UGA Game Wrap-Up: The difference a week can make

What a difference a week can make! This UK team seems to be hitting a stride at a good time in SEC play. There is a lot to be happy about for yesterday’s win against UGA (but let’s be honest, it is UGA).

As I noted a week ago, there was much to lament about the way this UK team played against Arkansas and at other times during the season as well. All those factors seem to be turning around. The Cats shot in stellar fashion against the Dawgs, going 41 percent from 3-point range and an amazing 50 percent from the field. What’s even better – UK showed drastic improvement in free throws, hitting 16 of 20 for a remarkable 80 percent on the night.

It was raining threes for the Cats, as James Young lit it up with three for the night. Even Julius Randle got in on the action, knocking down a tre midway through the game.

But we’re not just here to give you the facts, SAI nation. What I love even more about this game is the way it showed how well this team can really play and it also proved me right. All of the factors I mentioned as keys to our loss against Arkansas are showing marked improvement. We’re shooting better. We’re sharing a lot better. The Harrions together logged 8 assists and four UK players scored double digits.

What I’m most excited about being right on is the critical play of Poythress and Cauley-Stein. As we’ve seen, Poythress has been playing outside of his mind, navigating his way around the basket like a fat kid in a candy store. He’s playing hungry.

What’s more, this game shows how crucial the improvement of WCS is to the overall play of the team. As KSR reports, Calipari cited his play as a marker for the overall dominance of this Cats squat. If Willie is hot, the rest of the team is hot. If he’s cold, this team can still win, but they’re not playing with the flash and dominance that they showed yesterday. Willie only scored 8 in yesterday’s win, but he tore it up on defense, snatching 6 steals and throwing down 6 blocks.

As you and I both know, one solid win against a bottom-rung SEC team does not a championship team make. So what does this mean going forward?

Bracketologist and fans everywhere are being driven mad by this team. We don’t know if the good, the great or the ugly UK team is going to show up on any given night. Bracket geeks are projecting UK to be anywhere from a 2-seed down to a 6-seed come tourney time.

Here’s what I think we need to do in order to shore up the season and have a firmer foundation come March:

First, we have a good string of winnable games coming up. It’s not going to be easy, four of the next five are on the road. This will be a good test of the resolve of this team. Can we play teams like LSU, Mizzou, both Mississippis and Auburn and come out on a hot streak? Let’s hope so. So long as Kentucky continues to improve on the basics – shooting well, sharing the ball, being tenacious on defense – and so long as Willie can build on the momentum he built yesterday, we should come out with all Ws.

Secondly, we have to win out the SEC. Perhaps this is redundant given the first point. The SEC isn’t exactly stellar this year, but conference play is very important for us this year. Our two best chances to show we’re a good team come at home and away against #6  Florida. As an optimist, I’d like to take away both those games and win out the SEC. As a nihilist, I know that we have to win the rest of our games and take at least one away from the Gators, or else all is lost and hopeless. If we lose both and suffer another unexpected loss somewhere along the way, the SEC tournament will be our only hope and will not give us a great seed for the NCAA.

Finally, be watching Cauley-Stein and Poythress as markers for our success going forward. As I’ve said before, we can only be a great team if we have our experienced players playing great. All those missteps, all those rookie plays against Arkansas – we KNOW we’re going to get those from our freshmen. What will help us overcome is the play of our veteran players who can grind it out and who can play hungry. They’re out to prove themselves this year just as much, if not more so, than our diaper dandies. So let’s get behind those guys as we go deeper into SEC play.

Quick Hits: Hump day edition

We’re bringing back an old series on the blogs – Quick Hits – for all your hump day needs. And no, not that kind of humping. Here’s what’s happening in the world of sports:

UK puts away another SEC team. 

UK put away another SEC team, housing the Aggies of Texas A&M 68-51. While it wasn’t a great night offensively, I was very impressed with UK’s defense. They tallied 7 blocks and 6 steals. And what was really impressive was UK put away a team from the opening tip off, like a championship team should. UK has now won two in a row in the SEC and is 4-1 overall. And while it wasn’t an amazing shooting night, UK still managed to dazzle with some ridiculous dunks and play in the paint. Check out this monster dunk from Poythress:

And yes, for some reason that is the ONLY clip I can find of this slam. Speaking of Poythress, he was on last night. He came off the bench to score a team high 16. Randle also logged another double-double, keeping him ninth in the country for double-doubles.

Kevin Durant knocked down 46 against the Trailblazers. 

Say whaaaaaaaaaat?!?! I know. Check out the highlights here. I don’t even know what to say. His play is just sick.

Indiana took Michigan State down to the wire. 

But ultimately lost. No one rushed the court. One thing is for sure, people are starting to buzz about the Spartans of Michigan State. They’ve been playing soundly and have won 11 in a row. I can tell you this much – Izzo is one of the best coaches when it comes to March Madness. As we get into the thick of conference play, this is one author that will be keeping an eye on the Spartans. You should too. Read more here.

And finally, Richard Sherman has us all buzzing about race, pride and sports. 

In his post-game interview with Erin Andrews, Sherman said, “I’m the best corner in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s what you’re gonna get.” His comment inspired a backlash on the Twitternets, with people calling him anything from a ‘thug’ to a ‘disgrage.’

