Seems like I can just copy and paste the beginning of this post: It wasn't pretty. Cats win 88-67 but here are eight takeaways.
1. Labissiere: It's at a point where I don't think Kentucky's at its best with Labissiere in the game. Sadly, I don't know if there's a better option, but he just isn't the player we thought he was going to be. Being able to sit up close and see how everything unfolded tonight was an eye-opening experience. He rarely talks to his teammates and when he does it's in a very soft voice.
A lot of people were calling him soft or weak, and maybe that's true, but I'm at the point where I think he's also a bit lazy. He doesn't do anything unless it comes easy. Labissiere is still incredibly skilled and some of the things he can do on offense are VERY rare from a college player, but coaches are exploiting his weaknesses and taking him out of the game.
2. Briscoe: This will be one of the few positives from the Takes today. Who would have thought that Briscoe would be UK's best guard and maybe best player? I certainly didn't. He still struggles from the line, he won't hit outside shots, but he never takes possessions off, he cares, he tries and he's incredibly crafty around the rim. The Cats would struggle mightily without Briscoe.
Just watch him play defense, both on and off the ball. He puts so much pride on that end of the floor.
3. Ulis/Murray: They played OK. Ulis nearly had a double with points and assists. Murray finished second in points with 16. But given the recent development of other players, OK isn't good enough for this team. And sadly for UK it really does start with shooting for these guys.
Defensively Ulis is going to be good and Murray will be fine. Offensively Ulis is going to create and Murray is going to be able to get in the lane. But none of that really matters if they can't keep a defense honest with their perimeter shooting.
I wish I had answers for why their shooting is struggling. Murray has always been a bit of streaky shooter throughout his career, but in order to be a streaky shooter you have to have some highs. He hasn't had those for some reason.
Ulis was consistent last season but has gone surprisingly cold this year. UK's offense may struggle as long as these two aren't hitting. It's as simple as that.
4. Fun?: This team looks like it's having zero fun. Understandable when you're letting an OVC team hang around and you're playing poorly, but even during UK's runs there wasn't much excitement. But it's not everyone. Briscoe tries to pump up his teammates, so does Lee and Poythress. Ulis will at times, but the overall mood had me thinking I was at a funeral and not a basketball game. These guys need to start feeding off one another and things may become easier.
Also, credit to the crowd. It wasn't a packed house but it was a good crowd that did everything they could to try and help UK put away EKU. The Cats are going to need that kind of effort and energy from the crowd.
5. Poythress: Similar to Briscoe, but maybe more important, where would this team be without Alex Poythress? He makes mistakes and he still leaves you wanting more on some plays/possessions, but he does so many good things for the Cats.
I liked how he attacked tonight. He took a lot of elbows, ran into a lot of EKU players, but never stopped, never gave up on loose balls and had himself a nice double-double (21/13). Marcus Lee plays with energy but he's so limited offensively. Poythress plays with energy but backs it up by putting it on the floor and driving right to the rim.
Also his rebounding, best rebounder on UK's team. He had a career high in rebounds tonight. He knows where to be and isn't afraid to fight for the 50/50 balls.
He does need to work on staying out of foul trouble but so many of those calls against him were questionable. Similar to the UCLA game.
6. Stay down: Speaking of fouls, Poythress was guilty of this and so was every other player on UK's team; falling for pump fakes. This has been a problem all season but I've never seen a team get burned on it so often. Bob Knight could coach a group of fourth graders and they'd get these Cats in the air.
The interesting thing is I saw several different UK players get on one another to stay on their feet. The funny thing is the next possession the person who told his teammate to stay down would be caught in the air. Maybe I'm wrong, I've never coached D1 basketball, but this seems like an easy problem to fix. Calipari needs to implement this to his players.
7. Willis/Matthews: One of these two guys need to step up. I'm not sure which one it will be, but I didn't feel like Willis had a fair chance tonight. He missed a few threes, but he helped spread the floor and kept EKU from packing things inside. He missed a rebound or two but a lot of that wasn't his fault. One time specifically Labissiere was out of position and it cost Willis a foul.
As for Matthews, he did some good things, was in the right spot at the right time on offense on a few possessions, but he turned the ball over and didn't play great defense.
I don't know who will step up between these two but UK needs one to.
8. Moving forward: UK won and was able to win by 20+, but the Cats need to turn these spurts into more than just that. I've always been someone to say UK will be fine and the Cats are still a Final Four contender, but I need to see a complete game.
Yes, we can point back to the Duke game, but Duke play UK's style. They played man, they extended the floor and tried to run. Other teams aren't going to do that. UK needs to adjust and find ways to score against that kind of defense.
If you're upset I can understand why. Not the overall performance most were hoping to see after losing to UCLA six days ago.
