We cut the lead to 7 , then just go into brain dead mode ... Ga runs a simple pick n pop and we leave the tall guy wide open at the top of the key .. like lonely wide open .. thats just a mistake . a terrible shouldn't happen mistake . I thought Pope said they practiced that for hours after the Tosu debacle ( yes it was a debacle) . Then Oweh misses a jumper , we let the white guard drive the lane for what was essentially a layup , he misses , three Cats around the goal get pushed around and Jaxson R just flat out moves out the way , not blocked out , not shoved , just glides away from where the goal is , he ends up under the rim . ?? That was the beginning of the end .. Oweh really had an off night , Almadore ( sp?) didnt give good minutes . But the 7th foul to send them to the bonus , was the mystery flop called on JR . Sad night , some was ref's , a lot was our weak ass non focused approach to the game of basketball. Butler is killing it , night in , night out , the rest are a box of ( melting) chocolates . We drop that game by 2-4 points , it happens , but we never challenged for the lead , they kicked our ass all night . And they are a very average team . I'm still pissed .
Dan: I agree with you but we differ on how much the refs played a part in our loss.
Yes, UK has areas that needs attention; same for all teams. But the area that stood out to me was our mental weakness.
Players are not robots and its in the mindset where that statement is so true.
You know from softball how an ump can get in a player's head by his/her calls.
The fouls that were being called on UK were not being called the same on the other end. That is pretty much factual. You could see by our players heads when the whistle was called they knew it was BS.
Take a pitcher in softball who has an umpire behind the plate that has a very tight strike zone. Your pitcher gets frustrated and becomes one of the following:
Conan; she tries to muscle the ball where she wants it
Pitch Perfect; she tries to be a Greg Maddux and place the ball perfectly
Scared Susan; she tries not to make a bad pitch; I can't throw a ball, I have to have a strike thought.
What happens is your pitcher is not in rhythm; has no flow at all. She is trying to not to make a mistake. Your muscles tighten up, you get in a rush both mentally and physically and you are off your game.
Our players had that look to them.
In every game you have the same things you deal with; refs, your teammates, other players from opposite team, coaches, fans, playing conditions such as weather, field conditions, parents; but the only thing you have control over is your response to all of these. Players know when they are being hosed and if they are not fully focused on what their plan is, their game is off big time.
I thought we did a horrible job of how we responded. Rebounding is an issue but when the ref calls a foul every time you try to block out, you tend to back off.
My point in all this, there is no real way to know how much the refs changed our players mindset with those BS calls.
Like you, I am still pissed.
Be safe brother.
