SB Nation - A.J. Stewart

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 ...

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.

Kentucky 70, UNLV 60: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:22:01 -0000

Kentucky refused to let Memorial lose it's magic, as they prevail against the game UNLV Runnin' Rebels, 70-60 in the first round of the NIT.

You have to give Lon Kruger and the Rebels credt -- they absolutely did not give up, even when Kentucky had them down by 20 points. The 'Cats apparently forgot how important it is to defend the three for a while, and before you could say "One-armed bandit," the Rebs had clawed back within three. Congrats to the Rebels for a game effort, and making the kind of dramatic comeback that has given UK fans nightmares all year long. But this time, the 'Cats woke up before their season died at the hands of "Freddie" Kruger and the Rebels.

Kentucky looked very good for about 50% of the game, and very much like they have all year for the other 50%. But thanks to some solid contributions from the non-scorers and a determined effort by Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks, the 'Cats were able to get the job done in the end with clutch free throw shooting and sound defense in the last 3 minutes.

This has been a great moment in many ways for Kentucky fans -- not because UK wound up in the NIT, but because it gave the 'Cats a chance to play again in the House that Rupp Built in front of 8000+ fans. In a strange way, this was a game that Kentucky fans will remember for years, not for the negatives of being the NIT, but for the memories found in that venerable old gym. Memorial Magic once again asserted itself, and it lead to a sweet moment that I will cherish.

Other observations:

DeAndre Liggins contributed early and often, logging the most minutes he has had in many games at ten. Nice to see the young man contributing again.
It's great to see the development of Darius Miller. Yes, he took some bad shots near the end, but he really helped add the points we needed in a game where both Meeks and Patterson were under their average.
Just another double-double for Patrick Patterson. 7-11 shooting isn't as good as what we have seen from Patterson earlier this year, but it was a marked improvement over recent games. Great rebounding, too.
Ramon Harris is simply indispensable. He does all the little things and gets none of the credit. Ten rebounds, six points and four assists. How good is that?
Jodie Meeks did OK, but he was once again very inefficient at 5-12 overall. But he made all his free throws, and that was huge. Jodie still makes a lot of sophomoric mistakes handling the ball, a consequence of missing last year. He is really not ready for the NBA.
Kevin Galloway just made mistake after mistake. Some of the passes he tried are simply inexplicable, just plain crazy. I just hope he figures it out. He did have four assists against four turnovers.
Michael Porter did fine. He played an appropriate amount of minutes for a change.
Perry Stevenson had 10 big points, but we sure need more than 4 rebounds out of him.
A. J. Stewart gave some valuable minutes today. Good for him.
Josh Harrellson saw not one second. Gillsipie effect, I suppose.
Only twelve turnovers tonight. If UK can manage no more than that every game, I like their chances.
The Rebels shot 44% from three in the second half. It almost doomed UK.
UK outscored UNLV in the paint by 30-16.
UK only outscored UNLV 10-8 on second chance points.
This game was remarkable for its slow pace. Only 47 total shots attempted.
UK only got one more offensive rebound than UNLV in spite of a big size advantage.

This was a good win for the morale of the Big Blue Nation in a historical UK venue that will not be soon forgotten. UK played pretty well, but is still dealing with most of the inconsistencies that they faced all season. Kentucky badly needs more maturity and an infusion of fresh talent, and they will be getting that next year. But this year, the 'Cats still have a chance to go out on a high note -- if a lot lower than what they'd hoped. Tonight was a good first step.

Kentucky Basketball: There are none so deaf as those who will not hear

Truzenzuzex — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:22:43 -0000

Epiphanies strike when you least expect, which is perhaps why they are called, "epiphanies," and not, "comprehension." Either way, I had an epiphany today, one that we all should have recognized a long time ago. But it's really hard to blame fans for a failure to see the truth, even when it is laid out right in front of them. Almost all fans run around with a bunch of built-in preconceptions that cloud their judgment -- things like tradition, expectations, and conclusions built on the sandy foundation of hope.

It's funny how years of fandom can cloud one's judgment. We think we know so much, because we have all seen so much over the years. The evidence of our eyes, the emotions of past glory, failure and perception of failure all conspire to rob us of a gimlet-eyed view of the object of our adulation and affection. When that object comes on hard times, blame must be assessed for the sake of "tradition" and "the program." The scare-quotes there aren't meant as a backhanded pejorative, but rather just to illustrate the ephemeral nature of the concepts.

So what was this epiphany I had? In a nutshell, it is this: We have been asking questions of the darkness all year -- "Why are we not doing X?" "Why isn't this team better?" "We have more than enough talent, how can we be losing so many games?" The answer is simple -- this team is refusing to carry out the instructions of the coaching staff, and has been all year long.

That answer is very cryptic in its simplicity, and need a lot of exposition. Even though it makes sense in its most simplistic form, it's much more complex and nuanced than the simple sentence above can justify. That will be the objective of these next few paragraphs.

Billy Gillispie has been very direct and very explicit about what is wrong with this team. The problem is, Kentucky fans have been too deaf to hear what he is telling us. Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for November 14th, 2008. Gillispie said after that game:

They [VMI] played really hard and really well. I thought we would have played better and executed plays better than we did tonight. We knew those kind of things would be important in the game and we just didn't do them."

Now, what does that mean? It means exactly what it says -- the Wildcats did not execute the game plan. Why? Did they not know the plan? Did they not study film? What happened there? This was a warning for the future that nobody picked up on.

