Missouri-St. Louis Tritons vs. The Kentucky Wildcats: Open Game Thread
by Truzenzuzex on Nov 3, 2008 6:00 PM EST
in Basketball
57 comments
I won't be doing any deep, serious analysis of this exhibition game, but lets take a quick look at some of the facts about our opponent tonight:
- Name -- University of Missouri-St. Louis
- Location -- St. Louis, Missouri
- Enrollment -- 16,000
- Affiliation -- NCAA Division II
- Head Coach -- Chris Pilz
- Colors -- Red and Gold
- Conference -- Great Lakes Valley (Same as Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana)
- Overall record -- 496/552 (.473)
- Record last year -- 9/18 (.333)
- Last 20-win season -- 1990-91 (22/6)
- Mascot -- Tritons (Changed from Rivermen last year)
- Has never played Kentucky before, but notable historical victims include Arkansas once, Missouri State 5 times and St. Louis twice.
Chris Pilz has several Division I transfers on this team, including Sky Frazier (Missouri State, 6'10"/225#), Paul Paradoski (Southeast Missouri State, 6'0"/165) and Jason Black (Samford, 6'4"/200#). The top returning scorer for UMSL is forward David Ward, a senior and 3-year starter for the Tritons. Paul De Chellis is another senior starter. This team will be very senior-laden in diametric opposition to the young Kentucky Wildcats. Larricus Brown and Cody Kliethermes are both shooters who can make the long shot.
In case some of you were were wondering about Josh Harrellson, who comes from that area, he did consider going to UMSL after moving on from Southwestern Illinois College and getting his release from Western Illinois.
This game should be a mismatch both size and talent-wise, as you would expect for an exhibition game. Sky Frazier is the Tritons' tallest player at 6'10",but back issues will likely sideline their biggest starter, 6'9" Adam Kaatman. Kentucky can field a team that would simply tower over the smaller Tritons having no player shorter than 6'6", but I doubt we will see much of that.
I expect Michael Porter to start at the point, along with Patterson, Stevenson, Harris and Meeks, assuming Harris is fully recovered from the knee injury. If not, we could see Darius Miller start at the three, or Meeks slide over and DeAndre Liggins take the other guard. Who would be the PG in that lineup? Probably a little of both.
Gillispie will likely want to get the ball inside to Patterson a lot, and expect to see quite a bit of the high-low with Stevenson and Harrellson. I keep hearing a lot of muted praise from various locations about Jared Carter's play, so I expect him to see some significant minutes tonight. I think Gillispie will want to know early if Carter is going to compete, and Jared needs to have some confidence in his game ability going in to the season if he is to contribute at all. I am still wary of expectations that Carter may be productive, but at the same time, I was encouraged by what I saw in the Blue-White game and what I am hearing from those with inside sources.
I fully expect Jodie Meeks to run amok tonight, much as he did in the Blue-White game on Saturday. He is simply too athletic for the Tritons, even though they will be smaller and quicker in general than the 'Cats. I have no idea how the Tritons expect to oppose Patterson and Stevenson or even Harrellson, and my expectation is that they will try some double teams that result in back-door dunks by Kentucky.
I am anxious to see how some of UK's JUCO transfers and freshmen attack on defense. This is going to be the key to playing time, as it is for almost any good coach, and with so much playing time potentially up in the air, I expect to see them really get after the defense, and therefore I expect a lot of fouls. That may sound like a bad thing, but if there aren't a lot of fouls, I don't think Gillispie will be very happy with the intensity that the Wildcats bring. It takes a while to learn how to really guard hard without fouling, and so that figures to be an interesting subplot to tonight's game.
Another thing I would like to see is Liggins put up a few more shots. He shot the ball a bit better than I expected in the Blue-White game, and his mechanics looked rather more sound than I had seen from him in the past. I would also like to see both he and Kevin Galloway attack more off the dribble than they did in the Blue-White game.
Ok, that's about all for me, add your comments below and enjoy the game. Go Cats!
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Lets Get It On!
I’m so fired up to see the 2008/2009 version of the Wildcats. At times UK struggled offensively to score points last season and I would like to see them fire on all cylinders this season. Go Blue!
I am very excited!
I know the team is also after all the hard practices. Hey we get to see the new unis in a real game for the first time too. I hope someone has altered those shorts for the not so tall players.
Go Cats!
Nice!
How about those Wildcats!!! I know it’s D2, but these guys look GREAT out there.
I have been to UMSL, in fact I almost went there when I was looking to move to StL a while back, but it didn’t work out.
Go Cats!
Harrellson ...
… has been very impressive offensively.
Patterson is getting his groove back.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Harrellson is a smart player....
I feel very confident with him coming off the bench. He knows how to score and gets in the right spots. He is more advanced than the rest of the newcomers.
Very good stuff ...
… against admittedly inferior competition. I am very pleased with what I have seen so far.
This is different than last year, that’s for sure.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
63 points at the half,
looking good baby, looking good! There were times last season we couldn’t have scored 63 points in 3 halves against a high school team. Glad to see the confidence and healthy cats on the floor! Harrelson looks great…Any updates on Pilgrim?
gobigbluecatsfan72
by gobigbluecatsfan72 on Nov 3, 2008 8:03 PM EST reply actions
Just logged on for radio broadcast
Can’t see the team. Sounds like they are looking pretty good. Can’t wait to see them on TV. How are the guards responding?
Miller looks good
tonight, and that is a good sign. We are so freaking deep this year!
gobigbluecatsfan72
by gobigbluecatsfan72 on Nov 3, 2008 8:05 PM EST reply actions
BTW I can't vouch for those stats....
I am getting them off the GameTracker through UK Athletics. They have PP with only 2 rebounds and I know that is wrong.
Gillispie...
He looks so intense the whole game with his fist up in his mouth…looks like he is biting his nails and thinking the whole time, and the Cats up 40 at the half.
.
Heard that Tenn
is having troubles with Indianapolis. Sounds tough. Maybe we should send them a get well card. Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
earlier they said
not a sell out but nearly a full house. Didn’t hear them say more than that.
by StillCatwoman on Nov 3, 2008 8:49 PM EST up reply actions
Miller
I’ve become a fan of his rather quickly tonight. Lets hope he plays like this throughout the season.
AJ Stewart...
Just heard on the TV that he is not in uniform tonight and unavailable. What in the crap has he done now? He looked good in B/W scrimmage.
Depth...
…is all relative. Ideally, this team won’t need more than 8 or 9, with some specialists. Last year’s team went 3 deep, so…
Harrellson got good reviews in advance. I’d take 15 and 8 in a heartbeat.
The Heart & Mind of the Big Blue Nation ...
Wow@Harrellson!
CBS game tracker says 21 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block in 16 minutes!
This guy really exceeded expectations – hope he can keep it up against the athletic SEC!
"Jorts" Harrellson
Has been impressive in the open practice and the B/W scrimmage and this game.
I love this Juco transfer!
One thing I will take away
Carter catching (you heard me) a pass and then lowering his shoulder and getting a charging call as he bulled a kid over.
That right there, to me, shows this will be a different kind of year.
Not that Carter will be used a great deal but just the fact that that play happened says BCG is in their heads.
We will win 7 or 8 more this year. You can start to see BCG’s vision of where we are going and what we will look like as his future unfolds.
Go cats!
Changing how you think will change what you think.
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