All I can say is – Are you kidding me?!? That’s what the NFL is all about. We want the best athletes playing out on the field. Sherman is playing on one of the NFL’s best defenses and made it all the way to the biggest stage in the NFL. He IS one of the best corners in the league.

All Sherman did was bring the trash talk from the field to the interview. You think this is bad? Can you imagine what they say on the field? But this is why we love the NFL. It’s about showmanship as much as it is about talent. And Sherman has both.

While I don’t think his argument holds up, Isaac Saul shows us why most of the backlash is misguided (Read here). Turns out, Sherman is a stand up guy who graduated from Stanford and started his own charity. Pretty impressive. Kevin Garnett says it best I think:

 

And that’s your Quick Hits for hump day.

3 Things We Learned About UK Last Night: A nihilist response

From time to time, I am prone to bouts of nihilism. Aren’t we all? Particularly when we watch the most talented recruiting class UK has EVER seen drop one to the Hogs of Arkansas. And because of things we’ve all seen before.

Today’s rundown recounts three things we saw in the game last night and wished we hadn’t.

1. This team is still struggling with the basic stuff.

In the post-game interview, Cal pinned the loss on three key factors: free throws, a botched inbound play and a missed box out to end the game. Though admitting he was proud of his team for fighting the whole game, these were the factors he pegged, some of the same factors we’ve seen for quite some time in a Cal-coached squad. Cal remarked that this happens when you’re working with freshmen.

And when you look at the stat line you realize he’s right. UK bested Arkansas in shooting (48% to 37%), three-pointers (45%-28%) and dominated on the glass (50-32).

But then look at the plays that really impacted the outcome of the game. UK still couldn’t hit free throws down the stretch, missing fourteen on the night and finishing with 65% from the stripe to Arkansas’ 70%. Not much difference but when you’re talking about a loss of two points, it makes a big difference.

And then there’s the freshmen mistakes. Watch the clip off Michael Qualls game-winning dunk and what do you see? Two freshmen in Young and Harrison out of position to make a play on the ball. This is BASIC stuff that we keep fumbling over throughout the season and I don’t see it getting any better.

If I were Cal, I’d be having basic basketball bootcamp every single day for practice until we start seeing things like this improve.

2. This team plays to the level of its competition.

Granted, this was a good Arkansas team that obviously has some talent and can beat some teams. They can even keep up with some very good teams, as proven by their overtime loss to #10 Florida and now an overtime win over UK. But let’s be honest, when you have a roster this chock-full of talent, when you dominate all meaningful stat lines and still come away with a loss, that shows that this UK team does not have the drive to put away a team early and keep them there, at least at this point.

UK played from behind most of the game and when it came down to the last crucial seconds, they did not finish the way they should. They made a less talented team look like All-Stars and come away with the ESPN top-10 play of the night.

3. This team is getting there, but still lacking the intangibles that will make them a great team.

I’ve felt worse about some UK teams in the past, but I don’t feel great when I watch these guys play either. While Poythress and Willie both upped their game significantly in the past few weeks, we’re still not seeing the hustle plays or the grit to grind it out to the end from the rest of the team. There were too many loose balls that went the other way and too many turnovers for this team to show they’re a gutsy team that is gelling together.

Now I’ve gotten over the fact that we’re going to have a fresh batch of new freshmen every year and we’re going to have less and less experience on the team. I can’t blame Cal for going out and getting the best talent he can year in and year out. I’d even admit that it makes me really excited every year.

But when you get a bunch of unpolished guys who have all the talent in the world but don’t know how to play together, this is what you’re going to get. A half a season of inexperience and missteps. And it’s going to take some time to get that team to play together. I’m proud of this team for sticking it out and making some amazing plays when they needed to. But if some of these things were different, maybe it would’ve gone the other way last night.

And while I’m nihilistic about last night, we here at SAI believe there’s always hope. As the great Walter Sobchak said about his detestation for nihilism, “Say what you will about the tenets of the National Socialist Party dude, at least it’s an ethos!” So here are a few things I think we have to be hopeful about for the Cats moving forward:

• The play of Willie Cauley-Stein (can you ever say his name without saying all three names?) and Alex Poythress. They are stepping up like experienced players should. They’re making the tough plays and really complimenting the tremendous play of Julius Randle. Heck, Poythress looked like a downright champion with his play around the glass last night. We need these guys to keep it up and for the team to step up and match them.
• More play from Dakari Johson. I don’t know where this guy came from but he’s popped up on the radar as of late. He played 9 minutes last night and snagged 4 boards for us. I’m glad to see another guy that can come off the bench and give us some size and toughness down in the paint, particularly with Randle having cramps and Cauley-Stein in foul trouble (see, I tried it and it still doesn’t sound right).
• Improved shooting. Going 48% from the field is pretty darn good. What’s even more impressive is going 45% from 3-point land. There have been times when I’ve wanted to take my TV and throw it off my porch just to watch it burn because of ill-timed and seemingly illogical 3-point shots. Last night, UK seemed to pull it together, including a couple of stellar threes to tie the game at crunch time. Hitting the longer shots will help out the trio of big men down low and give us a much more well-rounded offense.

One thing is for sure: We can’t hope to be tournament-ready with one win over a ranked team and a less than impressive streak in the SEC. Here’s hoping we see some of these things get better.

(There, I guess that wasn’t completely nihilistic, was it?)