Gillispie has consistently complained about execution, but one of the best examples we have seen all year was the game Saturday at Florida. Florida zoned us for most of the game, and every UK fan knows the way you attack a zone defense -- you get the ball in the middle of the zone, forcing either outside players to collapse or inside players to help -- pick your poison. Most teams bring their outside players in. When that happens, your shooters go to the zone that the help defender just vacated for the open shot. If rotation comes, you drive the ball inside, forcing the zone to collapse and kick it out for a wide-open jumpshot. If help comes from inside, you dump it down for a post-up. Most teams chose option 1, and force you to make lower percentage shots. The zone is a percentage defense -- it wants for force you to take shots that you are more likely to miss.

Kentucky hardly ever got the ball into position to properly attack the zone. It is utterly inconceivable that any college coach did not explain in detail to his charges what to do when facing the zone, so we know that Gillispie had to tell them what to do. We have seen UK attack a zone successfully this way several times this season. And yet, for some reason, the 'Cats simply passed the ball around the perimeter. That is a failure to execute one of the simplest offenses in college basketball.

Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to the Las Vegas Invitational, December 1, 2008, the day after the tournament.

On if it was a hard decision to allow Liggins to play in the game against West Virginia…

"His teammates said they wanted him to play in the regular rotation to give us the best chance to win, so that's what we did. I think it shows a great deal of courage by him and about our team, and how much they care about each individual.”

This was a critical mistake by Gillispie, and I am confident that he knows it. Gillispie was put in a tough spot by Liggins here. Had he suspended or benched Liggins in front of his friends, family and former schoolmates in Las Vegas, he faced the possibility of another Alex Legion mid-season departure. The fans and the UK media would have gone nuts over that, and cast a pall over the whole season. So Gillispie made an executive decision -- treat Liggins like the Prodigal Son. That decision would come back to haunt him.

The Liggins decision was the beginning of the end of this team as far as being competitive was concerned. We couldn't see it then, and even months removed from the event. But like a slow growing tumor that gradually crowds out organs and makes them incapable of functioning, the decision not to punish DeAndre Liggins set the stage for what would ultimately become, for lack of a better word, a mutiny. Basketball teams must be run like a benevolent dictatorship, and insubordination must be dealt with firmly. Gillispie knows this, but he had competing interests here -- a cloud of negativism with a Liggins defection or the hope he could recover from what he had to know was a mistake later.

Turning now to the Louisville game, quoting Rick Pitino:

On starting Edgar Sosa ...
"We had a long talk. I said `Edgar, if I were you I would transfer now. I wouldn't wait because you need a year under another coach to learn his system. I really think you should. The fans aren't too happy with you. More importantly if you are not happy with yourself, you're not having fun.

I want you to compare this with Gillispie's comments allegedly "throwing his players under the bus." Pitino, remarkably, came out and savaged a player in front of the media, informing the press that he tried to get Sosa to transfer, but delivered it with such glib style that nobody noticed. Can you imagine what would happen if Gillispie said that about Liggins or Stewart right now? Can you say, "Double standard," boys and girls? When you are winning, nobody notices. When you are losing, even the most ordinary utterances become fodder for criticism.

Finally, the harbinger of the collapse that nobody seemed to notice:

On Devan Downey and trying to defend him …
“We had no answer and had nobody who wanted any part of him. He is a really good player and played great today. Their guys followed instructions the way they were suppose to and that is why they played tougher and smarter than us and that is why they won. [sic]

At this point, some of the players have stopped taking direction from Coach Gillispie. What Gillispie said was that the Gamecocks did what they were told to do, and UK didn't. That was clearly so then, and it's clearly so now. Many angry fans will tell you over and over again that Gillispie is a bad coach these days, but it's really simple to see that even the most clueless coach knows when his team is following instructions and when it is not.

Finally, we come to the Georgia game at Rupp Arena:

On Kentucky's mass substitutions…
“We weren't getting much production. It's entirely my fault. I'm having a hard time finding five guys that play hard, smart and together the whole time. We are trying a lot of different things but none of them seem to be working right now. Georgia played great. They made a lot of shots. We didn't do that. I guess we aren't mature enough to understand what we need to do.

In retrospect, this is a very telling quote. The team is not doing what they are instructed to do. Gillispie is giving them a lot of credit by speculating that it is a maturity problem, and that is most certainly part of it. But the "crux of the biscuit," as Frank Zappa would tell you, is that this team has ears, but does not hear. They simply will not do what they are asked, and at this point in the season, it's as much becaue of a fear of failure as it is willful disobedience.

Last night, Gillispie said he started the guys he did because he trusts them. He has said that before, but my mind never really grasped what that meant. He trusts them to do what he tells them, and he does not trust the other guys. What that means is that he is starting not the most talented team, but the only team that will obey his instructions. Our losses are coming from a combination of a lack of quality play from the bench (due to a failure to implement the coaching staff's game plan), and the necessity of starting guys who are talent-challenged or athletically inferior, because they will carry out his instructions. The reason the starters look so bad is the latter, not the former. When the bench players come in, the situation is reversed.

The A.J. Stewart debacle, which Gillispie decided to handle just like Liggins (another misjudgment, in my opinion), has now removed this team from reality. Wholesale changes will have to be made, and the unfortunate fact is that will once again place us behind the recruiting 8-ball. We may get lucky (Gillispie is certainly due for a little good luck) but the odds are against us.

It is also instructive to note that nobody has noticed the apparent mutiny going on down in Gainesville. Billy Donovan's team is clearly in a similar situation, although Donovan has handled it much better, partially enabled by the lower profile of Florida basketball (amazing to say about a team who won the national championship very recently in back-to-back years, and with less talent than he currently has on his team). But before you feel sorry for Gillsipe, remember that he made his bed on this one with his mishandling of media interviews combined with the somewhat unfair controversies he generated over the off-season last year. All that combined has made him much easier to dislike and paint as an ogre, which Kentucky fans are now in the business of enabling, it seems.

