The Second Half today was Impressive

[IL Wildcat]

We tend to give no credit to opponents and lean toward the negative side when evaluating our Cats, but we need to acknowledge a few things today...

1. Arizona St is not a pushover. They beat Texas A&M by 13 and were winning by 25 in the second half of that game. They beat Creighton in a true road game, which is impressive. They beat NC State. They had Marquette beat but gave that game away at the end. They have several big wins on the season.

2. Kentucky's defense, especially on the perimeter, was very good in that second half. We gave their guards fits all day.

3. The Cats finally made a few threes. Here's hoping that's a sign of things to come. Ulis and Murray both looked much more confident in the 2nd half. We don't have to hit them all, but even 35% would make this team very tough.

4. Labissiere will improve. Until then, Lee and Poythress are a good tandem. Lee had 5 blocks again and Poythress is looking more confident as time passes.

5. Our backcourt continues to make plays on both ends and may be the best in the nation.

All in all, this was a solid win over a good opponent. I'll take it.

 

[runt#69]

Have to go all in and agree with you. Great points for us to be mindful of.

Lookin better for some of our players, not so good for others. Overall steps in the right direction. I'm just trustin' Cal and being patient with it, enjoying the ride for another year.

Lots of time for this team to completely getting it all together. Showin' spurts of consistency and what not, too. But we need to see some improvement from Skal. It sure would make me feel better !

Go Big Blue !

 

[michaeluk26]

Excellent post, as usual OP.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Bring on the Lumberjack!

 

[bigc45157]

Good take.

I texted the same notion to my buddies after the game. Our second half run looked like we knew what the heck we were doing.

This team needs time and game experience; all of which they'll get!

 

[musrat59]

I totally agree our second half was quite impressive.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Bring on the Lumberjack!

Yes sir. I hope he's good enough to get some minutes. And I hope he's in game shape.

 

[MegaBlue05]

I thought UK played pretty good defense the whole game (with a few lapses late in the first half), it just started looking better on the scoreboard when the shots began falling in the second half.

I'Skal's issue right now has to be more mental than physical. Yes, he's physically weak but he seems unsure of every thing he does out there. Early in the year he was shooting and hitting the elbow jumper. He passed it up at least twice today..

Marcus Lee might be our best option at the 5. I love his energy. He can be a little reckless and doesn't need to handle the ball a lot, but he's got the tools to be a 10 ppg 10 rpg guy with enough minutes.

Briscoe has impressed me with his tenacity on defense and deceptive quickness driving to the basket. I just wish he could make his free throws. Matthews will be a favorite by the time he leaves. Dude always hustles.

Poy seems to be coming to life, and it was great to see Murray get to the rim more in the second half.

Overall, I was very pleased with the win as I am with a win over any power conference team. It's good that we're getting our experience against the UCLAs, ASUs and OSUs of the world instead of pounding RPI 200+ cupcakes by 30 at home twice a week. Our OOC schedule hopefully will help us transition smoothly into conference play in terms of the size and quality of athletes we'll run into.

 

[Montana81]

I definitely feel better after that second half. Poythress and Lee have really stepped up this year, which is what we needed.

All of the upperclassmen have played well so far. Still haven't seen Hawkins much. Me thinks he'll make an impact before the end of the season as well.

 

[caneintally]

I thought UK played pretty good defense the whole game (with a few lapses late in the first half), it just started looking better on the scoreboard when the shots began falling in the second half.

I'Skal's issue right now has to be more mental than physical. Yes, he's physically weak but he seems unsure of every thing he does out there. Early in the year he was shooting and hitting the elbow jumper. He passed it up at least twice today..

Marcus Lee might be our best option at the 5. I love his energy. He can be a little reckless and doesn't need to handle the ball a lot, but he's got the tools to be a 10 ppg 10 rpg guy with enough minutes.

Briscoe has impressed me with his tenacity on defense and deceptive quickness driving to the basket. I just wish he could make his free throws. Matthews will be a favorite by the time he leaves. Dude always hustles.

Poy seems to be coming to life, and it was great to see Murray get to the rim more in the second half.

Overall, I was very pleased with the win as I am with a win over any power conference team. It's good that we're getting our experience against the UCLAs, ASUs and OSUs of the world instead of pounding RPI 200+ cupcakes by 30 at home twice a week. Our OOC schedule hopefully will help us transition smoothly into conference play in terms of the size and quality of athletes we'll run into.

Yeah he averages 8.5/7 so I would aspect it to be close to 10/10 by seasons end as he is only getting better ( Lee that is ).

 

[brianpoe]

Yeah he averages 8.5/7 so I would aspect it to be close to 10/10 by seasons end as he is only getting better ( Lee that is ).

If he keeps improving his FT's he definitely can.

 

[docholiday51]

A good take by the OP(as usual) I would offer this, we played a strong 2nd half but not one that isn't repeatable. We didn't play out of our minds to a level that you only do 3 or 3 times a year.

There are many things that need fixing on this team but the 2nd half showed us a bit of what this team can do and probably how they should play. If we get Skal going we could take it up several notches

 

[WildcatDJ]

The numbers show we outscored them 40-27 in the second half...which looks much better for them considering they finished the game on a 10-1 run. We outscored them 39-17 to start the second half for a 71-48 lead.

I agree our guards gave them fits. It's what has me most excited this year. Guard play rules come tourney time, and we have 3 elite ones. When they bring it defensively, it makes it really difficult for the other team to get any sort of offensive rhythm.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

This isn't allowed OP, only whining and negativity on here. The team played about as well as it could in the 2nd half yesterday, with the exception of Skal still being MIA. If he shows up again, this team is very hard to stop.