SB Nation - Michael Porter

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Thanksgiving Edition

Truzenzuzex — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:05:12 -0000

Celebration time!

It's Thanksgiving day, and not really a time for much blogging. I will shortly be leaving to pick up my father, but before I do, I wanted to wish a very happy Thanksgiving to all the members the A Sea of Blue community. I am very thankful for all our members and readers, more than I can accurately express here.

Continuing with the subject of things I am thankful for, let me list a few of them:

My faith, friends and family. They are the foundation of all I hold dear.
My countrymen and women. This great experiment in a democratic republic continues to amaze me.
The men in women in uniformed service who defend our country from without and within. Thank you.
Rich Brooks -- Brooks has helped restore my faith in the UK football program.
The football team, for believing in themselves, and in their teammates.
Duke University -- Without a foe to despise, life as a sports fan would be less fulfilling.
Patrick Patterson -- Not only a great player, but a great person.
The basketball team, for validating my faith in the program.
John Calipari -- The Tubby Wars and the Gilispie Strangeness are now finally in the past. The UK community has returned to sanity, and it is good.
John Wall -- For being one of the best freshmen at UK I can remember, and for showing us what it is like to smile again during a basketball game.
Randall Cobb -- For keeping his word that he gave to UK when offered a chance to attend the school he really wanted to play for. Also, for being the kind of player that made some of the best teams in the land jealous of Kentucky football.
Derrick Locke -- For redefining what determination looks like in the face of injury and lack of respect.
Matthew Mitchell -- for finally bringing stability to the UK women's hoops program.
Finally, to UK fans, for being the best fans any college team could have.

The news follows the jump.

Stopping Cobb is Vols’ No. 1 priority | Vaught's Views
Kentucky Downs Santa Barbara 68-54 to Extend Perfect Start - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Kentucky Suffers Heartbreaking Five-Set Loss at Tennessee - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Maui Invitational: (24) Vanderbilt 84 - Arizona 72 - Postgame - Anchor Of Gold
SB Nation has a new Vanderbilt blog, Anchor of Gold. Great job by the Commodores taking care of the Arizona Wildcats. I don't care much for Arizona, and I was glad to see our SEC brethren hand them the loss they so richly deserve.
" BBL: Cats escape Cancun, Cobb escapes Tennessee John Clay’s Sidelines
John Clay's Big Blue Links
Rush The Court " Blog Archive " ATB: Karl Hess Isn’t Invited to Our Thanksgiving Dinner Either
The talent for this team to become something special is there, but it’s also painfully obvious that his Cats often rely on God-given abilities (especially on offense) rather than an actual understanding of strategy or the sets. Decisionmaking by some players, especially DeMarcus Cousins, is also troubling in their naivete and youthful indiscretion. For example, back to back horrendous decisions by Cousins late in the game to shoot a three (not his shot) and later to purposefully miss a FT attempt in a misguided attempt to get his own rebound only to foul Stanford in the process, exhibits these characteristics.

This is exactly right. UK, as a team, needs desperately to grow up. Unfortunately, there is not magic potion to make that happen, just time and mistakes.
UT looks for way to stop hometown star Cobb | theleafchronicle.com | The Leaf Chronicle
Is Randall Cobb the Kentucky version of Chris Lofton? I think so.
Sam Bowie Breaks Color Barrier at Country Club
UK QB Fidler giving up final year of football | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
Wow. Just like Michael Porter, except he doesn't have a wife and kid on the way (that I know of).
Let UK seniors know why you are thankful for them | Vaught's Views
Great post by Larry Vaught.
Stanford vs. Kentucky - Recap - November 25, 2009 - College Basketball - SI.com

UK Basketball: Four Critical Questions for the 2009-2010 Season

Ken Howlett — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:36:04 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

UK coach John Calipari pondering the problems he faces.

Browse more photos »

With Jodie Meeks finally discovering his draft fate (41st to the Bucks), the question UK fans are now attempting to answer is: What will constitute a successful 2009-2010 Kentucky Wildcat basketball campaign? After talking with fellow 'Cat fans, and reading via the Internet the thoughts of the hard core UK faithful, I've come to the conclusion that there are wide-ranging expectations for this group of players: Some fans consider Meeks' departure a death knell to the talk of UK hanging banner No. 8, while others consider Meeks' early entry to be merely a hiccup on an otherwise positively pleasant outlook.

With UK coach John Calipari telling anyone in possession of a microphone (or UK gear) that this team has many obstacles to overcome before success can be tasted, Wildcat fans are left to ponder the possibility that their head honcho is either an accomplished spin doctor, or a man making valid points. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between.

Me, I see both sides of the truth, and I do know this: In order for Kentucky to maximize its chance of bringing back The Boss and his Glory Days, UK must, through the course of the upcoming season, see the evolution of four question marks morph into four exclamation points.

For your summer perusal, and in no particular order, here are UK's four most riveting questions regarding the '09-'10 basketball season:

Patrick Patterson

How can I have Patterson listed as a question? Well, it's certainly not because I question his talent, but, we have yet to see if the big fella can take and make, with consistency, the 15-foot jumper. With Patterson and Calipari both stating the focus of Patterson's offensive repertoire being on improving his outside game, I'm left wondering if he can be as successful scoring points from beyond the paint, as he is from inside 10 feet. I realize Patterson displaying the ability to score from a variety of spots on the floor increases his NBA value, and this may seem callous and uncaring, but in the end ...

... I couldn't care less. I, and most UK fans want optimum offensive and defensive production from each player as long as they're wearing "Kentucky" across their chests.

A second concern: Patterson has demonstrated an ability to make the mid-range jumper ... from time to time, but now he must make the shot while being guarded. Before, he made the shot out of the high-low offense, often-times while he was wide open. In the upcoming season, that will not be the case; he will be guarded one-on-one, either out of a match-up zone, or man-to-man defense.

Of course, I feel confident if Patterson is struggling with his shooting percentage from beyond 10 feet, Calipari will make the appropriate ADJUSTMENT. Calipari knows PPat's offensive production will be a determining factor in the success of the 2009-2010 season, a fact that is only magnified with the loss of Jodie Meeks. With so many youngsters playing major minutes, this team will need an experienced "go-to-guy" when the possession is a must-score.

And I like my "go-to-guys" shooting from within their range.

The Newcomers

I don't care how heralded ... I don't care how highly sought after ... I don't care how much of a "sure thing" an incoming freshman is, we don't know what we have until we see them perform under the bright lights, and with Ashley in the house. And that fact is just a tad bit disconcerting to me.

The range of adjustments UK's youngsters face as they enter college is astounding: From the upgrade in academic requirements, to meshing with teammates, to becoming acclimated with a new coach, to dealing with student-body adulation, to adjusting to the increased speed of the game. All this done under the spotlight of an attendant media, and a curious fan base. Indeed, a tall and mighty task.

John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Jon Hood, Daniel Orton, DeMarcus Cousins and Darnell Dodson are all considered great prospects, but all six of the listed players are going to be counted on to provide meaningful minutes, and right quick. Minutes at the point guard spot, minutes at the "2" guard, and minutes in the low post aiding and abetting Patrick Patterson. Will they perform as advertised? If not, UK fans will be in for a monumentally disappointing season.

End of story.

The "2" Guard [s]

With Jodie Meeks leaving the Bluegrass for the green pastures of the NBA, UK is left with what has become the question of the summer: Who will replace his scoring, experience, and leadership at the shooting guard position?

The answer: No one.

The absolute best John Calipari and UK fans can hope for out of the shooting guard spot in '09-'10 is competent play. With the return of Darius Miller, plus the addition of JUCO Darnell Dodson, and freshman Jon Hood (all capable of playing the "2") Calipari should be able to field a player [s] who can competently shoot the three-pointer, and take his man off the dribble. Which should be enough to keep the defense from collapsing down to the block, rendering Patterson and his cohorts in no better position than the big men have been in over the last two seasons (i.e. double and triple teamed).

There has been talk of freshman Eric Bledsoe playing at the shooting guard spot, but I only recommend that move if Cal enjoys attempting to shoot opponents out of a zone, while absent three-point threats. Well, Bledsoe can take his man off the dribble, you say? He may be able to do as much, but where is he going to venture? The entire defense will be in the paint, awaiting his arrival.

Simply put, the loss of Meeks adds undo pressure on to the players left to replace him. They may not feel the pressure just yet, but ask Michael Porter how receptive Rupp Arena is to unsure, unseasoned play.

I'm counting on Calipari to coach-up his group of young guns, and game-plan effectively, which will hopefully offset the youth and inexperience of his shooting guards. Because make no mistake, UK's Final Four fortunes rest with the productivity of the "2" guards. So much of UK's offense will rely on keeping the opponent's defenses honest, and without at least the threat of a three-pointer, there will be no honesty to be had.

