What's your grade for UK's play?

[Bigkyfan10]

My grade would be a C-
+'s
-Willis played great
-Murray played great
-fg% 3pt% & ft% were respectable
-Lee was active

-'s
- Rebounding was absolutely horrible. We could only manage to out rebound them by 6. We allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Skal and Poy could only manage to get 8 rebounds.
-Skal,POY,Ulis MIA first half.
-Ulis had 2 assist to 5 turnovers
-Murray had 5 and the team had 20
-Only one UK bball team during coach Cal era had a smaller margin of victory for their first regular season game(2013 NIT team)
-overall the energy/competiveness was dreadful. It looked like they knew they were going to win but couldn't care less if they only won by one.
-during the first half, did we even have a single point in the pain( yes I'm exaggerating but still)
-what happened to playing fast and driving to the basket like in the exhibition games?

Overall this team has a lot of potential and it will be interesting to see how we improve through out the year. Hopefully this year will be a fun year.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

First gm?
B-
Willis A
Murray A
Ulis B
Skal C
Poy C

 

[brianpoe]

My grade would be a C-
+'s
-Willis played great
-Murray played great
-fg% 3pt% & ft% were respectable
-Lee was active

-'s
- Rebounding was absolutely horrible. We could only manage to out rebound them by 6. We allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Skal and Poy could only manage to get 8 rebounds.
-Skal,POY,Ulis MIA first half.
-Ulis had 2 assist to 5 turnovers
-Murray had 5 and the team had 20
-Only one UK bball team during coach Cal era had a smaller margin of victory for their first regular season game(2013 NIT team)
-overall the energy/competiveness was dreadful. It looked like they knew they were going to win but couldn't care less if they only won by one.
-during the first half, did we even have a single point in the pain( yes I'm exaggerating but still)
-what happened to playing fast and driving to the basket like in the exhibition games?

Overall this team has a lot of potential and it will be interesting to see how we improve through out the year. Hopefully this year will be a fun year.

I can go along with much of this.

I didnt think their energy was dreadful, not worried about margin of victory.

My hope is that it's just the first game and still feeling each other out.

Many areas need to improve before Duke.

C+

 

[jimlowe7]

C+ and part of that was Cal using the whole bench because of playing again tomorrow night...I think if Briscoe had played I imagine it would have been a B- game as he would have played better than Hawkins.

 

[Bigkyfan10]

[
-Only one UK bball team during coach Cal era had a smaller margin of victory for their first regular season game(2013 NIT team)

LOL. That's some revealing stat. Not worth checking but I'd guess the normal opening game is against a much weaker team than Albany. And the margin of victory is pretty meaningless in a game where UK had a 20 point lead late and controlled throughout. And the suggestion that only the 2013 team struggled early in the year is nonsense. How about the 2010 team beating Miami of Ohio in the third game on a last second shot, or the 2012 team struggling late into the second half against ODU in the fifth game?

I know that fact doesn't mean a whole lot. And I was only talking about the first game. All of the teams had some struggles early on. Albany isn't a great team. They are ok just like most of the other season openers. Wenplay bad-ok teams in the opener except for the NIT season where we began the season with Maryland. John Walls team I think only won by 18 points their first game and in the second game Wall hiy the game winner against Miami University.

 

[Fancatstik]

Very auspicious debut to say the least.

 

[UKWildcatT]

B-. Agree with much of the OP said.

Poythress better wake up though because Lee and Willis want those minutes

 

[MegaBlue05]

B-

Some bright spots and glaring holes.

Loved what I saw from Willis and Murray. Ulis was great, but made a few uncharacteristic mistakes. Poythress looked liked he wan playing tentative. Hopefully he gets more comfortable with his knee.

Need to pick it up on defense and the boards.

I'm still pleased. Albany isn't great, but I'm glad we played a decent squad instead of an RPI 300 type team.