But even with all that said, Gillispie has accepted the blame 100% of the time, as he should. And before you get the impression that I am blaming the team and not him, I must tell you that Gillsipie created this problem back in December, and I have been very explicit about that. He is getting exactly the blame he deserves, but very often for the wrong reasons. His coaching hasn't failed this team, but his management of the personnel off the court clearly has. That has all led to a crisis of confidence, and even if this team suddenly decides to listen and do what the staff says, their confidence in themselves and each other may be too low for them to be successful this year.

In summary, the problems with this team have been right there in front of us for the entire season, and Gillispie has been telling us nothing but the truth. He cannot be explicit for any number of good reasons, not the least of which it would have sped up the ultimate failure of the team, and made him look even worse. Instead, he has cut his losses and decided to fight this battle in the interregnum between this year and next. Given the current state of affairs, that is probably wise.

UK Basketball: Patterson's Digit, and Tons of Trends

Ken Howlett — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 07:31:59 -0000

Saturday afternoon as I watched Kentucky dismantle what was left of the Bruce Pearl mystique, I thought to myself, "What's different about Patrick Patterson?" Try as I might, I could not figure out what it was about UK's big man that had changed; no, the afro had not re-appeared; no, his muscle-mass was still impressive; and no, he had not changed his jersey number, ala Ramon Harris.

From about midway through the first half, until midway through the second I pondered, but I couldn't put my FINGER on what it was. Then, as quickly as Billy G. gets T'ed up, it hit me. Patterson wasn't sporting his stylish, monstrous finger wrap!

Finally free of what seemed like three pounds of tape and gauze, Patterson played like a man liberated. His stat line from Saturday's game looked like this: 9-12 field goals, 1-2 free throws, and five rebounds -- Patterson's offensive efficiency had returned.

Which got me to thinking. What tangible effect did his injured finger and the accompanying wrap have on #54's game? And does the removal of the tape signal a new beginning for Patterson and his teammates?

Tale of the Tape

Patterson first wore his finger wrap for the game in Knoxville on January 13. Since then, he played in eight games with the finger wrapped. In those eight games Patterson was 47-91 from the field (51.6%), averaging 15.6 points per game. He also averaged 9.5 rebounds per game during that stretch.
In the 17 games Patterson played without the appendage bandaged, he made 126 of 184 shots (68.5%), and averaged 18.9 points per game. His rebounding numbers are nearly identical, though; he averaged 9.1 rebounds per game in the 17 bandage-free games.
Patterson scored over 18 points in only 37.5% of the games with the bandage present; in the 17 games without the bandage he went for more than 18 points a total of 10 times (58.8%).

It doesn't take a Mensa member's mind to figure out that Patrick's offensive game suffered dramatically because of the wrap (a nearly 17 percentage point drop in his field goal shooting). Here's hoping for a healthy finger, and great shooting for the rest of the season.

Kentucky Team Trends

Over their last four games UK, as a team, is shooting 41.3% (31-75).
Prior to the Tennessee game UK had allowed their opponents to shoot 42.9% (148-345).
Over the last eight games UK has given up 108 offensive rebounds (13.5 per game) on 281 missed shots, for an offensive rebounding percentage of 38.4 (UK is 4-4 in those eight games). On the season UK allows only a 32.4% offensive rebounding conversion rate.
Kentucky has shot under 40.0% in four of the last eight games -- @ Alabama (38.8), @ Ole Miss (38.5), Mississippi St. (35.6), and @ Vanderbilt (38.5). The previous 19 games UK shot under 40.0% only twice.
Over the last six games, UK is giving up only 7.6 assists per game to their opponents.
In 10 of 12 SEC games UK has scored more points in the second half, than in the first stanza. In that time they average 39.2 points in the second half, and 32.8 points per first half. In 12 SEC games Kentucky has scored over 40 points in the second half five times.
Kentucky has not given up 40 points in the first half of any SEC game, and they have given up 40+ in the second half only three times (48 @ Ole Miss, 42 to South Carolina in Rupp, and 47 @ Vanderbilt).
UK has scored over 80 points only twice in SEC play -- @ Tennessee, and @ Ole Miss.
UK has not recorded double-digit steals since pilfering 11 versus Appalachian State on December 20 (a span of 16 games).
In the last five games UK has less than 20 turnovers in each game. In the first 22 games of the year Kentucky turned the ball over 20+ times a total of nine games (40.9%)
UK has not recorded double-digit blocks since the Georgia game on January 18, when they had 11. Kentucky recorded double-digit blocks in seven of their first 18 games (38.9%). Over the last nine games UK is averaging 6.1 blocks per game.

Player Trends

Jodie Meeks

Since shooting 10-18 versus Alabama on January 24, Meeks has made 49-119 shots (41.2%). During that same time Meeks has made 23-59 trey attempts (38.9%).
But, Meeks has made only 4 of his last 18 three-point attempts (22.2%).
Since getting zero rebounds versus Mississippi State five games ago, Meeks is averaging 4.3 rebounds per game (he averages 3.6 boards per game on the year).
Since having 11 total turnovers versus Georgia and Auburn in back-to-back games, Meeks has averaged only 2.0 turnovers per game in the eight games since.
Meeks has made at least 35.0% of his three points shots in 11 of the last 19 games.
Since making 10-15 free throws (66.7%) in back-to-back games versus Florida and Arkansas, Meeks has made his last 16 charity stripe attempts (in his last two games).
Meeks averages a solid 8.1 free throws per game in SEC play.
Jodie has scored over 25 points in five of 12 SEC contests.

