Please Explain to Me Why the Sky is Falling

[HICATFAN]

• 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’m Proud of this TEAM… and I don’t care what ANYONE Says !!!

AlohaCat

 

[_ukcat]

Again, it not the Sky is Falling is just we see the same thing we see have seen in the past in Cal's lack of coaching ability. We keep hoping things will change but it not. Championships is what matters to UK fans and no team going to win a Championship by playing 6 perfect games It going to take coaching at some point in a Tight game against a Quality team and we see how going that to end.

 

[TankedCat]

I was told this game wasn't a must win by any means, because we were without our bigs, and we almost freaking won. We almost actually blew them out with our guard play but they clawed back and were able to expose our injuries quite nicely.

I'm just annoyed that Cal can't seem to win these games in November and December anymore, and that's another issue. But this team is going to be fine.

Cal isn't held accountable for it. He's conditioned too many people to believe "we'll be alright" come February

The reality is this team did OK against a good Kansas team, but the reality is also that UK fans are tired of this expectation that winning is a process.

Hold Cal accountable for losses in November and December, demand that he have continuity in his teams year over year.

Everyone needs to stop acting like we won the national championship because he recruits some highly rated freshmen .................that ultimately contribute little to the overall success of the program and then leave after 1 year.

We're not going to win meaningful games until the coach of Kentucky Basketball prioritizes winning meaningful games. Recruiting highly rated freshmen does not translate to prioritizing winning.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

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

While things are going good and you are ahead late just leave it alone! Seemed to have the game at that point and the coach couldn't stand taking himself out of it. Had to jump around and take a player out that was doing fine and helping us maintain the lead. Just hard to overcome him sometimes.

 

[LittleRockHawk]

I'm a Kansas fan and have never posted here. I was at the game and thought UK looked very good for this early in the season. You guys have a ton of talent and depth.

Here is my question, would any of our starters other than Dickinson start for Kentucky right now? I don't think so but would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[_ukcat]

"Here is my question, would any of our starters other than Dickinson start for Kentucky right now? I don't think so but would love to hear your thoughts".

And there in is the Problem. Cal gets Talent but can't Coach in close tight games against teams with good talent and a Coach that knows how to Coach

 

[LetDueceLoose97]

Love how people say Harris was only averaging a point a game … like they haven’t seen him play for three years.

 

[yoshukai]

I was told this game wasn't a must win by any means, because we were without our bigs, and we almost freaking won. We almost actually blew them out with our guard play but they clawed back and were able to expose our injuries quite nicely.

I'm just annoyed that Cal can't seem to win these games in November and December anymore, and that's another issue. But this team is going to be fine.

And March for that matter. Who was the last “good” team we’ve beaten in the ncaa tournament? I’m thinking 3 seeded Houston?

 

[yoshukai]

Which team from the last 8 years has the talent of this one? None Edit: 2017 did

We got good recruiting rankings on quantity, not quality.

We relied more on transfers we wouldn't have recruited out of HS for the most part, not impact freshmen.

This team is not like the others. Maybe 2017, 2019 and 2020 can compare and they were very successful

I'm just optimistic by nature and thought this undermanned team looked better than the supposed best team in the country last night. Fatigue and lack of height hurt.

This is a very fair post. I feel much the same way. I love the makeup of our team . It’s the guy in the suit that I have no confidence in . I just don’t think Cal can pull out close games . In his prime he was less than an average bench coach. And he’s well past his prime . I‘m hoping he proves me wrong because I believe he’s dug in like Jim Boeheim and isn’t going anywhere for a while.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

I'm a Kansas fan and have never posted here. I was at the game and thought UK looked very good for this early in the season. You guys have a ton of talent and depth.

Here is my question, would any of our starters other than Dickinson start for Kentucky right now? I don't think so but would love to hear your thoughts.

Not sure about Harris. Right now I would take Sheppard for sure at guard. I haven't seen Harris or Dillingham enough to know which I would take.

 

[TankedCat]

This is a very fair post. I feel much the same way. I love the makeup of our team . It’s the guy in the suit that I have no confidence in . I just don’t think Cal can pull out close games . In his prime he was less than an average bench coach. And he’s well past his prime . I‘m hoping he proves me wrong because I believe he’s dug in like Jim Boeheim and isn’t going anywhere for a while.

3-4 years ago, Cal stil had options he could use as leverage against UK, granted fewer than he had 8 years ago

I don't think he has any options now - at least not in the sense of landing a lateral or better job. There will always be an Iona or UMass in his future if he wants it but his recent performances has put a damper on people beating a path to his door with a blank check.

 

[bowfreak]

Fans are tired of losing. Just win games and quit making excuses.

 

[CatsFanIL]

Cal isn't held accountable for it. He's conditioned too many people to believe "we'll be alright" come February

The reality is this team did OK against a good Kansas team, but the reality is also that UK fans are tired of this expectation that winning is a process.

Hold Cal accountable for losses in November and December, demand that he have continuity in his teams year over year.

Everyone needs to stop acting like we won the national championship because he recruits some highly rated freshmen .................that ultimately contribute little to the overall success of the program and then leave after 1 year.