John Calipari

Adolph Rupp created IT, Joe B. Hall managed IT, Eddie Sutton was corrupted by IT, Rick Pitino thrived on IT, Tubby Smith, in the end, decided he didn't want IT, and Billy Gillispie had no idea how to deal with IT.

"IT" is the incumbent pressure to win. More pointedly, the pressure to win that comes with being the head basketball coach at Kentucky. It's not even July and Calipari has already said, more than once, that the fanatical nature of UK fans is much more acute than he ever imagined. As Eddie Sutton so astutely put it, when talking about the passion Kentucky fans have for the program, and the resulting pressure, "You think you know, but you have no idea." Words that have since been echoed by Cal.

Since taking over the program in April, Calipari has done as good a job as any of his predecessors (some say better) in glad-handing the boosters, and being as fan-friendly as possible. In that area of his coaching responsibilities, his behavior has obviously been finely calculated. But, after Gillispie clearly showed no interest in that aspect of the job, Cal was left with no choice.

Calipari's off-court demeanor and activities are not the source of my questioning his ability to do the job, though. My question lies in his ability to make the right decisions during games. Pressure can cause coaches to make erratic, erroneous, and mind-numbingly idiotic decisions ... often, at the worst possible time.

Will Cal succumb? I think not, but he's never coached at UK before. So the proof will come as his first season progresses.

Editor's Disclaimer: This post is meant to be a CRITICAL look at the questions the Kentucky basketball team faces this upcoming season. If you are unhappy with my stance, please refer all emails to our fearless leader, Tru :) KH

Happy Birthday

Happy sixth birthday to my oldest daughter, Alex! Trivial pursuits such as UK basketball pale in comparison to the meaning you bring to my life!

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

What Losing Jodie Meeks to the NBA Means

Truzenzuzex — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:01:57 -0000

Uh oh. 3-point shooting could FAIL next year ...

View full size photo »

Jodie Meeks' decision to stay in the NBA draft is probably the best thing for him, but it is definitely not the best thing for the Kentucky Wildcats next year. This puts UK in a real pickle when it comes to outside shooting. Let's take a look at the leading 3-point shooters from last year:

Name	3pt Field Goals
Name	3pt Field Goals Made	3pt Field Goals Attempted	3pt Field Goal Percentage	% of 3 point shots made	Remaining
Jodie Meeks	117	288	40.60%	57.92%
Michael Porter	32	97	33.00%	15.84%
Darius Miller	18	55	32.70%	8.91%	8.91%
DeAndre Liggins	12	51	23.50%	5.94%	5.94%
Ramon Harris	6	25	24.00%	2.97%	2.97%
Josh Harrellson	5	15	33.30%	2.48%	2.48%
Landon Slone	4	15	26.70%	1.98%
Perry Stevenson	3	10	30.00%	1.49%	1.49%
A.J. Stewart	2	5	40.00%	0.99%
Mark Halsell	1	1	100.00%	0.50%
Mark Krebs	1	4	25.00%	0.50%	0.50%
Dwight Perry	1	2	50.00%	0.50%	0.50%
Jared Carter	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Kevin Galloway	0	4	0.00%	0.00%
Patrick Patterson	0	1	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
*Totals*	*202*			*100.00%*	*22.77%*

Now, just let that chart roll around in your mind for a few minutes.

If that doesn't cause you a moment of panic, I don't know what will. UK is losing 78% of the team's three-point scoring from last year, and bringing in only one player, Darnell Dodson, who is somewhat known for his shooting. Jon Hood is also a decent 3-point shooter, but he is much more like Michael Porter in that respect than Jodie Meeks. What does that say to every coach in college basketball? That's right, boys and girls -- we are going to get a lot of practice playing against zone defenses next year, or seriously sagging man-to-man from teams that eschew the zone. Why would you not force a team with a profile like next year's Wildcats to put up the three ball rather than pass it in to huge post studs or allow a lightning-quick Wall or Bledsoe to get to the rack by playing man-to-man?

So Calipari is now faced with an interesting challenge, and probably one that he does not relish. The Dribble Drive Motion Offense depends on good three-point shooting to function well. Without it, man-to-man defenses will be sagging into the middle like crazy, and zones will be as passive as they want to be. Heck, the perimeter players might even be touching fingertips with each other daring UK to shoot.

This really changes things, folks. Anyone who understands basketball knows that, too. With Meeks on the perimeter, other teams had real problems -- he could spread the floor by acting as a decoy, opening up driving lanes and making it hard on everybody, even if he never put up a shot that wasn't unopposed. Now, every 3-point shot is going to be largely unopposed, because that's what opponents will want UK to take, not slash to the rim for a layup or a dish to Patterson, Orton or Cousins.

The old Chinese curse comes back to the fore. We are living in interesting times, unless Dodson is better than I think he is, or Hood suddenly develops into Rex Chapman.

Kentucky 65 @ Creighton 63: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:05:28 -0000

First of all, a confession.

This week, with all the talk of replacing the UK men's basketball coach after only two years on the job and the long interregnum between games during which we were treated to lots and lots of that other tournament going on right now, my emotional stability has been seriously strained. In the mornings, I approach my own blog with reluctant trepidation, expecting to see some new apocalyptic revelation that is either upon us or just on the horizon.

Tonight, at the end of the game, I was completely drained, probably as much due to the hard day at work as to the nip-and-tuck nature of the contest. After it was over, I barely cheered, just numb with pressure and frustration and the fatigue of a long season gone horribly wrong -- until I realized that we won the game, that last shot didn't fall like so many others have, and the 'Cats will live to play one more game at least.

Second, congratulations to the Creighton Bluejays, a truly worthy foe and a blast from a distant past when so much was different. Dana Altman is a terrific coach, and Creighton came within maybe two inches on Booker Woodfox's jumper of sticking yet another dagger into a Kentucky team that already looks like a voodoo doll having a bad needle day. But the basketball gods decided, for whatever reason, to grant the Wildcats ten lives instead of the usual nine, and they prevailed in a defensive struggle with the #1 seeded Bluejays.

You would think I would be all smiles, and I am happy, but tightness of the game combined with all the rumormongering has just taken too much out for me to properly enjoy this victory, at least now. It is great knowing we beat a team that really should have received an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament. I must confess, being in the NIT has been a different and not nearly as unpleasant an experience as I expected. This year's NIT has been very competitive and very exciting, certainly rivaling that other tournament for drama, if not glamor and prestige.

As they have every single game recently, Kentucky played very hard and very determined basketball. Their execution varied from pretty good to downright poor, but a lot of that was due to a remarkable defensive effort by Creighton. The Bluejays, as have most teams recently, decided that they would try to let the rest of the team beat them rather than chance a defeat at the hands of Patterson and Meeks. For the most part, they shut Meeks down completely until midway through the second half, when the Bluejay defenders finally began to wear down and Meeks' superior athleticism and stamina took over. But it nearly was too little, too late.

Observations:

If UK had another quality post player, there would be no defending us.
If UK had one more serious perimeter threat, there would be no defending us.
Ramon Harris played what I consider to be one of his best overall games as a Wildcat. He was very aggressive when we needed someone to be and delivered big plays, as well as tough defense. 9 points and 8 assists to go with 4 rebounds.
Perry Stevenson wound up with a double-double, 13 points 10 rebounds, but it didn't feel like that good a game for some reason. Perry continues to hesitate when he should just shoot.
Patrick Patterson, hampered by fouls, did OK, but he just seemed to struggle to get into position to receive the ball.
DeAndre Liggins looked very good out there tonight, despite having only 3 points and one assist.
Jodie Meeks wore 'em down like he always does. It must be frustrating to be face-guarded all the time like that.
Michael Porter was as good tonight as he is ever likely to be.
Darius Miller wasn't as good as he has been lately, but he still chipped in with five points and two assists.
UK got outrebounded by a much smaller team. How does this keep happening?
Nice call by Gillispie on that last play. I think we should clear out for Meeks more often.
Kevin Galloway seemed really out of control and unfocused tonight.
A.J. Stewart tried too hard to make plays, and wound up not helping much, although he did get a couple of rebounds. Maybe Gillispie should have let him play more.
Harrellson missed 3 layups. That's not good.
Kentucky took fairly decent care of the ball tonight. I hope it's a trend.
The largest lead by UK was the final difference. The lead changed 13 times and was tied 9. That is the very definition of a close game.
Seems a tornado hit in the Omaha area while the game was going on. What is it about Kentucky and tornadoes? Is God trying to tell us something?
The Creighton fans were terrific. I was really impressed with them.

I am very pleased to beat a #1 seed, even in the NIT. To me, this is like some kind of throwback to the 1975-76 when UK won the NIT and I was off to my first year at Western. It was a lot more prestigious then than it is now, but it was beginning to lose its luster. Still, this year's NIT seems like a prize worth taking, if we can do it. Getting past this tough little team was definitely a step in the right direction.