 

[buckkiller]

C-

 

[UK_Johnny24]

We'll be fine. It was the first game guys. Ulis is still the best PG in the nation. He's not going to have 5 TO's to 2 AST too many times. I'd say we'll look a lot better tomorrow. But Poy needs to be a straight up bully out there. He's 6'9, 240. I mean he needs to be the most physical player on the court each and every game. He needs to play with a lot of energy and passion. I want to see him try to dunk it every time he gets close to the goal and scream as loud as he can when he goes up. He can be one of the most intimidating players in the country if he wanted to be. He's just gotta be a bulldog out there man. He needs to play mean. Like he's pissed off at the world. If he was as aggressive as I'm saying he needs to be he'd average a DD this year and go in the top 10 or so in the draft.

 

[ukfan79]

Solid B. Easy win against a team that could very likely make it's 4th straight trip to the Big Dance.

 

[Smashcat]

B-. Agree with much of the OP said.

Poythress better wake up though because Lee and Willis want those minutes

Need a big game from Poythress against Duke

 

[4UK]

I think C to C- is about right. There were definitely positives - Willis, Murray and Lee looked great. Humphries was very solid, and if he gives minutes like that all year, we're in good shape.

But there were certainly plenty of negatives as well. The defense, particularly in the second half, was not good, and borderline terrible. What's worse is, at many times, this didn't look like a team that was very interested in playing D.

The lack of competition that Skal has faced is evident. He simply hasn't realized that at this level you have to play hard and be engaged at all times. You can't wait until you get ripped at halftime to wake up. And probably most surprising of all was how bad Ullis played. For the amount of time he was on the floor, I think it was his worst game in a UK uniform. Way too much dribbling and not enough initiating offense. I guess if you're looking on the bright side, however, if Tyler and Skal are our biggest concerns, we're in pretty good shape, because it's hard to imagine them having many more games like tonight.

As hard as it may be, this team is going to require a lot of patience.

 

[BoulderCat]

C- works for me though my overall impression was awful. The lack of energy and motivation was obvious. Lee definitely deserved the start and minutes. Poy didn't show up, neither did Skal. I loved it when Cal told him something like these guys are going to pick it up if your not ready I'll sit your butt on the bench. At one point I believe we were playing 4 non-starter's not because of any platoon thing, but rather because the guys on the bench basically were no shows. Murray ended up with some good #'s and points, but did not impress me. None of them did except for Willis. He's my MVP of the game, and it's not even close. He seemed like the only guy out there really giving an great effort. Even Ulis didn't seem himself. Perhaps it's just the guy's figuring out how this team is going to work, or maybe it's just not going to at least to our satisfaction. We'll see. This team is going to lose way more than once.

 

[UKWildcatT]

Need a big game from Poythress against Duke

Yes we do!

 

[Louis_Skunt]

D
We're not as good as I thought. If we played a halfway decent team, we would've lost.

 

[ukfan79]

Need a big game from Poythress against Duke

We need Poy to play against Duke like he did against them his freshman year. 20 points and 8 boards. And looked like a beast in that game.

Hopefully the result is better this time around though.

 

[Raider 1]

My grade would be a C-
+'s
-Willis played great
-Murray played great
-fg% 3pt% & ft% were respectable
-Lee was active

-'s
- Rebounding was absolutely horrible. We could only manage to out rebound them by 6. We allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Skal and Poy could only manage to get 8 rebounds.
-Skal,POY,Ulis MIA first half.
-Ulis had 2 assist to 5 turnovers
-Murray had 5 and the team had 20
-Only one UK bball team during coach Cal era had a smaller margin of victory for their first regular season game(2013 NIT team)
-overall the energy/competiveness was dreadful. It looked like they knew they were going to win but couldn't care less if they only won by one.
-during the first half, did we even have a single point in the pain( yes I'm exaggerating but still)
-what happened to playing fast and driving to the basket like in the exhibition games?

Overall this team has a lot of potential and it will be interesting to see how we improve through out the year. Hopefully this year will be a fun year.

Thanks Coach

 

[ukfan79]

D
We're not as good as I thought. If we played a halfway decent team, we would've lost.

O

D
We're not as good as I thought. If we played a halfway decent team, we would've lost.

Oh goodness gracious. I bet you said the same thing last year when we trailed much of the first half against Buffalo in a very similar type game against a similar class of team.....except we never trailed tonight and the game was an easy win.