We're not going to win meaningful games until the coach of Kentucky Basketball prioritizes winning meaningful games. Recruiting highly rated freshmen does not translate to prioritizing winning.

Since this is actually a pretty decent post, hopefully my response will lead to some sort of respectful debate, unlike many other interactions currently going on, but I digress.

Of course we all want UK to win every game. But let's be real, going 38-1 only resulted in 1 game that whole season really mattering - the loss to Wisconsin. We won "consistently" that season, but then lost the game that mattered. We want perfection, but we also need perspective. I posted this in another thread, but worth mentioning here as well...

FAU lost a November game last year to Ole Miss - FAU goes onto the Final 4

San Diego St lost TWO games in November last year - Arizona and Arkansas- SDSU goes onto the Final 4

Miami lost last year in November by 18 points to freakin' Maryland. You guessed it, Miami went onto the Final 4

And ready for this one....

UCONN had a stretch in the season where they went 2-6 - say that again: 2-6, but they went on to WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!

I have no idea why there's so much misplaced obsession on here with losing to really good teams early in the season. That just means some of us are completely lacking perspective on real point of these games.

Now, if you want to bash Cal's team performances in the NCAAT, trust me, I'll lead the charge in that - completely underachieving and no excuse. But last year's National Champ had a 2-6 run in the middle of the season last year - let's keep things in perspective

 

[gracetoyou]

• 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.

Because some of our fans are irreconcilably bitter & want to complain .

 

[CatsFanIL]

"Here is my question, would any of our starters other than Dickinson start for Kentucky right now? I don't think so but would love to hear your thoughts".

And there in is the Problem. Cal gets Talent but can't Coach in close tight games against teams with good talent and a Coach that knows how to Coach

Does that include the 2012 national championship game vs Kansas?
2014 close win over Pitino's Louisville team in NCAAT?
2019 Kentucky close win over Izzo's MSU team in Champions Classic?
2018 win over UNC in the CBS Classic?
2016 win over UNC in CBS Classic?

And so on. Sure, he absolutely has losses that have stung BBN. But to claim "he can't coach in close tight games" is just wrong. He's done it time and time again. And yes, absolutely he's lost in those games as well, fully admit that

 

[CB3UK]

 

[bowfreak]

Does that include the 2012 national championship game vs Kansas?
2014 close win over Pitino's Louisville team in NCAAT?
2019 Kentucky close win over Izzo's MSU team in Champions Classic?
2018 win over UNC in the CBS Classic?
2016 win over UNC in CBS Classic?

And so on. Sure, he absolutely has losses that have stung BBN. But to claim "he can't coach in close tight games" is just wrong. He's done it time and time again. And yes, absolutely he's lost in those games as well, fully admit that

The 2012 final was never in doubt. Any closeness in that game was 100% due to Cal doing what Cal does and taking the air out of the ball.

That being said, I don’t disagree with your premise.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

• 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.

The skyy isn’t falling, but we are tired of Kentucky losing games like this all the time. Kentucky should have won Monday, up 6 with 3:40 left in the game Kentucky should be winning that game

 

[TankedCat]

Since this is actually a pretty decent post, hopefully my response will lead to some sort of respectful debate, unlike many other interactions currently going on, but I digress.

Of course we all want UK to win every game. But let's be real, going 38-1 only resulted in 1 game that whole season really mattering - the loss to Wisconsin. We won "consistently" that season, but then lost the game that mattered. We want perfection, but we also need perspective. I posted this in another thread, but worth mentioning here as well...

FAU lost a November game last year to Ole Miss - FAU goes onto the Final 4

San Diego St lost TWO games in November last year - Arizona and Arkansas- SDSU goes onto the Final 4

Miami lost last year in November by 18 points to freakin' Maryland. You guessed it, Miami went onto the Final 4

And ready for this one....

UCONN had a stretch in the season where they went 2-6 - say that again: 2-6, but they went on to WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!

I have no idea why there's so much misplaced obsession on here with losing to really good teams early in the season. That just means some of us are completely lacking perspective on real point of these games.

Now, if you want to bash Cal's team performances in the NCAAT, trust me, I'll lead the charge in that - completely underachieving and no excuse. But last year's National Champ had a 2-6 run in the middle of the season last year - let's keep things in perspective

I think you are missing the larger issue though. You're cherry picking teams out of 50 - 60 teams that had a bad start and then had a good season but you also understand they were the exception. So your logic is based on Kentucky, losing games early and turning it around, and being the *exception* every year. You're literally arguing that you have a stretch of losses and still win the national championship

As for the 38-1, yea, you can focus on the 1, but had they started the season off badly, and ended up being a 6 seed or whatever, then odds are UK wouldn't have even made it to the final game.

So your perspective is flawed IMO. If you look at the history of the tournament, the final four is filled with teams who have very few losses, and certainly even fewer who aren't prepared to win big games in November and December.

So from the way I read your post, your saying its possible the 40:1 horse could win the Kentucky Derby, while UK fans are saying, lets build a program that comes in at 6-5 odds. No one should be excited about their horse losing races early on and coming in at 40:1, expecting to win the big race.

 

[jauk11]

I have proof that the sky is falling, I found two big chunks of it in my back yard the other day.

They were a beautiful blue color though.