The NIT: Gameday Breakdown

Ken Howlett — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:07:55 -0000

In tonight's 7:00 EST second round NIT game versus the Missouri Valley Conference's Creighton Bluejays (27-7, 14-4), Kentucky fans will have the opportunity to see how well their Wildcats can focus on the task at hand. That task is made more difficult with the rumors swirling about UK head coach Billy Gillispie, and whether or not his days in Lexington are numbered.

Publicly at least, the players and coach are focusing their thoughts and efforts on defeating the Bluejays. But, one has to wonder if the intensity of the media and fan feeding frenzy is occupying an inordinate amount of their energy and focus. Which brings me back to my original thought: Will UK play with purpose and determination?

My guess is that the leadership of Patrick Patterson, and his absolute hatred of losing, will overcome any perceived obstacles the team is facing. The environment will not be unlike an SEC road game; a nearly full Qwest Center (Cap. 17,600), with Bluejay fans in full-throated, vocal support of their team. This Kentucky team (21-13, 9-9), though, is not a neophyte when it comes to playing on rowdy, hostile road-courts, and that experience may very well pay off this evening.

Omaha is anxiously awaiting the 'Cats, so let's look at what's in store:

Creighton Personnel

Booker Woodfox: 6-1, 185 lb senior guard -- Woodfox averages 15.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He shoots 48.3% from the field, 47.6% from beyond the arc (88-185), and 87.3% from the free throw line. Woodfox is the MVC Player of the Year.

P'Allen Stinnett: 6-3, 180 lb sophomore guard -- He averages 12.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists (1.9 turnovers), and 1.5 steals per game. Stinnett makes 44.1% of his shots, 31.3% of his three-point attempts (41-131), and 75.6% of his free throws. Stinnett led the MVC with 68 steals.

Kenny Lawson, Jr.: 6-9, 245 lb sophomore center -- Lawson averages 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. He makes 53.1% of his shots, and 75.4% of his free throws.

Justin Carter: 6-4, 200 lb junior G/F -- Carter averages 8.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He's making 45.5% of his field goal attempts, 25.0% of his threes (12-48), and 68.6% of his free throws.

Cavel Witter: 6-0, 165 lb junior guard -- Witter averages 7.9 points, 2.3 assists, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game. He makes 33.9% of his shots from the field, 31.8% of his three-point attempts (34-107), and 85.4% of his free throws.

Kenton Walker: 6-9, 235 lb sophomore F/C -- Walker averages 5.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. He shoots 53.8% from the floor, and 72.2% from the free throw line.

Antoine Young: 6-0, 165 lb freshman guard -- He averages 5.1 points per game. Young is shooting 39.7% from the floor, 28.2% of his trey attempts (11-39), and 70.0% from the charity stripe.

Kaleb Korver: 6-5, 190 lb sophomore guard -- Korver averages 3.7 points, an 2.3 rebounds per game. He shoots 43.5% from the field, 45.3% from the three-point line (38-84), and 70.0% from the free throw line. Korver is the brother of former Creighton and current NBA player, Kyle Korver.

Casey Harriman: 6-5, 205 lb sophomore forward -- Harriman averages 3.7 points, and 2.7 rebounds per game. He shoots 39.8% from the field, 40.3% from behind the arc, and 64.5% from the charity stripe.

Josh Dotzler: 6-1, 175 lb senior guard -- Dotzler averages 3.1 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.6 rebounds per game. He makes 38.7% of his field goal attempts, 36.4% of his threes (8-22), and 60.5% of his free throws.

Creighton Team and Opponent Stats -- Overall

Creighton Opponents

Points Per Game -- 73.6 65.5

Field Goal% -- 44.7 42.2

Free Throw% -- 75.3 68.8

3-Point% -- 37.9 34.5

Rebound Margin -- - 3.7

Off. Rebound Per Game - 9.6 11.8

Off. Rebound% -- 28.5 34.0

Def. Rebound% -- 66.0 71.5

Assists Per Game -- 14.1 12.1

Steals Per Game -- 8.2 5.9

Turnovers Per Game -- 12.2 16.1

Blocks Per Game -- 3.9 2.9

Bluejay Bits

Creighton wins of note: 82-75 over New Mexico, 69-58 @ St. Josephs, 77-59 over Dayton, 83-75 @ DePaul, and 73-72 over Southern Illinois ... Creighton losses of note: 71-69 @ Arkansas, Little-Rock, 54-52 @ Nebraska, 69-66 versus Northern Iowa, 74-62 versus Drake, and 73-49 versus Illinois St. in the MVC Tournament ... Creighton is 16-2 at home (losses to N. Iowa and Drake) ... In Creighton's seven losses they average only 60.4 points per game ... They average 76.3 points at home ... The Bluejays have attempted 708 three-point shots (20.8 per game) ... They make an average of 7.9 threes per game ... RPI comparison -- UK 79, Creighton 40 ... Strength of Schedule comparison -- UK 64, Creighton 111 ... The Bluejays are 2-2 versus the RPI Top 50 (UK is 3-4) ... This is coach Dana Altman's 15th year at Creighton ... Chad Millard, a U of L transfer, averages 9.5 minutes per game ... Creighton is hosting an SEC school for the first time in forty years ... The Bluejays are two-point favorites.

CliffNote's Analysis

Dana Altman's club likes to shoot the trey, but they don't rebound, or defend the paint with particular effectiveness. This leads me to believe that the focus of tonight's game should be getting the ball to Patrick Patterson, and defending the perimeter.

Sound like a familiar refrain? This does also: Surely Altman will double and triple-team Patterson in the paint; I don't foresee Kenny Lawson being left alone to guard UK's paint warrior. Lately, UK opponents have been allowing Patterson to receive the pass, but then forcing the big fella into a highly contested shot, or harassing him into an ineffective pass out of the block. That has hopefully been an area of concentration among the Kentucky coaching staff, because without an effective Patterson, UK"s chances diminish exponentially.

Assuming Creighton matches their season average of making eight threes per game, UK must then find a way to get Jodie Meeks some open looks. The UK star clearly hasn't been himself recently; since making 4-6 three-pointers at South Carolina of February 25, he has made only nine of 41 trey attempts (21.9%). Tonight would clearly be a great time for Darius Miller and Michael Porter to provide some perimeter scoring help.

Something to remember: Kentucky has won only one game this year when their opponents make more three-pointers than the boys in blue.

Locate the shooter! Gillispie should have painted that Basketball 101 creed inside the eyelids of his troops, because UK finding the Creighton shooter, of which there are plenty, will go a long way in determining tonight's winner. Dropping off the perimeter player to help in the paint is not an option in this game ... not if the 'Cats are to pull out a victory. Creighton's post-presence consists of Lawson, and 6-9 Kenton Walker; between them they average an underwhelming 13.4 points per game. If I'm Gillispie, I would be content to give up 20 points tonight to the two big men, in exchange for on-the-catch perimeter defense.

Altman consistently uses 10 players; the conditioning of the 'Cats will probably be an issue, and may require Gillispie to dip into his seldom-used bench.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats; survive and advance!

2009 NIT Tournament First Round: Kentucky vs. UNLV

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:31:24 -0000

Tonight is the big night for the first game of the NIT for UK in 30 years -- the Wildcats of Kentucky vs. the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV.

Both these teams have won national championships, and both find themselves missing the NCAA tournament this year. But they do find themselves opposing each other in the first round of the NIT. UNLV is 0-3 all time against Kentucky, the last meeting being in the 1985 NCAA tournament first round.

Now, let's take a look at this game.

Player Statistics:

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Wink Adams	30	31.7	4.7	12.6	37.4	1.2	4.6	26.6	3.7	5.3	68.8	0.7	3.4	4.1	2.8	2.0	1.3	0.0	1.6	14.3
Tre`Von Willis	31	28.7	3.4	8.7	38.5	1.1	3.1	34.0	3.9	5.3	73.3	0.9	3.4	4.3	3.3	2.5	1.1	0.2	2.5	11.7
Rene Rougeau	31	30.1	4.6	8.3	55.9	0.0	0.2	0.0	1.8	2.6	69.5	2.6	4.2	6.8	1.7	1.9	1.4	2.0	2.7	11.1
Joe Darger	31	29.8	2.9	7.8	37.8	2.4	6.5	37.1	0.9	1.2	76.3	1.0	3.3	4.3	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.4	2.4	9.2
Oscar Bellfield	31	26.5	2.1	5.5	37.4	0.9	2.6	33.3	1.2	1.7	66.7	0.5	1.7	2.2	3.3	1.8	1.0	0.3	1.8	6.2
Darris Santee	29	15.3	2.1	4.0	52.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3	2.3	54.4	1.1	1.6	2.7	0.3	1.1	0.3	0.5	1.8	5.4
Kendall Wallace	31	14.6	1.5	3.7	39.7	1.2	2.8	40.9	0.4	0.6	72.2	0.4	1.2	1.6	0.8	0.4	0.5	0.1	1.4	4.5
Mareceo Rutledge	31	13.8	1.4	3.1	44.2	0.8	1.8	43.9	0.6	0.8	76.0	0.8	1.8	2.6	0.4	0.6	0.9	0.0	1.3	4.1
Brice Massamba	26	9.3	0.7	1.3	51.4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	1.2	63.3	0.7	0.5	1.3	0.2	0.5	0.1	0.2	1.6	2.1
DeShawn Mitchell	20	5.3	0.7	1.4	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.7	46.2	0.5	0.4	0.8	0.2	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.4	1.7
Beas Hamga	5	5.2	0.4	0.8	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.4	50.0	0.0	0.8	0.8	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.4	0.4	1.0
Rob Ketchum	5	1.8	0.2	0.4	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.4	100.0	0.0	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.8	0.8
Scott Hoffman	10	1.8	0.2	0.6	33.3	0.1	0.5	20.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5
	31	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5	1.5	3.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Team Statistics (Courtesy of Kenpom.com)