Perry Stevenson

Since averaging 14.0 points per game versus Georgia, Auburn and Alabama, Stevenson has averaged only 6.6 points per game in the seven games since.
Since averaging 10.5 rebounds per game versus Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina, Stevenson has averaged only 5.2 rebounds over the last five games.
He's snagged only four offensive rebounds over the last four games.
Stevenson has recorded zero blocked shots over the last two games. He averages 2.1 blocks per game on the year.
Since making 10-13 free throws against Alabama, Perry has made only 6-15 in the seven games since.
Stevenson dished out 40 assists through the first 22 games (1.8 assist per game). In the last five games he's handed out only two assists (.4 per game).
Since making only 3-9 shots versus 'Bama, Stevenson has made 20-36 shots in the seven games since (55.6%).

Michael Porter

Over the last four games Porter has made eight of his last 16 three-point attempts. His previous eight games he made only 3-12 (25.0%).
In his last six games Porter has committed 21 turnovers to only 15 assists.
Over his last six games Porter has averaged 6.6 points per game. He averages 4.0 points per game on the year.
Since the Georgia game (10 games ago) Porter has taken only two free throws.

Ramon Harris

Over the last three games Harris is averaging 5.3 points per game. His previous seven games he averaged 1.6 points per game.
Over the last three games Harris has made nine of 11 free throws (81.8%). On the year he makes them at a 64.6% clip.
Harris has grabbed 16 rebounds over the last three games (5.3 per game). On the season he averages 3.3 per game.
He leads the team with 11 offensive rebounds over the last three games (3.7 per game).
Versus UT Saturday, Harris made 1-1 three-point attempt. His previous 10 games he was 0-9.
Harris committed 39 turnovers in his first 17 games played (2.3 per game). In his last five games he's committed only four turnovers (.8 per game).

Darius Miller

Miller has made five of his last seven three-point attempts (71.4%). For the year, Miller shoots 29.3% from beyond the arc.
He's averaged 3.0 assists in his last five games played (he averages 2.0 assists per game for the season).
Since making only four of 10 shots versus Ole Miss, Miller has made 16 of his last 30 shots (53.3%). On the year he shoots 39.3%.
Since grabbing nine boards versus Ole Miss, Miller averages only 2.7 rebounds per game in his last six games.
Miller went 17 straight games without scoring in double-figures. He's scored in double-digits in two of his last seven games.

Josh Harrellson

Harrellson has made six of his last 12 field goal attempts (50.0%).
Versus Florida and Arkansas Harrellson played a combined 24 minutes and committed six fouls.
Harrellson has made 2-6 three-pointers in SEC play (33.3%).
Since averaging 12.3 minutes per game versus Mississippi State, Florida, and Arkansas, Harrellson has played a total of nine minutes in the last two games.

DeAndre Liggins

Since making a combined 3-4 three-point attempts in back-to-back games versus South Carolina and Mississippi State, Liggins has gone 0-2 in his last four games.
Over the last three games Liggins has recorded nine assists to only five turnovers.
Through his first 22 games played Liggins averaged 20.0 minutes per game. Over the last four games he's averaged only 12.3 minutes per game.

A.J. Stewart

Over the last three games (Arkansas, Vandy, and Tennessee) Stewart has played a total of 26 minutes, and put together the following stat line -- 19 points on 6-9 shooting (2-2 three-pointers), 5-7 free throws, seven rebounds (four offensive), one assist, two blocks, and two turnovers.

For those who care ...

Kentucky's RPI stands at 61 as of 9:00 pm EST (Monday night). Teams 60-51 are as follows, in descending order: Western Kentucky, Davidson, Illinois State, Baylor, Michigan, Boston College, George Mason, Cincinnati, Maryland, St. Mary's.

UK's next four opponents -- South Carolina is at #44; LSU is #33; Georgia is #209; and Florida is #41.

Happy Birthday

A very large and enthusiastic Happy Birthday to my wife Jennifer!!

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

Tennessee 58, Kentucky 77: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:49:59 -0000

UK was hoping to win this game today. I just don't think anybody expected them to win the game this way -- or this big.

This was definitely not the Volunteers' best effort. For some reason, in an almost karmic inversion, the Volunteers looked like the team afraid to shoot the three point shot, and Kentucky looked comfortable and confident taking the open shots that Tennessee gave them. I'm sure UT played hard, but this just wasn't their day.

Kentucky, on the other hand, played their most complete offensive game of the season with almost everybody looking like they belonged on the floor. Many times this year, Kentucky fans have seen a team that looked so one or two dimensional that you could have put almost anyone in the place of every player other than Patterson and Meeks, and you could have had the same result.

But today, the "other guys" played terrific. Patrick Patterson was back to normal, his ankle looks mostly healed and his "mummy" finger a lot better. His touch looked like the touch of the old Patterson, and he sent a couple of memorable jams down the cylinder that I'm sure many Tennessee players would like to forget immediately.

