.

If we were competitive every year and we just drop a tough one, you don’t see the level of anger you’re currently witnessing.

Just look at our record in the Champions Classic over the last 7 or 8 years and you should begin to understand. That’s a microcosm of how things have gone in the whole.

 

[dl51344]

I don’t know which one of the 3 you are talking about that would have stopped Dickinson without fouling out. This is a reach in my opinion.

But we would have had 15 fouls to give and he definitely would not have had the stats he ended up with.

 

[Jamal Mercer]

The coach is the main concern. We will have the talent, the size, the athleticism, etc…

Shooting is a concern to a little bit lesser extent.

BUT, when you have a player that is in the zone, like dillingham was Tuesday night, you don’t, under any circumstance, take him out of the game. That was insanity.

He inserts Wagner who promptly bricks two shots and Dillingham didn’t make another field goal the rest of the game (I think).

Just baffling moves like that should be the main concern.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

The "Sky not Falling" if you wanting wins during the Season but if you wanting Titles as we should be last night tells the same story we have seen with Cal. Cal is going to play certain guys no matter how they are performing in the game to showcase them. Each year I keep hoping that going to change but it isn't and last night game showed that. Cal's lack of coaching in general but especially the last 4 minutes of a Game is just mind blowing. Yes he can't make the shots or hit the FTs on the court but a Good college coach can figure out how to win close games. So when Tourney time gets here the better coached team is going to win and advanced and it not going to be UK with Cal making the coaching decisions.

You can’t let facts and reasoning into a good ole CHC whine.

There’s several that will now make personal attacks towards you and some will want you banned.

But carry on, there’s millions on your side.

The haters will fit into a VW bus. 😆

 

[Jamal Mercer]

You can’t let facts and reasoning into a good ole CHC whine.

There’s several that will now make personal attacks towards you and some will want you banned.

But carry on, there’s millions on your side.

The haters will fit into a VW bus. 😆

Not sure you replied to the comment you think you did 🤣🤣

 

[STL_Cat]

In a vacuum you’re not wrong. There is a lot to be encouraged about from Tuesday night. Kentucky fans are just tired of losing these games.

 

[Seth_C]

Because the majority of your list is just typical of the last 5 or 6 years under Calipari? It isn't falling, dude. It collapsed. The sky is sitting on the ground and some of us were hoping for signs it was going to be picked up. Every time I see a post like this I just wonder how stupid some of you are. It's like you would sit around for 5 years of cancer diagnosis and then go "Oh my, what's wrong? Why am I dying?"

 

[bbncal02]

In a vacuum you’re not wrong. There is a lot to be encouraged about from Tuesday night. Kentucky fans are just tired of losing these games.

This. I'm tired of losing these games. But I can also see we have a really good team this year. We will get a rebound game Friday night and then have to focus on getting better.

My only worry about this year is hero ball. These are good teammates and they like each other, but in the heat of the moment, will they forget that and try to get theirs?

 

[CatsFanIL]

Every loss hurts our seeding. Makes it harder to be national champions.

I hope this guy doesn't look at the seeds of the Final 4 teams last year...

 

[track42]

Because we are 28-35 against ranked teams since 2015.

 

[CincyUKFan]

Because we are 28-35 against ranked teams since 2015.

Wonder how good Miami is? People are assuming that we have no problem with them because it’s at home. It’s as if they haven’t been watching. Home doesn’t mean what it used to!

 

[Smashcat]

😉

 

[Jamal Mercer]

It’s probably not falling, but you better beat Miami if you want to start building a resume for a high seed. Otherwise we are back in the 5-7 seed range. With one of our most talented teams in years.

 

[cornbreadnmilk]

Because we are 28-35 against ranked teams since 2015.

Pretty much this.It's not about losing one game but the pattern against good teams.

 

[WildcatforLife1965]

Every loss hurts our seeding. Makes it harder to be national champions.

This is not brought up enough. It does us no good to play in these marquee games if we don’t start winning more of them. They already look for a reason to shaft Kentucky, losing just makes it easier. And it’s not so much the sky is falling as it is we continue to see the same things every year. We could start a milk carton campaign for all the guys that come here, feign an injury and never set foot on the floor. We are scarred from it happening in the past. Each season used to fill me with hope that this time we have what we need to win. Having a 14 point lead in the 2nd half against the supposed #1 team was exciting but we couldn’t close the deal. Each time that happens we have flashbacks. And we aren’t bad fans for pointing out what we see as continued mistakes made by our Coach. The underlying problem here is that the fans, the passionate Kentucky basketball fans are not on the same page as the head coach. And we never will be. I don’t watch two NBA games a year. Kentucky is Kentucky because we only count success and success is titles, final fours, #1 rankings, being feared by our opponent, coming into opposing arenas and leaving after we beat your teams ass, that’s what I want back. The individual accolades that come with success will be there. You can’t sacrifice wins to get some guy noticed. You play the game to win. So my feeling is not of dread it’s disappointment that once again we fell short.

 

[DreadLox]

My wife has become a tutor. One of her kids when she first met him was a couple of grade levels behind his classmates. Over the course of several years, she stuck with the kid who eventually went from Ds to As and is now in one of the tech specialty tracks in high school.