Kentucky UNLV

Category Offense Defense Offense Defense D-I Avg

Adj. Efficiency: 106.3 [92] 91.0 [24] 105.4 [105] 93.0 [44] 101.1

Adj. Tempo: 68.2 [97] 66.6 [160] 66.5

Four Factors

Effective FG%: 53.2 [36] 44.6 [19] 49.2 [159] 48.1 [127] 49.1

Turnover %: 24.3 [325] 20.4 [161] 17.5 [24] 23.3 [34] 20.4

Off. Reb. %: 35.0 [95] 31.3 [110] 29.1 [283] 32.3 [151] 32.9

FTA/FGA: 40.8 [55] 33.5 [107] 38.3 [124] 34.4 [133] 36.5

Miscellaneous Components

3P%: 34.6 [142] 34.7 [201] 34.7 [140] 35.3 [235] 34.2

2P%: 53.8 [14] 40.8 [5] 47.5 [192] 45.8 [81] 47.9

FT%: 77.4 [7] 69.4 [212] 68.5 [186] 70.5 [258] 68.9

Block%: 9.9 [256] 17.5 [3] 8.2 [122] 10.8 [71] 8.8

Steal%: 11.1 [285] 9.6 [183] 7.9 [18] 10.8 [95] 9.9

Style Components

3PA/FGA: 29.9 [249] 33.5 [196] 39.3 [45] 32.2 [146] 33.1

A/FGM: 60.1 [52] 43.5 [6] 58.2 [78] 55.8 [222] 54

Defensive Fingerprint: Mostly Man Mostly Man

Point Distribution (% of total points)

3-Pointers: 22.5 [290] 31.0 [62] 32.8 [54] 28.3 [139] 27.6

2-Pointers: 54.6 [99] 48.3 [287] 46.2 [310] 51.5 [196] 52

Free Throws: 22.9 [49] 20.7 [155] 21.0 [140] 20.1 [190] 20.4

Strength of Schedule

Components: 105.0 [60] 100.0 [125] 104.6 [74] 98.9 [83] 101.1

Overall: 0.6368 [82] 0.6543 [74] 0.5

Non-conference: 0.4733 [216] 0.5236 [165] 0.5

Personnel

Bench Minutes: 29.0% [218] 25.8% [284] 30.70%

Experience: 1.38 yrs [261] 1.96 yrs [78] 1.66

Effective Height: +1.6 [77] -0.8 [217] 0

Average Height: 78.7" [3] 76.3" [192] 76.5"

Analysis

The star of the UNLV team is Wink Adams, both offensively and defensively. Controlling Adams is key for the University of Kentucky if they want to win this game. Adams is not a particularly good 3-point shooter, but by slashing to the basket and kicking out, he frees up the other players who are excellent from the arc, including Joe Darger, Oscar Bellfield, Tre'Von Willis and Kendall Wallace.

UNLV is a perimeter-oriented team, but Rice Massamba and Darris Santee add lenght and rebounding to the middle. They take very good care of the basketball, as you can see above, and rank in the top 40 in assist/turnover ratio. In their game against Louisville, UNLV used deadly three-point shooting and steady ballhandling to eke out a narrow, last-second victory over the Cardinals -- and that was with Wink Adams on the bench.

Where the Rebels should get into trouble with the Wildcats is on the glass. UNLV is a very poor rebounding team, and they really don't have any widebodies to wade in and get rebounds. Even Perry Stevenson should not get pushed around by the Rebels inside, and that will give UK an opportunity to shoot a very high percentage.

UNLV will run the high pick and roll, hoping to get a switch and a big-on-small mismatch, which the Rebels will exploit for guard penetration and kickouts to open three point shooters. Defensively, UNLV is primarily a man-to-man team that does a lot of switching on the perimeter, and will doubtless try to force the secondary ballhandlers of Kentucky to handle the ball more. UK fans know from experience that this can often be a recipe for disaster, with Kentucky turning the ball over.

It will be interesting to see if Kentucky's edge in offensive rebounding (which UK has done poorly lately) can overcome the likely difference in turnovers. Of course, it mostly depends on where the turnovers are, but Michael Porter can expect to get some significant pressure from the Rebel back court.

Conclusion

This is exactly the kind of team that has given Kentucky trouble all year long, a la South Carolina and Auburn. UNLV is also a significantly more mature team than Kentucky, and as we saw against LSU, maturity can be the difference between winning and losing.

On the other hand, Kentucky has more talent in two players than the Rebels do in their entire starting lineup. The question is, can Kentucky get enough out of their other guys to compete with the balanced play of UNLV? If not, this game could go badly for the 'Cats. If UNLV fails to handle Meeks and Patterson, the rest of the guys won't be needed so much, but lately, teams have been taking Patterson and Meeks away from the Wildcats and forced the rest of the team to beat them. That has not worked out well for Kentucky.

Kentucky will need all the help they can get from the home crowd, as this is one of those teams where the matchups do not favor the Wildcats. The good news is, the Rebels have never played Kentucky before, and even though the fundamentals of defending two great players are well known, it isn't like the Rebels have the benefit of a conference schedule including Kentucky to hone their skills in.

In the final analysis, Kentucky has the edge on paper, but if the 'Cats don't bring any more offense than they brought against the LSU Tigers, they are likely to lose. If UK can get out in transition and keep the Rebels on their heels, they should be able to win the game.

SEC Tournament: Kentucky Wildcats vs. LSU

Ken Howlett — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:02:23 -0000

Reversal of Fortune

The Kentucky Wildcats (20-12, 9-8) experienced a trend reversal in yesterday's opening round 71-58 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels: It's the first time all year that UK has won a game in which they were outscored from the three-point line. Ole Miss notched five made threes, while UK wasn't "feelin' it" from long distance, going only 1-10.

The victory also halted UK's unpleasant four game losing streak, keeping alive their slim hopes for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

How did they win? They won with defense, an aspect of their game that has been a dismal failure of late. But yesterday, UK held Ole Miss to only 20 points, and 31.8% field goal shooting in the second half, after allowing the Rebels to make 14-26 shots (53.8%) in the opening stanza. UK also took care of the basketball, committing only 10 turnovers to Mississippi's 18, which resulted in another reversal of fortune: UK outscored their opponent by 16 points in the points off turnovers category.

Continuing UK's reversal of fortune (Claus von Bulow would be proud): The 'Cats placed four players in double figures, with Jodie Meeks leading the way with 25 points, followed by Patrick Patterson's 15 (and 14 boards). Perry Stevenson must have eaten his Wheaties for breakfast because he showed signs of life with 13 points and eights rebounds (4 offensive), and late-comer Darius Miller chipped in with 12 points on 5-9 shooting.

And finally, what has been UK's undoing all season, offensive rebounding, was a strength yesterday. The 'Cats grabbed six more offensive boards than the Rebels, allowing UK to outscore Ole Miss by five in second chance points.

In order for UK to continue their improbable run toward the SEC Championship game, they must once again execute defensively and play smartly. Because today against the SEC Regular season champion, the #16 ranked LSU Tigers (25-6, 13-3), they will be facing an experienced-laden team that isn't prone to making the same mistakes as the depleted Ole Miss Rebels.

LSU Tigers

On February 28, LSU invaded Rupp Arena and came away with a hard-earned 73-70 victory: LSU junior forward Tasmin Mitchell nailed a three-pointer with 9.8 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Tigers.

UK head coach Billy Gillispie said this after the loss --

"We're just not a mature enough team to beat a team that is smart and mature like LSU is."

Have the 'Cats grown-up? They certainly took a positive step toward maturity yesterday.

Gillispie placed the blame for the earlier LSU loss squarely on his own shoulders. Saying that his decision to take out Ramon Harris at the 10:54 mark of the second half with UK up 54-44, cost the Wildcats the game. Gillispie noted after the game that Harris "looked like he was having a heart attack," which is why he removed the junior G/F from the game. Gillispie also stated that he was worried that Harris may have been suffering some type of after-effect related to his head injury suffered earlier in the year.