Here are my observations for this game:

Game ball: Darius Miller. This is the promise that we had all hoped to see fulfilled. Darius has gradually improved, and now he has reached the point of logging more minutes than Ramon Harris. How's this for a line: 17 points on 100% shooting in every single category, six assists, one turnover and 3 rebounds. Folks, that is about as good as it gets.
Michael Porter was unpressured, and when you don't pressure him, he can be very effective. Today, he was very effective, and hit some big shots with confidence. 3-6 shooting (all threes), six assists and two turnovers, a steal and a block
Perry Stevenson looked great in the first half, but disappeared (as is his wont) in the second half. He did rebound better, getting five to go along with six points, all in the first half.
Patrick Patterson was back to being himself, mostly. Great to see. 9-12 shooting, 19 points, only 5 rebounds though. When we got the ball to him, he was effective.
Ramon Harris had his usual line, 5 points and 3 rebounds, although he did go without a turnover today. Ramon gave us defensive toughness and hit a three. Overall, not bad.
AJ Stewart once again gave us some valuable minutes. If he would just defend and rebound better, I think his minutes would go up substantially. He had five points but on ly a single rebound in six minutes.
DeAndre Liggins had some nice assists, but also some bad turnovers. However, Liggins is starting to get it. Zero bad shots, always looking to distribute even when he made errors.
Jodie Meeks had another tough shooting day, but I knew Tennessee would take him a way from us. He still managed 14 points on 14 shots, and made all his free throws. That, we can live with.
Michael Porter logged 34 minutes today, and played well for about 32 of them.
Tennessee pounded UK on the glass, 35-28.
Great shooting day for the 'Cats. Tough to beat 60% from the floor, 41% from the arc and 87.5% from the line.
The 'Cats had 32 points in the paint. That's a welcome stat after the last game.
Kentucky just looked very confident today, and Tennessee's body language was very subdued.
No technical on Gillispie by Greene today. Pearl got one, though.
Scotty Hopson had a very good game, but he was overshadowed by Darius Miller. That's sweet.
17% from 3 for UT. Ouch. 30 second-chance points made up for some of that.
Kentucky's offensive and defensive execution was excellent today. UK didn't play a zone, but they really dared the Vols to beat them from the perimeter. Tennessee couldn't.
Holding Tyler Smith to six points will win you most games. Holding Chism and Smith to 16 points combined will win them all. Terrific defense today by Kentucky.
Despite getting beat on the boards, UK had 8 OR's which should give them a very good OR %, considering how well they shot from the field.

Overall, this was a confidence-building win for UK, and taking a broom to the Vols for the regular season is something UK hasn't done in four years. It really feels good to take back the "team to beat" status in the East from the Vols, and now, we need to take it back for the whole league by beating South Carolina and LSU. I suspect much of the coach-bashing will cool now, since Gillispie may be the only coach to go 3-1 against the Vols in the last two years.

Kentucky 64, Vanderbilt 77: What Happened?

Ken Howlett — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:32:18 -0000

Losing is always tough. Whether UK falls short against a nationally ranked opponent, or a middle-of-the-road Vandy squad, it's never easy to swallow a Kentucky loss. For some of us: The fact that Kentucky's magnificent big man Patrick Patterson was serving time as an assistant coach, instead of taking A.J. Ogilvy to task, doesn't ease the frustration of losing: The fact that Bizer's Vision World should have given the officiating crew a free initial consultation visit prior to the start of the game, doesn't ease the frustration of losing. No. Losses of this caliber are special.

You know the type of loss I'm talkin' about: After the game is over, you're sitting on your couch, thinking (or maybe yelling), "We should have won that game." Tuesday night's 77-64 setback was one of those losses, because there was so much more that UK could have done to win the game: If UK would have gotten only average performances out of Perry Stevenson, and Josh Harrellson, Kentucky wins the game: If Billy Gillispie's offense would have produced as many well-set screens for Jodie Meeks, as turnovers committed, they would have won the game. The list goes on. So ...

I've scrutinized the seriously sad stats from UK's loss to Vandy, which revealed a plethora of unpleasantness. I'll begin with the whistles ...

