The pragmatic upside to last night: UK took another step forward.

[Son_Of_Saul]

The only thing that mattered last night, from a pragmatic end, was the impressive play of Isaac Humphries. The young man showed that he can provide what Kentucky needs going forward. 12 rebounds (in only 20 minutes) in a game as brutal as last night's proved that this young man is ahead of schedule. An enormous take-away from last night, and probably the biggest factor this team has had emerge in weeks is that Humphries could very well be that missing piece going forward.

The rebounding issues will likely continue to some extent (although UK was much better in the 2nd half), but dismissing Poythress as a real variable going forward is a mistake. Combining Alex, Isaac, and Marcus as a unit for rebounding/defense in March is something that should concern opposing teams, because all three of them have been trending up (when healthy), and UK has yet to have all three play at a high level in one particular stretch. That could very well change in a month or so.

At this point, health is all that matters. Get Derek well; get Alex well. Losing a few more will suck from an emotional level, but UK doesn't need to win the SEC (going to be hard to do if Willis misses some significant time these next few weeks) as much as they just need to continue to take a few steps forward every week. Right now, they have been, and that's why Cal is ultimately so confident.

 

[EnglandWildcat]

Couldn't agree more. Last night was frustrating because of how we lost. It is pretty evident that Skal isn't going to be able to give us the rebounding we need in time for March. So, you're right that the emergence of Humphries as a viable option is HUGE.

I agree that getting everyone healthy is the key now. However, a secondary key is learning to defend without fouling. You're right that a front court composed of a healthy Poy and Willis, and Hump and Lee is promising and may be all we need. However, 3 of those guys are incredibly foul-prone. Willis and Hump because they are just a step slow, and Marcus usually because he's always going for a block. And Alex isn't immune to foul trouble either.

So…get healthy and defend without fouling and we are in really good shapes. If we can do those two things, I like our chances. The backcourt doesn't worry me, and our offense is looking good. We don't need those 4 bigs to be world-beaters every night, we just need them to be good enough and they need to stay on the floor.

Great post OP.

 

[Mike_Edwards]

I agree it was another step forward. If we get healthy in time it won't matter where we are placed. Neutral site games we will roll. I agree we are settling in on who we are and at the right time. Gotta win 6 in a row on neutral floors in March. I like our chances as well as anyone's if we can get healthy and sadly enough avoid a few specific refs---Indy

 

[CaliforniaCatFan58]

Make no mistake, A&M is a good team. Both teams played a heck of a game. We will be pretty hard to beat from now on. I want the emotion from these guys. If not for Humphries playing like he did we would have lost anyway. Go Cats!!!

 

[Wall2Boogie]

Had that been a tournament game we would lose 500 posters to broken ankles and 5000 new dudes would show up because the trolls would be in feeding season. That being said, it was nice to see what we got out of humphries. Much like Willis has done hopefully he will build confidence on his performance

 

[KYtotheCore]

While I agree, my stomach still hurts from that sucker punch last night by Adams.

 

[caneintally]

I think we win out as long as Poy comes back by Saturday . We ain't losing at home regardless and we will win at UF regardless so basically the Vandy game is the only ? and with Poy ( and hell Willis could be back as well we don't know ) we will beat them.

 

[Mojocat]

Tend to agree - I think we may soon view last nights game as a unifying loss, something that brings the team closer in ways. Agree we're not losing at home. If - big if - we win both the UF and Vandy games, the L last night is of no concern at all.

Poythress' knee and Wilis' ankle is the big story.

 

[westerncat]

Great post OP. Very well said.

 

[EnglandWildcat]

Also of note:

We actually moved up in Kenpom after last night, primarily only he strength of our offensive performance.

Our offense is really good now. It is ranked 8th in Kenpom and we played extremely well on that end of the floor last night. Just have to get healthy, play defense and rebound.

 

[WildcatFan60]

While I agree, my stomach still hurts from that sucker punch last night by Adams.

Speaking of sucker punches, did anyone else see the A&M guy late that punched Ulis in the stomach as he fought around a screen? It was right after Kennedy was complaining of a foul that was called on one of his players when Uils was shooting?