Regardless, UK went from up 10, to up only two points in Harris' four-and-a-half minute absence (he re-entered the game at the 6:35 mark), but more importantly newly minted Conference Player of the Year Marcus Thornton caught fire, scoring 15 late points (19 total second half points), carrying the Tigers to victory.

Kentucky also "accomplished" a rarity in the first LSU game: They lost despite shooting 60.7% in the second half (17-28). Meeks and Patterson were a combined 13-21 from the field (61.9%) in the second half, and accounted for 29 UK points. But it wasn't enough to overcome a 15-9 LSU advantage in second chance points, as well as a Tiger win in the points off turnovers battle (18-15).

But, the primary reason for the Tiger victory was once again a lack of perimeter defense by Kentucky -- LSU made 9-20 three-point shots (45.0%), dwarfing UK's 3-14 effort from beyond the arc (21.4%), and off-setting UK's huge advantage in points in the paint (46-24).

LSU Personnel -- Conference Games Only

Marcus Thornton: 6-4, 205 lb senior guard -- Thornton averages 22.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He's shooting 46.5% from the field, 38.5% from beyond the arc (37-96), and 78.9% from the free throw line.

In the first game -- Thornton scored 23 points on 8-23 shooting (2-7 threes), grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists and committed two turnovers.

Tasmin Mitchell: 6-7, 235 lb junior forward -- He's averaging 18.4 points, 8.1 rebounds (2.9 offensive), 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He shoots 53.9% from the field, 58.3% from the three-point line (7-12), and 73.6% from the free throw line.

In the first game -- Mitchell scored 21 points on 9-13 shooting (1-2 threes), gathered eight rebounds, had two assists, FIVE steals, three turnovers, and hit the previously-mentioned game-winning three-pointer.

Bo Spencer: 6-1, 185 lb sophomore guard -- Spencer is averaging 11.1 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game. He makes 40.3% of his shots, 40.3% of his three-point tries (25-62), and 81.5% of his free throws.

In the first game -- He scored 16 points, making 6-12 shots (4-7 threes). He dished out three assists, had two steals and two turnovers.

Garrett Temple: 6-6, 195 lb senior guard -- Temple averages 7.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He's shooting 35.8% from the floor, 29.8% from beyond the arc (14-47), and 81.4% from the charity stripe.

In the first game -- Temple scored one point, had one rebound, one assist, three blocks and one turnover.

Chris Johnson: 6-11, 210 lb senior center -- Johnson is averaging 7.8 points, 7.7 rebounds (2.7 offensive), and 3.4 blocks per game. He's shooting 49.5% from the field, and 87.5% from the free throw line (14-16).

In the first game -- In 14 minutes of action Johnson scored two points (1-3 shooting), had four rebounds, one assist, one turnover, and was generally abused by Patrick Patterson.

Terry Martin: 6-6, 210 lb senior guard -- Martin is averaging 4.7 points, and 2.7 rebounds per game. He makes 34.6% of his shots, 27.3% of his threes (9-33), and 66.7% of his free throws.

In the first game -- In 18 minutes he scored eight points on 3-4 shooting (2-3 threes), nabbed one rebound, dished out one assist, had one steal, one block and one turnover.

CliffsNotes Analysis

This is Patrick Patterson's day!

The big fella dominated the paint in the earlier LSU game, scoring 28 points on 12-17 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds. LSU simply has no answer for UK's big man. Feeding the post early and often should be a large part of Billy Gillispie's game-plan -- Let Patterson carry UK on his substantial shoulders, and with Perry Stevenson's renewed interest the 'Cats have a dual-threat post presence for the first time in several weeks.

Conference Coach of the Year Trent Johnson will once again pressure Jodie Meeks with Tasmin Mitchell, Marcus Thornton and Garrett Temple so UK will have to run some offensive sets to get their star guard some open looks (Meeks was 10-22 from the field, but only 1-9 from behind the arc in the first game).

I suspect that Ramon Harris will take on Marcus Thornton once again. UK's lock-down defender did an exceptional job on LSU's scoring machine in the first match-up. A repeat performance for the "Alaskan Assassin" will go a long way in helping UK secure their second victory in a row.

Michael Porter must take care of the ball as he did yesterday against Ole Miss -- He committed only one turnover, and had three assists. LSU isn't known for pressuring the ball, so Porter will have the opportunity to run the offense relatively hassle-free.

But most importantly, Kentucky's defense must show up as it did yesterday. When UK plays frenetic, active defense, they usually win. Today's game should be no different.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats, beat the Tigers!

Kentucky 71, Ole Miss 58: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:15:01 -0000

I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to write about a victory again, instead of a defeat. This four-game losing streak that just ended today has been among the most difficult times I have experienced as a Wildcat fan, and definitely the least fun stretch of blogging I have ever had to do.

Despite a determined effort from the Ole Miss Rebels today, a wounded David Huertas was just too tough an obstacle for the Rebels to overcome. Terrico White was terrific in defeat, and even though Huertas managed 15 points, he was only 4-14 from the field. Nice effort by the Rebels. They will be much tougher next year when they get their injured starters back.

For Kentucky, this was a game of stretches. For some stretches in the game, the Wildcats struggled like crazy to score. In others, they seemed to score effortlessly. But today, the Wildcats ran offense that looked like ... well, like offense, and defended very well in the second half. Despite a white-hot first half shooting, the Wildcats wore the Rebels down and eventually, their shooting returned to form.

It really is amazing to me the difference between the way the Wildcats attacked the zone defense today and they way they failed to attack it last weekend in Gainesville. For the first time in a long time, switching defenses did not seem to bother Kentucky. When the Rebels went zone, the 'Cats got the ball into the middle, forced rotation and Darius Miller was usually the guy that drove the ball into the paint and scored. When the Rebs were in man to man, Meeks made startling cuts and dribble dives to the basket, or repeatedly pounded the ball in to Patterson and Stevenson. The result was effective offense -- dare I say, "good" offense? Maybe.

But what really won this game for Kentucky to day was the outstanding board work by the 'Cats. 13 offensive and 22 defensive rebounds for a 7-rebound margin against the Rebels. Not a great margin, but when you look at the OR% of 37%, that is very solid, especially compared to Ole Miss' 15% effort on the offensive glass. Combined with one of our lowest turnover games in a long while (10), the 'Cats got up 12 more shots than the Rebels.

Some observations:

Patrick Patterson continues to struggle with shots he was making earlier this year. I wonder why? But he took a couple of face-up jumpers that were very nice. It was a solid game for Patterson, but we have come to expect better than 7-15 from him. But he was a beast on the boards, garnering 14 boards, 3 of them offensive.
Perry Stevenson had a whale of a game. I suppose we'll see him turn sideways and vanish into thin air tomorrow, but today he was large and in charge, with 13 points on 4-6 shooting with 8 rebounds including 4 offensive.
The things Ramon Harris does cannot be measured. He did a great defensive job on Terrico White, even though White was red hot in the first half. Almost every one of those shots was challenged, but White could not miss. It went the other way in the second half, though. Harris also managed 7 rebounds.
Neither team shot well from three, and only a late Jodie Meeks three saved UK's 3-pointer-in-a-game streak. 1-10 is loathsome shooting from the arc. Ole Miss was at least not horrible at 30%.
I loved the way Meeks played today. He made shot fakes instead of taking wild shots, he knifed to the basket with frightening abruptness and finished or got fouled. Despite only one 3, Meeks got his average. That is a scorer. That's why he'll get paid big bucks to play ball after next year.
What can I say about Darius Miller? The freshman was simply terrific offensively. The only real criticism I can make is that he got bupkis for rebounds. How do you manage that at the 3 spot?
Michael Porter was ... well, Michael Porter. He hustled, he defended to the best extent his limited athleticism would allow, he was tough and determined. But he was also so far off shooting that his seven missed shots barely threatened to touch the rim, let alone go through the hoop. He did make one very nice driving layup, had three assists and only one turnover. I suppose, on balance, that his negatives and positives were close.
Josh Harrelson had a positive impact in only 8 minutes, but a really dumb three limited his playing time.
Kevin Galloway tried, but he really struggled today defensively. His man beat him over and over, but he did make a couple of nice passes and did not turn the ball over.
DeAndre Liggins barely played, and came with one foul of making no mark at all on the game.

One thing I did notice was that UK stayed at home, and only one person went to block the shot. In my view, this was one of the reasons that Kentucky did so well on the glass today. I would also note that Ole Miss did not pressure Porter, which is likely why we did not see a bunch more turnovers. Another possible negative is that the 'Cats did not put away the game until fairly late, so Gillispie was not able to rest the starters a great deal. But for once, his substitutions made some semblance of sense, and both Patterson and Meeks got at least a few minutes of rest.