Let's get the obvious out of the way -- Vandy shot 40 free throws (they made 32) to UK's 23 attempts, but four of UK's free throws occurred in the meaningless final 1:15 of the game (two of Vandy's free throw attempts occurred in the same time-frame). So, for the first 38:45 of the game, Vandy shot 66.7% (38-57) of the free throws taken in the game. On the year, Vandy shoots 55.3% of all free throws taken.
On the season, Vanderbilt averages 22 free throws taken per game.
From 14:54 to 13:52 of the first half, Kentucky was whistled for FOUR fouls -- From the 14:52 to 14:21 mark of the second half, UK was again called for FOUR fouls: 1:03 of clock-time = Eight UK fouls.
Vandy entered the bonus (seventh UK team foul) in the first half with 12:07 remaining. Kentucky entered the bonus in the first half with 3:52 remaining courtesy of A. J. Ogilvy's technical foul, which also counts as a common foul.
Vanderbilt made 45.5% of their three-point attempts. On the year they make an average of 33.0%. In SEC play, the Commodores were making only 30.5%.
Lance Goulbourne needs to wake-up -- The kid who came in averaging 13.1 minutes, 3.6 points per game (in SEC play), and was shooting 41.0% overall from the field, and 23.1% (3-13) from the three-point line, suddenly fell unconscious at the sight of UK's bright blue unis: In 22 minutes versus the 'Cats he made 4-7 shots (3-5 three-pointers), and 6-8 free throws, for a career high 17 points.
For the game, Kentucky took nine more shots from the field than did Vandy (52-43).
Both teams made 20 shots.
UK recorded eight assists on their made baskets (40.0%), and Vanderbilt dished out only seven assists. UK's assist-to-made shot percentage is 61.5% on the season.
Coming out of halftime tied at 30, Kentucky proceeded to muck-up the first 5:08 of the second half by shooting 1-7 from the field, and committing two turnovers. Conversely, Vandy made 5-7 shots (two were three-pointers) and extended the lead to 44-38.
Vanderbilt shot 59.1% in the second half (13-22). UK could only manage making nine of 26 shots in the second stanza (34.6%).
Of the Commodores 13 second half made shots, seven were either layups of tip-ins.
In the first 14 minutes of the second half Vanderbilt took 13 shots, only three of which were in the paint. In the final six minutes of the game Vandy took five of nine shots from within the paint, making four. Vandy coach Kevin Stallings deserves kudos for spreading the floor, and driving to the hole; daring UK to defend.
Of Vanderbilt's nine second half misses, the 'Dores grabbed seven offensive rebounds (77.8%). Kentucky missed 17 second half shots, and only gathered in six offensive rebounds (35.3%).
Kentucky made 11 baskets (two three-pointers) in the first half to Vandy's seven (one three-pointer), yet the two teams were tied. Oh, Vandy took 18 free throws to UK's eight.
Vandy had an 10-2 first half advantage in second chance points (18-8 for the game).
Of Vandy's 30 first half points, 18 came courtesy of either a UK turnover, or a second chance opportunity. For the half, 50.0% of Vandy's points came from the free throw line.
For the game, UK nabbed 15 DEFENSIVE rebounds, while Vandy grabbed 13 OFFENSIVE rebounds. That's almost unbelievable.
Perry Stevenson, Josh Harrellson, and Darius Miller combined to play 54 minutes. In those 54 minutes the three combined for three rebounds (0 offensive boards).
Vanderbilt's Steve Tchiengang, Festus Ezeli, Darshawn McClellan, and Lance Goulbourne combined to play 58 minutes. In those minutes played they gathered in 10 rebounds (three offensive).
A. J. Ogilvy and Jeffery Taylor played a combined 60 minutes, and grabbed 16 rebounds (seven offensive).
Stevenson, Harrellson and Miller need to look in the mirror and commit themselves to rebounding the freakin' basketball.
Stevenson was particularly offensive -- 23 minutes, three points, two rebounds, and two turnovers. He made 1-3 shots, and was 1-4 from the free throw line.
Stevenson and Harrellson, in 30 minutes of combined action, totaled three points, and two rebounds. And these are the guys who were being counted on to help replace Patterson's missing 18 & 9 (together the two average 12.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game).
Kevin Galloway put together a pretty good ballgame -- 30 minutes played, 4-6 from the field (9 points), three assists and one steal. He also committed three turnovers. I'm tempted to make an argument that Galloway should start at the 3 spot, replacing Ramon Harris -- It's a step down defensively, but at least opposing defenses would have to guard him, which would help open the middle up for Patterson. But hey, what do I know?
A.J. Stewart played a nice game -- In nine second half minutes, Stewart made 4-4 shots (1-1 threes), scored 11 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, and blocked one shot. He had a rough time defending, but in his defense, he hasn't played much lately, i.e. he's shown himself to be a decent defender in previous games. He's another guy that's a bit more offensive-minded than the player currently in front of him in Gillispie's rotation. Just something to think about.
Other than Meeks, UK made 14-31 shots (45.2%).
Continuing a trend -- Once again in a loss, UK failed to get out and run, tallying only four fast-break points (they had 24 in the win in Fayetteville Saturday). Vandy did an excellent job in their transition defense, and they shot over 59% in the second half, so the opportunities to run weren't bountiful for the 'Cats. Plus, it's hard to run after an opponent's made free throw.
In his last 47 minutes played, Michael Porter has committed nine turnovers, and dished out three assists (he had four turnovers in only 15 minutes of action against Vandy).

For those attending Saturday's game in Rupp Arena versus Tennessee: The team needs raucous support, the season is on the line. Another home loss could prove fatal.

Thanks for reading, and Go 'Cats!

Kentucky 64, Vanderbilt 77: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:08:17 -0000

Well, once again the Memorial Gym advantage jumps up and bites Kentucky as they fall to the Vanderbilt Commodores, 77-64.

First of, congratulations to Vanderbilt on a very well-conceived game. The Commodores took advantage of Kentucky's lack of size, and punished UK on the glass, outrebounding the 'Cats 37-26. Vandy also had the benefit of a friendly whistle, but that made little difference. The Commodores simply took it to Kentucky and won the game the old-fashioned way -- they earned it.

For Kentucky, this is a damaging loss. Not only do the 'Cats fall temporarily out of the race for the East, they lose to a team that they should have beaten. The NCAA selection committee will take into consideration that the 'Cats were undermanned with Patrick Patterson down with an ankle injury, but that will not make up for the damage done to Kentucky's tournament chances by this loss.

The story of this game, quite frankly, was fouls. Kentucky could not adjust to the whistle and ended up sending a good-shooting Vanderbilt team to the line 40 times, where the Commodores made all but eight. Not only that, the Wildcats allowed Vanderbilt to shoot 47% from the field and 46% from the arc. You can recover from one of those stats, but not all three.

What is it about Memorial Gym and fouls? I remember Pitino getting run out of the place one year when Vanderbilt shot about 50 more free throws than UK did. We didn't get quite there tonight, but it was close.

