He's not heavy, he's my brother ...

1.) We need someone who can score to come off the bench.  It's impossible to establish Morris and get shots for Crawford, Bradley, and Meeks by the first TV timeout. And since we usually need a spark, Meeks is the best bet to provide it.

2.) The junior trio has to stay in the lineup because they're head cases, and I'm not looking to go to a four-guard offense in the SEC.

3.) Meeks is a freshman, and keeping him right where he is should keep him comfortable. If he's suddenly starting over one of the juniors, suddenly his mind set will change, and I like where he is mentally already.

4.) Coming off the bench isn't keeping him from getting starter minutes. If you check the  numbers, Meeks already is in the top five in minutes each game. Not starting him gives our substitution rotation more fluidity, and he's not missing out on playing time.

5.) Some day, I want to be able to ask, "What do Ron Mercer, Heshimu Evans, and Jodie Meeks all have in common?" Okay, so maybe I'm dreaming here, but you get the idea. The sixth man can be pretty important, and I'm not ready for Meeks to turn over the role to Thomas or Perry.

Although I have to admit that my usual optimism has been muted in the last two weeks because of our team's desire to anti-peak at the exact wrong time, I do take some issue with what you have written today.  

First, you nitpick on Morris's game that he played sketchy defense.  Considering that our number one game plan was to get the ball to him, it was his role not to get any fouls.  He successfully stayed out of foul trouble, and was the offense that we needed on a consistent basis.  At the same time he managed to accumulate 10 boards, 3 blocks, and a steal.  Intangibly, he managed to alter many shots and hustled more than he has in any recent game.  This was hardly defensive slouching.

Second, you rag on Bobby Perry for his contributions.  Usually I agree with your "bench Perry" echo chamber here on the blog, but tonight he legitimately argued with his actions that he deserves that starting spot.  Not only did he generate offense (8 points) and play hard defense and grab rebounds (4 rebounds), but he did so in under 20 minutes of playing time.  Also, he was the one who took the important three-point shot to start the second half that started the Cats' run down the stretch.

Overall, this win was hard to take, as evidenced by the discussion on this board and on all the others.  I would argue, just to find the ray of sunshine in last nights performance, that Tubby coached the game in such a way that pretty much ensured victory.  They had nobody to guard Morris, so we sent it inside over and over.  They were short on personnel, so we jammed our rotation so that we would have the legs at the end.  Many fans wanted to see a high flying beat-down by 20 points or more, one that would send a message to the country that UK is playing killer-instinct basketball again, but Tubby cares not for sending messages, he just carefully plans wins.  They are boring sometimes, but usually his coaching in-game is spot on, regardless of what one thinks of recruiting.

All optimism aside, I will say that when I go to the SEC Tournament in just over 2 weeks, I will be sorely disappointed when we have to play on Thursday, a day I believe our team should never play on no matter what difficulties we face.  We have a history that legitimizes expectations of excellence, and I want that as bad as everyone else.  I'm uncertain we will see greatness from this bunch, but I will continue to hope for and expect it.

Tubby's coaching method is to reward players who work hard and put in their time and that players who stick with the program are going to get their chance to play real minutes.  Those players who stick with the program and show leadership skills will start.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Whether you like it or not, taking Bobby Perry out of the starting lineup would screw up the trust that Tubby is trying to build with the younger players.  This is metagame strategy.  If you say one thing and do another, even if it wins a few games now, its going to lose a lot more games in the future.  

I mean, isn't the problem with the junior class really about them not buying into Tubby's program.  I don't think they really trust him, which is why I think they don't play defense until midway through the first half.

That being said, I just don't think you can take out Bobby Perry from the starting lineup.  Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm right, I would rather have this year's batch of freshmen completely trusting Tubby's system in two years than win a few more games this year.

Perhaps "26 win Tubby" is more appropriate. If you want to dig into the Pitino archive you may call him "26 win Ricky" although he won a bunch of games with Eddie Sutton's players. Also, as far as I know Tubby has no plans to coach Louisville in the future.

I agree wholeheartedly with your Bobby Perry comments- play him sparely. Calling UK's style of play "boring" is painting things with an awful broad. I think college basketball, in general, suffers from a glut of timeouts. The GAME itself is too often boring to watch. I don't care who's playing. So don't hate the coach, hate the game.

I don't think that anyone should care about BP's mental state.  For soneone who produces so little, it is a non-issue.  My concern is not whether BP is happy, but rather, the effects on the younger players at seeing the only person approximating a team leader, a senior, be bumped out of the starting slot, late in the season, by an untested freshman who is at best only a marginally better player (right now).  

Yes, I'm sick of the current situation, but I would rather muck through the rest of this season with some optimism for the future, than screw up a whole season's worth of indoctrination on a hope and a prayer that the team could somehow turn things around this late in the season.  Sounds defeatist, but sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

JLBlue, you are indeed being too hard on Morris's perf last night. He looked energized, aggressive, even, shockingly, like he had his head in the game.  A lot can be said, but one thing I will say about Morris, has anybody noticed the dude has NO VERTICAL LIFT? A friend mentioned this during game last night and I realized, yeah, dude never dunks, always seems to barely make it to the rim, even on his softest and sweetest touches. So I developed the following theory: in Morris's brain, he's 6 foot 6 and a power forward, hell maybe even a 3 guard. Sounds ridiculous, but watch him next game with that in mind.

As for Tubby: if you ride the dude for being a terrible first half coach, you gotta give him props for being a great 2nd half coach. He does make the right adjustments. He or his assistants are just not great preparers. Tubby plays his instincts, esp. in the second half, and most often his instincts are correct. Unfortunately, we're already down by 16 and can't catch up. But we often outscore opponents in the 2nd.

Lastly, I noticed a trend in basketball, and viewers' analysis of it:
it is common to say something like "he didn't play D in the first half", or "their offense sucked the whole game". But, if you watch a game like last night's, it is clear that these descriptives usually don't apply to the entire stretch of a game. For example, yes,  the Cats D did suck in the first half, except for short stretches where if DIDN'T SUCK. We tend to look at the game as divisible in halfs, which of course it is in the most obvious sense, but it is actually a game of possessions and defensive stands, and the key to winning games is to play the better game, possession to possession.  That, and scoring more points. Duh. But why is this an important point? Because it allows a coach to explore  the "intangibles" in the game, players' abilities, and the teams' strengths. Chuck Hayes was a great player in large part because of his "intangibles": leadership, hustle, diving for balls, being in the right position, etc. If a coach can identify these intangible contributions, they can maximize a players' minutes, positioning, etc, and ultimately win each possession and each defensive stand.

Which player, in my mind, presents the greatest intangible assests to this year's Cats? That's pretty simple. The freshman #20. Start him or not, but give him 36 minutes a game.