All in all, this was a solid effort from Kentucky, especially defensively in the second half, holding Ole Miss to only 20 points. Forcing turnovers was a big part of that, something UK has not done particularly well this year.

So now, the 'Cats move on for another shot at LSU, who will be rested and ready. If Kentucky brings the effort they had today, they should be competitive, but Jodie Meeks must be more effective from the perimeter. But for now, we can celebrate a victory for the first time in two weeks, and it feels really good.

Kentucky 53, Florida 60: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:39:29 -0000

I regret not being able to write this last night, but I had other matters to attend to. I want to thank everyone for doing such a good job of keeping the discussion civil in this difficult time.

First of all, a big, somewhat belated congratulations to the Florida Gators. Florida did not play a great game, but they played well enough to win. When you are at home facing a with a lot (at least, ostensibly) of motivation to win the game, it's easy to try too hard, and sometimes the Gators did. But they forced Kentucky into many turnovers and managed to exploit enough of them to get the W. Well done, Florida. Noble victory.

It doesn't take Yoda to intuit the fact that I am very fatigued, both mentally and emotionally, with writing losing postmortems. All sports bloggers have to do this, of course, but it gets much tougher when your team is far worse than expected in a season. But with that said, let's move along to the Wildcats.

First of all, I must say that the 'Cats played very hard. They played very poorly in the process, but I don't fault anyone's effort today, and if you are like me and try to search for positives in a dismal showing, that's something. Unfortunately, this team's effort today was largely directed, as it has been so often, in making plays that simply were not there to be made, with the predictable result of ridiculously difficult shots missing the mark and turnovers made all over the place.

The biggest problem with Kentucky today is that they had no 3-point shooting against the zone defense. One of the weaknesses of a zone is that it allows open 3-point shots with good ball movement. Kentucky's ball movement wasn't just poor, it was incomprehensible. Throwing the ball around the perimeter of the zone is exactly what the zone defense wants the offense to do. What you should do is get the ball into the high post, forcing the zone to react. It's as though that was against the rules today, because the 'Cats almost never tried to do that.

In addition, Meeks was again unable to get clean looks, and when he did, he missed the shot. A lot of that credit goes to Florida, particularly Walter Hodge and Nick Calathes, who split time guarding Jodie Meeks. Ray Shipman also did good work there.

Patrick Patterson shot 7-17, an incredibly inefficient outing that has lately become his trademark all too often. Patterson missed point-blank shot after point-blank shot, and even though he was under some pressure, it was nothing like what he faced last month in Columbia. I am at a loss to explain what looks like a sudden lack of confidence in his game.

Kevin Galloway, the hero of the last encounter with the Gators, had a very bad showing. He kept trying to make impossibly difficult passes, even when a simple pass was available. Four turnovers, three assists.

Michael Porter was his typical ineffective self, although he wasn't the turnover machine we have seen so often from him this year. That honor went to Darius Miller, who's stat line of 1 assist, 6 turnovers and one rebound in 15 minutes is surely represents the nadir of the young man's Wildcat career so far (and hopefully, forever). Porter did, however manage to allow Walter Hodge to torch him for 18 points on 7-12 shooting.

The only player to really play well was Ramon Harris, the much-maligned small forward who defended Calathes like a maniac, holding him to only 5 points. Harris scored 14 points on 6-8 shooting and had only two turnovers and five rebounds, four of them offensive. Jodie Meeks managed 15 points on 6-18 shooting, with three rebounds as well as turnovers. As far as Perry Stevenson is concerned, I see by the box score that he did play 26 minutes, although I can scarcely remember anything he actually did.

So much for the recap.

So where does this latest debacle leave us? Well, I think it is safe to say that absent an SEC tournament championship, Kentucky has no chance whatever to get an at large bid in the NCAA tournament. That hope technically died earlier this week when Georgia handled us in Rupp Arena, but the reality is that the season was murdered in Columbia, South Carolina back on February 25th. The Gamecocks, in my estimation, crushed the fragile psyche of of this team to fine powder, rolled it up and smoked it.

I know many people will want to take Gillispie before the firing squad, but the truth of the matter is that he is no longer in control of the fortunes of this team. As anyone who has ever led a group of men or women will tell you, once their confidence in the direction of the team fails, it is usually (although not always) unrecoverable in the near term. What it often takes is a quiet period for people to evaluate themselves and their priorities, digest and assimilate what happened that contributed to the disaster and come back with a plan to succeed after the pain and recriminations of the failures have subsided. Only in cases of extreme maturity and determination, as we saw last year from Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley, can the rescue of a team be effected in-season once it's confidence has failed. Unfortunately, this team has no such maturity or determination.

What this means is that the post season for this group, absent something rather extraordinary, is going to be much like the last few weeks. I can never say never, but I don't expect Kentucky to do well in the SEC tournament and I do expect them to play in the NIT. They may win a game or two in that tournament, but ultimately, the weight of this season will doom them much as it has seven of the last ten games. A slow start is all it takes to bury this team, and every start these days is a slow start. These young men have neither the maturity nor the mental toughness to bail out all the water the USS Wildcats is taking on this year.

Coach Gillispie will suffer most of the recriminations, and that is right because that's what he is paid to do. My opinion is that Gillispie's "stay tough" style simply didn't work with this particular group of kids. I expect he also tried a kinder, gentler approach at times in the season hoping to get a response, but really, he was operating from a position of weakness. Gillispie is Gillispie, and this team needed a different type of approach which is apparently beyond his ken. We have seen this happen before with coaches at Kentucky and elsewhere.

Gillispie could not get this team to execute or understand his offensive schemes. Defensively, the Wildcats were fairly consistent and generally pretty good this year, but it was the inability to value the basketball or execute precision offense when it was needed that cost us most games. Yesterday, it was a return of the unwillingness (I can't really call it anything else, the proper method to attack zone defenses are well-known by anyone who closely follows college basketball) of the team to properly attack the zone and move the ball. It was as though flashing to the free throw line was so risky that nobody would attempt it, so Kentucky simply threw the ball around the perimeter fecklessly in hopes of getting it to Patterson.

I do not believe those who say Gillispie is over his head, at least when it comes to actual coaching. In the sense that he has done a very poor job with media and fan relations this year, yes, I think he is in over his head -- he has taken a huge reservoir of goodwill and drained it completely dry with almost nothing to show for it. He now finds himself actually embattled at Kentucky after only two years, a feat that I thought impossible without an actual losing season. Yet Gillispie has managed this with two potential NBA draft picks and several other top 50 players coming out of high school on the team.

I personally believed that Gillispie should get four years at the head job almost as a default. However, after this season he will be under tremendous pressure to perform next year, and that concerns me -- coaches under that much pressure can become unpredictable and can be a threat to the program's integrity. I trust that Barnhart and the compliance staff will work very closely with him under these circumstances. I think Coach Gillispie is a man of integrity who would never do anything wrong, but there is no way he has ever been under this much pressure in his life. Pressure this intense can break the will of even the best human being, and while it may seem unfair, it is simply a fact at Kentucky that must be dealt with. That unfortunate fact may (and probably is) a big part of the reason why Kentucky has had so much difficulty with coaching searches.

Unfortunately for those who want to see Gillispie fired immediately, doing so would magnify the pressure of this job to the point that I can't imagine any right-minded human being who would want it. I'm sure somebody would be willing to try, but if you think we could euthanize the Gillispie era today and hire the next Rick Pitino tomorrow, you are simply nuts. The psychology of the situation would be unprecedented in all of college basketball history, and we would most likely have to settle for a coach with Kentucky ties. I would point out that the only coaches with Kentucky ties of the stature that most fans want are Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan and Tubby Smith.

Of course, it is always possible we could go to the NBA and get lucky like we did with Pitino. NBA coaches are familiar with pressure that is at least somewhat similar to what a coach faces at Kentucky, and that is certainly a good thing. Most of them are fairly adept at handling the media, so that would also be a plus. But could we find any that would be a good fit and have the necessary experience to take over this program? I don't know.

In the final analysis, firing a coach who had committed no NCAA violations or other issues of moral turpitude after two winning seasons would be unprecedented, for a program of Kentucky's stature to take such an action would put our program at risk for years to come. But does that mean that we should just take this season in stride and look forward to next year, throw up our hands and say, "Oh, well, better luck next year?" Not in my book.

There are several actions that the Athletics Department should take after this season is finally dead and buried, something I expect to happen sooner rather than later. They are:

Inform Gillispie that he has one month after the NCAA championship game to finalize and sign a contract with UK. Failure to do so will result in dismissal, and litigation over the MOU. Enough is enough.
Require Gillsipie to provide a detailed explanation to the Athletics Director, either verbally or in writing, about what went right and what went wrong with this season. This analysis should include a detailed explanation of the failures that caused this season to go south, along with a detailed plan for corrective action addressing each of the failures. Once the coach and AD agree on all the points at issue and their corrective action, Gillispie and the AD should agree on what an acceptable outcome to next season will be complete with objectives and performance criteria.