Time and patience, kids. Lots and lots of patience. People don't have switches.

 

[Mike-D]

• Our top two recruits we 1-18 for 5 points
• Our senior shot 28%
• One of the top 5 players in the nation went for a 20+/20+
• A guy averaging 1 ppg hits 5 threes and a career high 23 points
• Their second best player had a triple double
• We had no one taller than 6'8" play against one of the best big men in the game
• We had only 8 scholarship players

Read all that and you have to think we were beat badly. But we weren't. Everyone thought Kansas would roll us before the game, they didn't.

Dillingham had two horrible defensive possessions late, but shot the lights out early. Shep had a bad possession to end it, but was one of the best players on the court all night.

We got Reeves two really good looks for 3 to tie it in the last minute, but he missed. We actually ran plays for 3s on our last two possessions, we almost never do that. KU just jumped the lane on the double screen to Reeves so it went to the other side a Shep played like a freshman for the first time in the game on the forced 3.

We were right there to beat the supposedly best team in America down 3 players all at the same position. You play them with one of those 3, we win. Harris doesn't shoot the game of his life, we win. You play them with the same teams in a month, we win.

Even Cal showed some much need changes.

• We ran two plays for Reeves at the end.
• He played Shep late over the more highly rated DJ
• Ran some OOB plays, even had Thiero on the lob on one, but the inbounder missed him
• Had a good game plan to let Harris beat us, the guy just stepped up to the challenge
• Kept the offense flowing most of the game. I felt like we got tired late and we slowed down, but the offense only had 2-3 of those everybody stand and watch someone dribble possessions

I'm no Cal lover - so put away Ol' Reliable, been a UK fan since the Sutton era. There were a lot of bad in there too. Pulling Shep for one mistake, taking Dillingham out when he couldn't miss, giving DJ too much run. But many of the thing I and others have been upset at him over he improved on last night. I think the late stall ball was due to fatigue and Shep need a rest before the end was due to the same. We lost 20 points when he went out, but they have to have breaks at the pace we played.

Maybe I'm naïve, but I was very pleased with what I saw. I know that's not fitting with the tone of the board today, so bash away.

Nobody said the sky was falling. We simply watched Cal blow another game with horrible in game line-ups, and he tried to take the air out of the ball again at the end of the game. The result was an 11-1 finish by Kansas to beat our asses. It's the same song and dance. Now take that game, and then glue in the last 3 seasons with 1 tournament win combined. Now glue in that we are something like 2-8 against Duke and Kansas in the Champions classic. Now you kinda start to see why some fans would be upset? Okay, cool.

 

[Mike-D]

I don’t think your post is optimistic. I think it is very realistic. You guys are the real deal.

I’m not a fan of Kentucky, but I do love a good basketball game. The KU/UK game was a great game.

Few teams will be able to match the speed of your Wildcats. A little tighter on D and the game goes the other way.

A few years ago Zion pounded UK and this board was pretty deflated — I think that was an early game in the season. You guys went on to a very long run in the Tournament. Right?

The worst guy on the court for you guys was the one holding the clipboard and he didn’t look bad.

You guys are slotted to finish 4th in the SEC?! Yah, that’s a little low. Last night was very surprising indeed.

LTDF

I think we should be a top 10 team this year, especially when we get some bigs healthy. We were picked to finish 4th in the SEC. I'm not mad about it, though. We haven't won the SEC since 2019-20. Everyone should be in a "show me" phase.

 

[crestcat]

My wife has become a tutor. One of her kids when she first met him was a couple of grade levels behind his classmates. Over the course of several years, she stuck with the kid who eventually went from Ds to As and is now in one of the tech specialty tracks in high school.

Time and patience, kids. Lots and lots of patience. People don't have switches.

Since Cal. Installed the revolving door, time is not one of the commodities we enjoy

 

[mdlUK.1]

Easy to explain why the sky is falling. CCC!!!

You misspelled LOD

 

[rolaid]

Tell you why I’m concerned- we got a pt guard who peaked his junior year of High School - we got supposedly the #1 pick in NBA next year and we are scratching our head saying we’ve had 25 Freshman come through here better than him
That’s why I’m concerned

 

[davekersey]

Had we won the game there would still be people in here saying yeah but. You see misery is a magnet and it will draw the negatives and this board is the place for that. I'm sticking with 11 and 1 to finish out this calendar year

 

[The_Answer1313]

At the end of the day we have played three games.

We overperformed in one of them
We underperformed in one of them
and in the third game we performed exactly as the line would suggest we would.

We haven't shown we are anything more than a top 25 team but we also we haven't shown that we should be rated any lower either.

The only issue is seeding is important and this is yet another big game where we had a massive lead in and couldn't close the deal out. People are going to get frustrated by the lack of execution in these big games and coming out far too often lately on the wrong side.

 

[fisherscatfan]

A lot of you are wildly mistaken in your thinking the disappointment and anger is all about the KU game. That game was just a continuation of the losing we’ve been witnessing for many years now.

If we were competitive every year and we just drop a tough one, you don’t see the level of anger you’re currently witnessing.