Thoughts?
1. Labissiere: It's at a point where I don't think Kentucky's at its best with Labissiere in the game. Sadly, I don't know if there's a better option, but he just isn't the player we thought he was going to be. Being able to sit up close and see how everything unfolded tonight was an eye-opening experience. He rarely talks to his teammates and when he does it's in a very soft voice.
A lot of people were calling him soft or weak, and maybe that's true, but I'm at the point where I think he's also a bit lazy. He doesn't do anything unless it comes easy. Labissiere is still incredibly skilled and some of the things he can do on offense are VERY rare from a college player, but coaches are exploiting his weaknesses and taking him out of the game.
2. Briscoe: This will be one of the few positives from the Takes today. Who would have thought that Briscoe would be UK's best guard and maybe best player? I certainly didn't. He still struggles from the line, he won't hit outside shots, but he never takes possessions off, he cares, he tries and he's incredibly crafty around the rim. The Cats would struggle mightily without Briscoe.
Just watch him play defense, both on and off the ball. He puts so much pride on that end of the floor.
3. Ulis/Murray: They played OK. Ulis nearly had a double with points and assists. Murray finished second in points with 16. But given the recent development of other players, OK isn't good enough for this team. And sadly for UK it really does start with shooting for these guys.
Defensively Ulis is going to be good and Murray will be fine. Offensively Ulis is going to create and Murray is going to be able to get in the lane. But none of that really matters if they can't keep a defense honest with their perimeter shooting.
I wish I had answers for why their shooting is struggling. Murray has always been a bit of streaky shooter throughout his career, but in order to be a streaky shooter you have to have some highs. He hasn't had those for some reason.
Ulis was consistent last season but has gone surprisingly cold this year. UK's offense may struggle as long as these two aren't hitting. It's as simple as that.
4. Fun?: This team looks like it's having zero fun. Understandable when you're letting an OVC team hang around and you're playing poorly, but even during UK's runs there wasn't much excitement. But it's not everyone. Briscoe tries to pump up his teammates, so does Lee and Poythress. Ulis will at times, but the overall mood had me thinking I was at a funeral and not a basketball game. These guys need to start feeding off one another and things may become easier.
Also, credit to the crowd. It wasn't a packed house but it was a good crowd that did everything they could to try and help UK put away EKU. The Cats are going to need that kind of effort and energy from the crowd.
5. Poythress: Similar to Briscoe, but maybe more important, where would this team be without Alex Poythress? He makes mistakes and he still leaves you wanting more on some plays/possessions, but he does so many good things for the Cats.
I liked how he attacked tonight. He took a lot of elbows, ran into a lot of EKU players, but never stopped, never gave up on loose balls and had himself a nice double-double (21/13). Marcus Lee plays with energy but he's so limited offensively. Poythress plays with energy but backs it up by putting it on the floor and driving right to the rim.
Also his rebounding, best rebounder on UK's team. He had a career high in rebounds tonight. He knows where to be and isn't afraid to fight for the 50/50 balls.
He does need to work on staying out of foul trouble but so many of those calls against him were questionable. Similar to the UCLA game.
6. Stay down: Speaking of fouls, Poythress was guilty of this and so was every other player on UK's team; falling for pump fakes. This has been a problem all season but I've never seen a team get burned on it so often. Bob Knight could coach a group of fourth graders and they'd get these Cats in the air.
The interesting thing is I saw several different UK players get on one another to stay on their feet. The funny thing is the next possession the person who told his teammate to stay down would be caught in the air. Maybe I'm wrong, I've never coached D1 basketball, but this seems like an easy problem to fix. Calipari needs to implement this to his players.
7. Willis/Matthews: One of these two guys need to step up. I'm not sure which one it will be, but I didn't feel like Willis had a fair chance tonight. He missed a few threes, but he helped spread the floor and kept EKU from packing things inside. He missed a rebound or two but a lot of that wasn't his fault. One time specifically Labissiere was out of position and it cost Willis a foul.
As for Matthews, he did some good things, was in the right spot at the right time on offense on a few possessions, but he turned the ball over and didn't play great defense.
I don't know who will step up between these two but UK needs one to.
8. Moving forward: UK won and was able to win by 20+, but the Cats need to turn these spurts into more than just that. I've always been someone to say UK will be fine and the Cats are still a Final Four contender, but I need to see a complete game.
Yes, we can point back to the Duke game, but Duke play UK's style. They played man, they extended the floor and tried to run. Other teams aren't going to do that. UK needs to adjust and find ways to score against that kind of defense.
If you're upset I can understand why. Not the overall performance most were hoping to see after losing to UCLA six days ago.
Thoughts?
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