As much as the fans would want to be part of this, it is unreasonable that they should be privy to or have a say in this agreement. We hired Barnhart to handle this. Let him do his job.
The agreement should be specific as to what success and failure next season look like. For example, success could be defined as a winning percentage of 70% +0-5%, an SEC championship or co-championship, and an NCAA tournament bid of 8 or better. I really don't care what the agreement is, it could require an NCAA sweet 16 or better, whatever.

What would the consequences of failure to meet objectives be? A presumption of dismissal, I would expect, absent extraordinary mitigating circumstances. Coach Gillispie was hired to coach Kentucky into Kentucky-like performances, not performances that would satisfy Georgia or Ole Miss. He has now had two full years to deal with the issues that the program had before he came, and three of his recruiting classes will be in place by next fall. We should begin to see progress from the 2006-07 years, not a continuation or regression from them.

I have advocated four years for Gillispie, and I still feel that way if he can show substantial progress next year. If not, I'm not sure that Barnhart will be able to protect him for another year. Many people have compared the situation to Coach Brooks, but we all know that basketball and football are worlds apart in the minds of Kentucky fans. Barnhart could afford to go to bat for Brooks, but Gillispie has burned up a ton of goodwill that Brooks did not by still having an unsigned contract and various media faux pas along with an intractable attitude toward the game that has not yielded good results. Intractable, eccentric behavior are fine when you win, but poison when you don't. In the final analysis, I don't think Gillispie can survive another year with more than ten losses unless he has a deep run in the NCAA's. I'm not sure he could survive another first-round loss in the NCAA's, or another VMI or Gardener-Webb type loss.

In summary of this lenghty commentary, Kentucky's season is effectively over. Although an SEC Tournament championship or even an NIT championship might somewhat change the dynamic of this season, it wouldn't be by much. Opinion has largely calcified that this year was a failure, and primarily a failure of coaching. Not only that, but the Kentucky coach has managed to create an unfortunate impression of his time at Kentucky by some very questionable decisions in the media. The result of this is that after only 22 months on the job, Gillispie has completely exhausted the reservoir of good will that the Big Blue Nation had for him when he was hired. He is now viewed almost as negatively (and perhaps just as negatively) by the fan base as Tubby Smith was two years ago, and that is very bad news. Gillispie, in my judgment, cannot survive another year like this, no matter what chance I personally think he should have.

Kentucky Wildcats @ Florida: Gameday Breakdown

Ken Howlett — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:24:02 -0000

A regular season once filled with promise and optimism comes to a close today as the 'Cats take on their bitter rivals, the Florida Gators. The 2:00 EST (CBS) contest will determine the 3rd and 4th place finishers in the SEC East. If UK pulls out the road victory, by virtue of their 3rd place finish, they would meet up with the Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday in the SEC Tournament. If Kentucky loses today, they most likely would then play Alabama in an opening round SEC Tourney tilt.

My, how the recently and once-mighty, have fallen. UK, losers of three games in a row (and seven of their last 10), and Florida, also losers of three in a row (and six of nine), will not be playing for banners, but rather their NCAA Tournament lives. Both teams, clinging to the slightest of hope ... hope that they won't be slighted on Selection Sunday.

I wrote in my Georgia pre-game that if the 'Cats lost to the Dawgs their NCAA hopes went with the wind, but Bracketology guru Joe Lunardi disagrees, so I won't give up until I fail to hear UK's name called out by Jim Nantz ... but, hey, that's just me.

So, it's on to the Gators.

Florida Personnel

Nick Calathes: 6'6" 194 lb sophomore guard -- On the season Calathes is averaging 18.2 points (6th in the SEC), 6.4 assists (1st in the SEC), 5.3 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game (2nd in the SEC). He's shooting 49.6% from the field (8th in the SEC), 41.3% from beyond the arc (64-155), and 71.0% from the free throw line.

In SEC play he's averaging 19.3 points, 6.1 assist, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He's shooting 47.7% from the floor, 43.2% from the three-point line (38-88), and 71.3% from the free throw line -- Over his last four games Calathes is averaging 14.3 points per game (versus Miss. St. last game, he scored only 11 points). In that span he's shooting only 40.4% from the field. Over the last eight games he's shooting only 35.7% from the three-point line. Since recording 14 steals in a four game stretch, in his last two games Calathes has zero steals. Calathes is the only player in the country who is averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game. He also leads the SEC is A/TO ratio at 2.04. Last time out versus UK Calathes scored a season high 33 points on 10-20 shooting (2-7 threes), grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three assists, had two steals and two turnovers. The 20 shots he took represents a season high.

Alex Tyus: 6'8" 220 lb sophomore forward -- On the year Tyus is averaging 12.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game (2.0 off. reb). He's shooting 59.5% from the field (2nd in the SEC), and 65.0% from the free throw line.

In league play he's averaging 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game (1.9 off. reb). He's shooting 54.3% from the floor, and 63.4% from the charity stripe -- Tyus has scored in double-digits in eight of his last 10 games. He's made only four of is last 10 free throw attempts. His last double-digit rebound game was January 14 versus Auburn, when he had 14. Tyus has committed zero turnovers his last two games. Against UK on February 10, he scored 14 points on 7-11 shooting, grabbed only two rebounds, but recorded three blocks (season high), two steals and one assist. The two rebounds he nabbed were the fewest he's had in a game this year (along with the Longwood, and Toledo games).

Chandler Parsons: 6'9" 213 lb sophomore forward -- Parsons is averaging 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, on the year. He shoots 47.1% from the floor, 30.3% from the thee-point line (33-109), and 55.7% from the free throw line.

In conference play he's averaging 11.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. He shooting an even 50.0% from the field, 32.1% from behind the arc (18-56), and 47.1% from the free throw line -- Since making 7-8 threes versus Vandy on January 25, Parsons has made only 7-30 (23.3%) in his last 10 games. He's taken only one free throw in his last three games. Since recording three blocks versus South Carolina on February 3, in the seven games since, he's blocked only one shot. In Florida's last game, versus Mississippi State, Parsons played only 17 minutes. Earlier versus UK, Parsons played 24 minutes, scored two points on 0-4 shooting (0-1 threes), grabbed six rebounds, and dished out one assist.

Erving Walker: 5'8" 161 lb freshman guard -- For the year, Walker is averaging 9.8 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game. He's making 43.4% of his shots, 41.4% of his three-point attempts (55-133), and 83.1% of his free throws.

In SEC play he's averaging 10.9 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game. He's shooting 43.2% from the field, 43.2% from beyond the arc (32-74), and 82.9% from the free throw line -- Wednesday versus Mississippi State Walker made only 1-6 threes. In the Brooklyn natives four previous games he made 13-27 trey attempts (48.1). He's recorded only one steal in his last five games. Since committing five turnovers versus South Carolina on January 21, he's averaged only 1.0 turnovers in his last 11 games. He made 4-8 three-point attempts last Saturday against Tennessee. Versus UK last time out Walker played 27 minutes, scored seven points on 2-6 shooting (1-2 threes), two rebounds, one assist one steal and two turnovers.

Dan Werner: 6'8" 230 lb junior forward -- Werner is averaging 8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He's shooting 43.9% from the floor, 36.0% from the three-point line (40-111), and 76.3% from the free throw line.

In league play he's averaging 7.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Werner is shooting 36.9% from the floor, 37.5% from behind the arc, and 86.7% from the free throw line -- Werner hasn't taken a free throw in seven games. He's made 10 of his last 21 three-point attempts. He's recorded zero steals in his last three games. He's averaging 6.7 rebounds over his last three games. In the earlier game versus UK, he scored four points, and had three rebounds, steals and turnovers.

Walter Hodge: 6'0" 170 lb senior guard -- Hodge is averaging 8.7 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 rebounds per game. He's shooting 45.3% from the floor, 39.2% from the three-point line (51-130), and 80.6% from the charity stripe.

In SEC play he's averaging 9.8 points, 2.3 assists, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. He's shooting 45.2% from the field, 36.6% from the three-point line (26-71), and 81.0% from the free throw line -- Since making only one of nine threes versus Alabama on February 18, Hodge has made 10-24 in his last four games (41.7%). He is averaging 13.8 points per game over his last six. In that span he's made 31-60 field goal attempts (51.7%). The diminutive guard has grabbed nine offensive rebounds in his last six games (the previous eight games he had zero). After recording only one steal in his previous five games, versus Mississippi State on Wednesday he had three steals. He committed four turnovers versus Vandy, in the three games since he has zero miscues. Earlier versus UK, Hodge played 20 minutes, scored two points on 1-5 shooting (0-1 threes), he also had three assists, two steals and two turnovers.

Kenny Kadji: 6'10" 245 lb freshman F/C -- Kadji is averaging 4.7 points, and 2.8 rebounds per game. He's shooting 48.7% from the field, and 51.2% from the free throw line (22-43).