Just look at our record in the Champions Classic over the last 7 or 8 years and you should begin to understand. That’s a microcosm of how things have gone in the whole.

Exactly correct. If this KU game was played in 2016 everyone, myself include, would have been disappointed but VERY excited. 3 seven footers out one being expected to be a top player. However after watching several years of UK poor execution down the stretch, Cal’s strange substitution patterns, forcing his chosen few into situations when their current game performance does not warrant the playing time and seeing it happen yet again in a very winnable game, many are simply in the stage of needing to see changes in Cal’s approach before being excited.

 

[thedahc]

We keep losing game after game you keep making excuses and seeing great things in the future. Don't you think it is time to face reality? Count the times that Cal has had a lead late in a big game and blown it in the last 8 years. Now count the times he has trailed late in a big game and won it in the past 8 years. See my point?

What's the count? You wouldn't just be letting your feelings guide your opinions, so you have obviously done the research. What's the count?

 

[UKNothinButNet]

Because we are 28-35 against ranked teams since 2015.

Not exactly the Gold Standard.

 

[NociHTTP]

You are correct. Not many Ls this year. Especially when we get some size back.

I wish Cal would hold a press conference everyday about Big Z to pressure the NCAA idiots to let him play

Don't forget about Bradshaw. I don't think either of them ever contribute much, if they even play. The onus is on Cal to prove that he's not going to let players hold the program hostage. Remember that bullcrap he spewed a few years back?

 

[blue cincy]

I am not happy with a loss. No doubt.

I am happy about the way we are playing, way he coached (did not hear RUN!!!!) all game or GO!!!!!!!!! all game. I was happy with they way the guys (even that shot bad) were not afraid of the moment. They did not shrink totally. Edwards went real weak a few times to the basket (thinking all college teams would play like the cupcakes). I really want DJ to dominate but he might not for quite a while. He just seems to be behind on offense. Defense is there. Sheppard is better at running the offense right now. I like Sheppard coming off the bench but man if we continue to (against top teams) start as slow as we did Tuesday night, then he may need to start. Adou will be the biggest loser when we get (if we get) Bradshaw and Big Z. He has a motor, he is slow but knows how to get to the ball. He is working so hard. Dilly is great off the bench as a spark plug. Edwards needs to stop feeling out the game and just start taking the game to the competition.

 

[WildcatforLife1965]

My wife has become a tutor. One of her kids when she first met him was a couple of grade levels behind his classmates. Over the course of several years, she stuck with the kid who eventually went from Ds to As and is now in one of the tech specialty tracks in high school.

Time and patience, kids. Lots and lots of patience. People don't have switches.

I see what you are saying. I don’t fault the kids as much as I do their coach. And I’m not a hater. I just think his idea of what’s going on here at Kentucky differs from 99.5% of the fanbase. Is there common ground? He hangs his hat on draft picks which soothes his ego. We hang ours on championships and cutting nets. If we can’t agree on that then it’s time we part company. Again, I’m not a hater, it’s philosophical differences and people that can’t agree separate sometimes.

 

[DreadLox]

I see what you are saying. I don’t fault the kids as much as I do their coach. And I’m not a hater. I just think his idea of what’s going on here at Kentucky differs from 99.5% of the fanbase. Is there common ground? He hangs his hat on draft picks which soothes his ego. We hang ours on championships and cutting nets. If we can’t agree on that then it’s time we part company. Again, I’m not a hater, it’s philosophical differences and people that can’t agree separate sometimes.

I remember watching his first big speech to the crowd at Midnight Madness when he talked about being a "players first" program. Howls of approval. I didn't know what he meant. The crowd obviously didn't know what he meant. But everyone was told. This isn't a pig in a poke situation. Nobody wanted to read the contract. They seemed to think "players first" meant "get the first recruits". Instead it's "do what's in the player's interest first." The implications of that extend further than people seem to want.

 

[kywildcats8]

The coach is the main concern. We will have the talent, the size, the athleticism, etc…

Shooting is a concern to a little bit lesser extent.

BUT, when you have a player that is in the zone, like dillingham was Tuesday night, you don’t, under any circumstance, take him out of the game. That was insanity.

He inserts Wagner who promptly bricks two shots and Dillingham didn’t make another field goal the rest of the game (I think).

Just baffling moves like that should be the main concern.

Reed was playing really well in the 1st half and he took him out also- no idea why

 

[mdlUK.1]

Reed was playing really well in the 1st half and he took him out also- no idea why

He got 2 early fouls, didn’t he?

 

[kywildcats8]

He got 2 early fouls, didn’t he?

I believe the guard from Kansas did also, Harris and they left him in- why Cal does this no matter what, I have no idea- I see other coaches leave their guys in

 

[CincyUKFan]

Tell you why I’m concerned- we got a pt guard who peaked his junior year of High School - we got supposedly the #1 pick in NBA next year and we are scratching our head saying we’ve had 25 Freshman come through here better than him
That’s why I’m concerned

Accurate and succinct.

Wagner will be lucky to go second round. Edwards will only stay in the first round on potential. Please don’t let these guys play 25-30mpg…