 

[etowncatfan]

Didn't John Wall hit a buzzer beater to help UK win in a real early game??

 

[Blue Decade]

My grade would be a C-
+'s
-Willis played great
-Murray played great
-fg% 3pt% & ft% were respectable
-Lee was active

-'s
- Rebounding was absolutely horrible. We could only manage to out rebound them by 6. We allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Skal and Poy could only manage to get 8 rebounds.
-Skal,POY,Ulis MIA first half.
-Ulis had 2 assist to 5 turnovers
-Murray had 5 and the team had 20
-Only one UK bball team during coach Cal era had a smaller margin of victory for their first regular season game(2013 NIT team)
-overall the energy/competiveness was dreadful. It looked like they knew they were going to win but couldn't care less if they only won by one.
-during the first half, did we even have a single point in the pain( yes I'm exaggerating but still)
-what happened to playing fast and driving to the basket like in the exhibition games?

Overall this team has a lot of potential and it will be interesting to see how we improve through out the year. Hopefully this year will be a fun year.

I think your assessment is pretty much on the money. I gave our team a C last night. Our talent is elite, but we are very young and inexperienced. We go through this every year. A year ago, we almost lost to Buffalo. By February, we will be the best team in the country. Again.

 

[UKrazycat2]

W.... works for me.

 

[CloverforkCat]

C+ it was the 1st game of the year, pretty good opponent. Curious coaching by Cal ie. Mulder only 2 minutes, Matthews 17 min. Don't think Briscoe is quite the difference maker some on here think he is.
NJIT will provide another test, look for Cats to improve in some areas tonight. Boxing out would be a great place to start, also cutting down turnovers, and FT shooting by certain players.

 

[BigBlueFan1963]

For 11/13 I will give them a P for passing. This will be another great team.

 

[warrior-cat]

My grade would be a C-
+'s
-Willis played great
-Murray played great
-fg% 3pt% & ft% were respectable
-Lee was active

-'s
- Rebounding was absolutely horrible. We could only manage to out rebound them by 6. We allowed 17 offensive rebounds. Skal and Poy could only manage to get 8 rebounds.
-Skal,POY,Ulis MIA first half.
-Ulis had 2 assist to 5 turnovers
-Murray had 5 and the team had 20
-Only one UK bball team during coach Cal era had a smaller margin of victory for their first regular season game(2013 NIT team)
-overall the energy/competiveness was dreadful. It looked like they knew they were going to win but couldn't care less if they only won by one.
-during the first half, did we even have a single point in the pain( yes I'm exaggerating but still)
-what happened to playing fast and driving to the basket like in the exhibition games?

Overall this team has a lot of potential and it will be interesting to see how we improve through out the year. Hopefully this year will be a fun year.

Agree.

 

[Drcatfan]

I agree with lots of the comments here, but my single biggest concern was that we had no rim protection. For the last several years it has been extremely difficult to score lay ups on Kentucky because of top caliber rim protectors (Cousins, Davis, Noel, Caulley-Stein). Skal seems to have the length and fit that mold, but to this point rim protection has been terrible. Albany drove in for several lay ups last night that I thought would be blocked but they ended up getting the shot off and making the majority of them. Defense and specifically rim protection must improve for this team to be successful. I am confident the offense will come around (too many talented offensive players).

 

[Bkocats]

Didn't John Wall hit a buzzer beater to help UK win in a real early game??

yes, it was Miami, OH in early November; - and that UK team went on a 19-0 start to the season.

I'll give the game a solid C

I think there were a lot of first real game jitters; we were without a player - and Ulis was definitely off his game last night as well. And, while it didn't seem to favor one team or the other, these new rules they are enforcing seem have thrown them all off. I thought I was going to scream at the number of whistles - no matter WHO they called the foul on. The technical were downright ridiculous; especially the one on Jamal Murray.

Anyway - also take into consideration Cal played a much larger rotation that won't usually be seen.

I think we're ok so far - shake off some rust and see how we play tonight.

 

[blubo]

Didn't John Wall hit a buzzer beater to help UK win in a real early game??

miami ohio