Here are the rest of my observations about this "game":

Kentucky without Patrick Patterson simply does not have enough scoring to win against most opponents, nor do they have enough rebounding.
I have no idea what happened to Josh Harrellson. I suppose Gillispie figured that we had a better chance to beat Vanderbilt by letting them wear us out on the glass and hope they couldn't shoot the ball in from two feet. Note to Coach -- it didn't work.
Jodie Meeks managed only 6-21, a dismal 28%. No way can Kentucky win when he shoots that poorly. Vanderbilt's defense was responsible for a good bit of that, but quite frankly, he was just cold -- he missed a number of wide-open looks that he usually makes without even touching the rim.
What a game by A.J. Stewart. He made a lot of mistakes, but he also did the one thing almost nobody else could do tonight -- Put the ball in the basket.
This has got to be the single worst game I have ever seen Perry Stevenson play. Two rebounds? Stevenson played like a freshman.
Ramon Harris? Futility. At least he didn't turn the ball over, but ....
... Michael Porter did. Liberally. 4 turnovers, ONE assist. Oh-fer everything except for one layup.
Darius Miller played a fair game, overall, except for one thing. One rebound.
DeAndre Liggins had four rebounds, three assists, one turnover one steal and two blocks. Unmentioned in that is a couple of wild, aimless charges down the floor to what purpose only he and God knows.
Kevin Galloway? Well, he was pretty good. As many turnovers as assists, but he brought energy and aggression and also put a few points on the board in the process, winding up with 9 points on 4-6 shooting.
How is it that Gillsipie can get a technical foul on his haunches like that? I mean, what the heck does he say, the F-bomb? I have never seen a less demonstrative technical than the one Gillispie received tonight in all my life.

Maybe Gillispie should have used sign language, or at least got his money's worth by jumping up and down like an outraged, barking moonbat. Even a few flecks of foam around the corners of his mouth and a bit of spittle flying around would have made me feel better about it.

To add insult to injury, the officiating got worse after that.
A.J. Ogilvy made some very unsportsmanlike plays tonight. If he had been in Rupp Arena, he may well have been ejected. He sure did make free throws, though.

There are a ton of gripes I can make about this game, and I know most of you feel the same way. I know most of us were very uncomfortable trying to win a game in Memorial Gym with our only real inside threat injured, and that apprehensiveness turned out to be well founded. It's tough winning in that goofy place under the best of circumstances, but wounded and doing it on the road for the second time in a row turned out to be just a little more than this team is capable of.

There are a few good things to take away from this, mainly in the form of surprising play from A.J. Stewart and a reprise by Kevin Galloway of his earlier good game against Florida. Darius Miller is getting noticably closer to an effective player on offense, and DeAndre Liggins is at least doing more good than harm.

Unfortunately, those good things were more than offset by Perry Stevenson transforming himself into a ghost, Josh Harrellson doing something to motivate Gillispie to bench him from about the 10:00 mark in the first half to the final buzzer, and the continued weak play of Ramon Harris.

Where does all this leave us? On the bubble. If we weren't on there before this game, we are definitely on there now. Was this just a bad shooting night, or a harbinger of future doom? I don't really know, but I do know we'd better start praying for Patterson's ankle to heal -- and fast.

Kentucky 79, Arkansas 63: Postmortem

Truzenzuzex — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:45:34 -0000

Patterson-less Kentucky avoided what looked like a giant trap game today in Fayetteville, with Jodie Meeks scoring over half the points in a relatively easy win over a Fortson-less Arkansas Razorback team in front of a big crowd in Bud Walton Arena.

It was a tough game for the Razorbacks, and although they fought gamely, they were clearly uncomfortable without their primary ball handler. It wasn't so much his ball handling that the Razorbacks missed, as Fortson's ability to get into the lane and force defensive rotation. Nonetheless, the Hawgs played hard, determined basketball, but ultimately were shredded by the Meeks buzz saw.

What can I say about Jodie Meeks? 71% from the field, especially where Meeks was shooting from, is just phenomenal. But UK wasn't a one man team, as some of the supporting cast worked very hard to help out in Patterson's absence. I was very impressed with Kentucky's tenaciousness on defense and their overall decent execution on offense. Of course, when you have Jodie Meeks making shots from all over the place, it can make a team look a lot better than it is. Still, the fact is that Meeks managed a very high percentage of clean looks, a testament to the improved screen execution of Kentucky.

Here are my observations on this game:

Darius Miller is really improving, and you can see his confidence rise game to game. He still isn't shooting great, but as his confidence increases, he will. But he does so many of the little things -- six rebounds, three steals and only one turnover to go with his eight points.
Josh Harrellson had a tough time today. Sometimes, Harrelson is able to do a lot of damage, and other times, he just looks in the wrong league. Today was the latter, and despite some nice post ups inside, was unable to scratch or get more than one rebound. That is just poor for a 6'10" guy.
MIchael Porter continues to be a mixed bag. He has got to be praised for his excellent shooting, but his turnovers just kill me -- they are always so untimely and difficult to excuse. His passing today was simply horrid, but it's hard to be too tough on a guy playing out of position. But Porter was deadly from long range today, and although we really didn't need it, his increasing confidence in his shooting is a real positive.
Kevin Galloway, the hero of Tuesday, saw just three minutes. He was productive in that time, pulling down a big OR and sticking it back for a score. Why so little time? Gillispie Effect, I suppose.
DeAndre Liggins continues to improve. He really didn't do anything bad today except a couple of over-penetrations and one really stupid pass, but he managed 3 assist to only 1 turnover. That will work.
Perry Stevenson continues his enigmatic play, following up an impressive performance against the Gators with an almost invisible one against the Hawgs. He did manage five blocks, but only five boards makes his performance another head-scratcher.
Jodie, Jodie, Jodie. What a game. They guy was everywhere, all the time, making shots, playing defense (3 steals), getting rebounds (7). The only criticism I can really make is that he continues to gamble too much on defense.
Ramon Harris had a really good game, even though he made some terrible attempts at shots and managed only 2-5 from the field. But he had nine rebounds (four offensive) to go along with five assists and only two turnovers. Nice to see him playing better.
A.J. Stewart hit a three, and it looked great. He also had a block and three rebounds, and didn't turn the ball over one time.
UK shot only 60% from the free throw line, the worst performance I can remember this season.
16 turnovers is too many, but it's better than twenty.
UK won the points off turnovers battle huge, 23-13. 52% FG shooting and 50% 3-point shooting is tough to beat.