In conference play he's averaging 4.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and .9 blocks per game. He's making 48.2% of his shots, and 59.1% of his free throws. Kadji had eight rebounds in only 14 minutes versus Alabama on February 18. He recorded four blocks versus Vanderbilt on February 21. He hasn't scored in double-figures since netting 10 points versus Arkansas back in January (which was also the most minutes he's played all year, 23). He's made only 1-5 shots in his last three games, after making 9-18 in the three previous contests. Versus UK last time out he played 12 minutes and scored one point, grabbed three rebounds, and had one block and one turnover.

Ray Shipman: 6'5" 212 lb freshman G/F -- Shipman is averaging 3.8 points, and 2.2 rebounds per game. He's shooting 50.0% from the floor, 18.8% from beyond the arc (3-16), and 67.6% from the charity stripe.

In league play he averages 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. He's making 57.1% of his shots, 40.0% of his threes (2-5), and 71.4% of his free throws -- Versus Mississippi State Wednesday night, he played a season high 24 minutes. He hasn't recorded an offensive rebound since January 31 (an eight game span). He's made 7-11 field goal attempts over his last four games. Versus UK last time out he played 16 minutes, scored two points (1-1 FG's) and grabbed two rebounds.

Florida Team Stats -- Overall (SEC rank in parenthesis)

Florida Opponents

Points Per Game -- 78.8 (2) 68.7 (5)

Field Goal% -- 48.4 (t1) 44.8 (12)

Free Throw% -- 68.5 (7) 62.4 (1)

3-Point% -- 37.3 (2) 36.5 (11)

Rebound Margin -- +.4 (9)

Off. Rebounds Per Game -- 11.1 (9) 11.0 (2)

Off. Rebound% -- 32.6 (10) 32.0 (7)

Def. Rebound% -- 68.0 (7) 67.4 (10)

Assists Per Game -- 17.0 (1) 13.3 (8)

Steals Per Game -- 8.2 (3) 6.2 (4)

Turnovers Per Game -- 12.0 (1) 15.2 (8)

Blocks Per Game -- 2.8 (12) 3.4 (5)

Florida Team Stats -- Conference Games Only (SEC rank in parenthesis)

Florida Opponents

Points Per Game -- 77.9 (1) 73.6 (7)

Field Goal% -- 46.8 (1) 47.0 (11)

Free Throw% -- 69.4 (5) 59.8 (1)

3-Point% -- 38.9 (1) 37.7 (11)

Rebound Margin -- - 2.3

Off. Reb. Per Game -- 9.6 (12) 10.6 (2)

Off. Reb.% -- 27.6 (12) 30.8 (3)

Def. Reb.% -- 69.2 (3) 72.4 (12)

Assists Per Game -- 15.8 (1) 13.3 (6)

Steals Per Game -- 6.9 (7) 6.5 (3)

Turnovers Per Game -- 11.3 (12) 13.5 (5)

Blocks Per Game -- 2.6 (11) 3.8 (5)

UK 68, UF 65

In the February 10 contest, Jodie Meeks was the big 'Cat of the day. With only five seconds remaining the Kentucky junior drilled a three-pointer putting UK up by two. Nick Calathes was then fouled by Kevin Galloway on his three-point try, with less than a second remaining. Calathes missed his first two free throws, and intentionally missed his third, but to no avail.

Meeks led the way for UK with 23 points, Perry Stevenson scored 10. They were the only two Wildcats in double figures. Patrick Patterson, who played 30 minutes, but had to sit the last nine minutes of the game because of a severely sprained ankle, scored only 7. Michael Porter pitched in by making 3-4 trey attempts. As a team UK made seven of 17 three-pointers (41.2%), but only 9-16 free throws (56.3%). Kentucky also committed 19 turnovers; Stevenson led the way with six.

Nick Calathes led Florida with a season high 33 points, and Alex Tyus scored 14. Calathes was 10-20 from the floor, while the rest of the Gators could only muster 12-34 shooting (35.3%). Florida only corralled six offensive boards, for an 18.8% conversion rate. As a team the Gators made only 4-14 three-point tries (28.6%).

Florida guard Walter Hodge missed the final 16 minutes of the game, due to a dead-ball flagrant foul call against him.

For a complete boxscore go here.

Gator Tails

In Florida's three game losing streak they are giving up 80.0 points per game ... Over the last three games Florida is giving up 50.9% field goal shooting ... Over the last three games the Gators are giving up 48.3% three-point shooting ... Florida lost to Georgia, in Athens, 88-86 ... Florida has given up 18 offensive rebounds to Mississippi, 17 to South Carolina, and 15 to Alabama ... The Gators have made over 40.0% of their three-point attempts in 12 games this year ... Gator opponents have shot over 40.0% from beyond the arc a total of 10 times ... Six Gator opponents have made over 50.0% of their three attempts ... Florida has made over 50.0% of their field goal attempts 12 times this season ... In their last three games (all losses) the Gators have made an average of only seven free throws per game, while shooting 55.3% from the line ... Eight of Florida's last nine opponents have shot at least 47.3% from the field ... At home, Florida averages 82.6 points per game in the SEC ... In their last three games the Gators have forced only 25 turnovers (8.3 per game) ... Florida made 13-28 (46.2%) trey attempts versus Tennessee last Saturday, but still lost the game, 79-75 ... They made 15-25 threes (60.0%) versus Vandy on February 17.

CliffsNotes Analysis

Florida and UK are similar in at least one area -- They are both struggling defensively. Both teams give up too many points, and both teams are allergic to guarding the perimeter. The team that amps up their defensive effort will probably win this game.

UK's best chance at that is to bottle-up Calathes, because if he's let loose as he was in Lexington, UK will be staring at a season-ending four game losing streak. I expect to see a rotation of Galloway, Porter, DeAndre Liggins (if he plays), Meeks and maybe a little Ramon Harris attempting to put the kibosh on the Gator's great guard.

But this game boils down to which team perimeter-pass denies the best, mans-up on the shooter, and makes the most three-pointers. UK has lost every game this year in which they are out-scored from the three-point line. I expect that trend to continue.

How much do the 'Cats want it? They've been blasted and questioned, berated and belittled over the last few weeks ... it's time they got mad, and played like a team that wants to win.

There is still pride waiting to be salvaged.

Happy Birthday

I want to wish my sister-in-law, and U of L grad, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

	Kentucky		UNLV
Category	Offense	Defense	Offense	Defense	D-I Avg
Adj. Efficiency:	106.3 [92]	91.0 [24]	105.4 [105]	93.0 [44]	101.1
Adj. Tempo:	68.2 [97]		66.6 [160]		66.5
Four Factors
Effective FG%:	53.2 [36]	44.6 [19]	49.2 [159]	48.1 [127]	49.1
Turnover %:	24.3 [325]	20.4 [161]	17.5 [24]	23.3 [34]	20.4
Off. Reb. %:	35.0 [95]	31.3 [110]	29.1 [283]	32.3 [151]	32.9
FTA/FGA:	40.8 [55]	33.5 [107]	38.3 [124]	34.4 [133]	36.5
Miscellaneous Components
3P%:	34.6 [142]	34.7 [201]	34.7 [140]	35.3 [235]	34.2
2P%:	53.8 [14]	40.8 [5]	47.5 [192]	45.8 [81]	47.9
FT%:	77.4 [7]	69.4 [212]	68.5 [186]	70.5 [258]	68.9
Block%:	9.9 [256]	17.5 [3]	8.2 [122]	10.8 [71]	8.8
Steal%:	11.1 [285]	9.6 [183]	7.9 [18]	10.8 [95]	9.9
Style Components
3PA/FGA:	29.9 [249]	33.5 [196]	39.3 [45]	32.2 [146]	33.1
A/FGM:	60.1 [52]	43.5 [6]	58.2 [78]	55.8 [222]	54
Defensive Fingerprint:	Mostly Man		Mostly Man
Point Distribution (% of total points)
3-Pointers:	22.5 [290]	31.0 [62]	32.8 [54]	28.3 [139]	27.6
2-Pointers:	54.6 [99]	48.3 [287]	46.2 [310]	51.5 [196]	52
Free Throws:	22.9 [49]	20.7 [155]	21.0 [140]	20.1 [190]	20.4
Strength of Schedule
Components:	105.0 [60]	100.0 [125]	104.6 [74]	98.9 [83]	101.1
Overall:	0.6368 [82]		0.6543 [74]		0.5
Non-conference:	0.4733 [216]		0.5236 [165]		0.5
Personnel
Bench Minutes:	29.0% [218]		25.8% [284]		30.70%
Experience:	1.38 yrs [261]		1.96 yrs [78]		1.66
Effective Height:	+1.6 [77]		-0.8 [217]		0
Average Height:	78.7" [3]		76.3" [192]		76.5"