All in all, a pretty darn good job by the Wildcats. I am very encouraged by the improvement we are beginning to see in our younger players, and the increasing confidence of role players to take open shots when they are available. Arkansas was a bit undermanned today, and it showed, but so was UK. Kentucky had a built-in excuse to get caught in this trap, and completely rejected the whole notion. The 'Cats were intense, focused, and played pretty well.

So celebrate. I am having a nice tot of Bulleit on ice. I recommend the same for you.

Bouncing back from Ole Miss: Where does Kentucky begin?

Truzenzuzex — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:20:28 -0000

After a few hours of reading the usual handwringing from the usual suspects, the griping about Gillispie's impolite handling of Jeannine Edwards' sophomoric question, lots of peevish grumbling about coaching and substitution patterns and bad shooting from three and third scorers and all that angst, I think I have come to a few conclusions.

The first and most obvious is that I understand the anxiety. Look, UK fans, whether perception or reality, felt like they had just climbed out of a long, dark, cold cave to a glimmer of sunlight, only to see a big tree collapse over the opening and plunge them back into a dark abyss. This sort of feeling will make you rather cross with almost anything remotely involved in your misery, and it isn't as though Kentucky fans are renowned for their infinitely patient understanding of even a mild setback. In fact, I think I can safely say that the Big Blue Nation is notoriously intolerant of even the least of these, and that this fact isn't likely to change anytime soon.

For those who scoff at the quickness of the Big Blue Nation to this frustration, the latin term condemnant quod non intellegunt (they condemn what they do not understand) would seem to apply. Kentucky fans have been singled out for years as among the most knowlegeable and passionate in all of college basketball, and I think that in sum, that is true.

What most of us have lost sight of here is that this was not the sudden exposure of weakness. Team after team has tried to hold Meeks down after his 54-point explosion at Tennessee, and all have failed until Ole Miss. There is plenty of blame as well as praise to go around for why this happened, but let's be honest here -- this is a learning experience for both the team and the fans. UK has not had a scoring duo this prolific, or this surrounded by an apparent lack of firepower, since before most of us can remember. We don't really know how to play with these type of guys, because UK has historically, and particularly in the last 15 years or so, had any number of players who could put the ball in the basket.

But this doesn't tell the whole story. This team also has no idea how to play properly with two superstars, and evidently, neither does Coach Gillispie. Case in point -- last night, we had Jodie Meeks guarding Ole Miss' best offensive player. I think highly of Meeks, but defense is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of him. That isn't to say Jodie is a poor defender, he isn't. But riddle me this -- who on UK's team has been the lock-down defender all year? Those of you who said "Ramon Harris," good for you. Why did we force Meeks to expend all his energy guarding Huertas? Bad coaching decision? I think yes, but again, we have to look at the context. Gillispie is not used to the care and feeding of an offensive superstar of Meeks' caliber.

Another problem that both the team and the fans are having is managing expectations. For the fans, this is a constant issue that should surprise nobody. For the team, it is a different story. The players are always looking to get the ball to Meeks or Patterson, and seem frozen with indecision and even fearful apprehension when the other team takes those options away. They expect those guys to do the scoring while they do the other stuff. That's just not what we need.

This team has to learn to constantly attack, and stop being so concerned about what Jodie and Pat are doing. Man up, guys. DeAndre, that doesn't mean you start jacking up threes or trying to drive 94 feet into the paint. Penetrate and kick. If they sag, lay the ball in the basket. If not, hit the open three point shooter or post player.

Stevenson must start taking the 15 footer. He's turned down dozens of them trying to get a better shot over the last 5 games. Perry -- shoot the ball, you're open. 15 feet is a free throw, and you shoot 75% from there. There is no better shot unless Pat opens for a layup. Be confident. Shoot the ball.

Defensively, over-rotation and quick jumping killed us. I can't remember the number of times that Patterson and Stevenson wound up going for blocks together. You can't do that -- somebody has to guard the basket. Patterson found himself 20ft. away from the basket at least three times trying to guard another man's responsibility while his man got open for a layup. That's just a lack of trust, and trying to do more than one man can do. Over and over again, Patterson and Stevenson mis-timed their jumps, leading to easy put-backs.

Trust is earned, but sometimes, you have to go on faith, and trust the coach to take care of the problem if somebody is not pulling their share of the load. UK needs to stay at home more on defense, and trust the defender, even if he looks to be beaten, to get back in the play. Rotate when a basket is imminent, and trust the guy who has responsibility for help defense on that side.

Folks, what we have here are growing pains. This is a team that is just now finding itself, and is still a player or two away from being really good. The lack of focus and intensity to match Ole Miss was noticed by Patterson, and I'm confident that they will all work hard to correct the deficiencies. Make no mistake, this is not a Final Four team, and may not even be a Sweet 16 team. But this year's version of the Wildcats can be a very good team if they will trust each other, if role players will accept some of the offensive responsibility, and if all of them will stop trying to be Superman. Just be Patrick, Jodie, Ramon, Perry, Michael, Deandre, Josh, Darius and A.J.

That is enough, trust me.