These are the kinks we all knew would have to be worked out. Another great teaching game … this team is far far away from its potential. Obviously, the focus has been more on geting the offense in gear. I feel certain defense will be stressed in the Rider game.

Other than the turnovers, I was glad to see Wall and Bledsoe work so good together … 2 point guards and 2 scoring guards … Patterson/Cuz – - nuff said

I’m happy to be 3-0 …. GO CATS!!

is not playing comfortably yet, I still saw him forgo some outside looks in the Miami game and he definitely looks more comfortable with his back to the post. He looked a little frustrated tonight but nobody works like that guy. With all respect to you Tru, I think his stat-line isn’t spectacular in view of what I think it will be later in the season. Bledsoe and Wall looked so much more in sync today don’t you think? They still seemed to force some stuff, but it was night and day compared with the Miami game. Demarcus will also get much better, I think he hustled hard today but I think he’s still got more in him. Miller or Dodson or Hood needs to get going…he looked better today, but Bledsoe was a more effective 3 today than Miller.

but we have no defense. Turnovers were not a problem, because we scored so much, but they can become one in the future unless we really get after it on D. I, myself, like Tru, have never seen such 3-pt shooting in my life. And the really scary part was, we shot a better % from the 3 than they did.

I have seen teams live and die by the 3 before, but geez. We held them to right at 20% I believe inside the arc, but I am not sure that you can extend your defense 25 ft out from the rim. The only way I can see of doing that is to press constantly, and then you have the problem of giving up big shots when guys dont get back on D, so I fear that wont work. I am glad it is Cal and not me trying to figure this out, because frankly I am stumped. They did get some open shots, but not all of those shots went undefended.

Had I of been Cal, I would have made the mistake of saying they couldnt keep hitting those all night, just keep playing. And I would have been wrong. Maybe we need to work on stretching the defense out a little further, and like Tru said last night, plant Cousins under the basket and dare them to take it inside. That might have worked against SHS, or Miami, but it wont cut it when we see Miss St or some of the other better teams with an inside game. Maybe the teams have all seen something in the tapes, I dont know, but I can say this, we have two of the best offensive guards in the country right now, and we have got to turn them into two of the best defensive guards soon.

talked about how MIller left more to be desired, but Harris did great things? What a joke.

Harris is an outstanding player, for Campbellsville. He is nothing more than a time filler for us.

Remember the post I put up months ago?

 Ramon Harris gets 10 minutes?Over/Under

So far you are right with him getting 12.5 a game, but make no mistake, it is only because we have to play him. He is horrible. I’d rather see Krebs in the game than him.
With him in the game, it might as well be 5 on 4. Yea, defense is good, but if you only have 4 offensive players, you might as well lay over and let ’em have their way with you.

Can not wait til he is gone.

I don’t know very many people who could stand at 25 feet and shoot 50% unopposed, let alone with other players running at them.

I said this over and over under Gillispie and I already have the sinking feeling that I’ll be saying it again under Calipari. I don’t understand it, but it seems like a reality I may have to live with.

As stated above, some of it is lack of communication on the switches, some of it’s being a half-step out of position, etc. Some of those errors are correctable by the coacing staff, but some of it is based on effort and heart also.

Don’t expect this to fixed overnight! Cal’s doing alot of teaching at the moment and he’s between the devil and the deep blue sea on this. I’m sure he’s painfully aware of the need to defend the 3 point line, but he’s also trying to teach his offense to the team. So, put yourself in his shoes and try to prioritize what needs to be fixed first… Tough call, huh?? Look at our schedule for the next week or so… Rider tomorrow, Cleveland State on Tuesday, Stanford/Virginia on Wednesday, kids are gone for a day or so for Turkey Day break and then we’re back on the next Monday with UNC Asheville. Not alot of time for practice (especially when you consider travel time back and forth to Cancun) in there, so again, what takes priority?? I don’t envy Cal having this problem…

Also keep in mind that he’s trying to teach top-tier D-1 defense to 6 freshmen who, before this point, only thought about defense as something that happened when their team didn’t have the ball! I stated this in an earlier post, but I wouldn’t sweat this too much right now… If it’s still happening in January, then we’ve got a problem!

Bottom line, we’ve had two very respectable ball clubs come in to Rupp and shoot lights out! But, we walked away with wins in both and that’s what really counts…

That seems to be the biggest problem. No communication, switches happen late, leads to open shooters.

Amazing how quickly so many have forgotten that in any of the last 3 years, we would probably have lost both those games.

Did both teams shoot lights out?? YES but we won and that’s the point many don’t seem to recognize.

The reason both teams shot so many 3’s against us is we played pretty good defense otherwise. SHS couldn’t really run any interior plays and was left with only the 3 as their offense.

Give both of those teams credit for how they shot but remember there isn’t a lot of pucker factor on that kind of shot if you’re not expected to be close in the game. Remember also that we have a VERY young team and Coach C is probably spending the majority of practices on the DDMO. Did we switch or communicate like we should on the 3’s? NO but that should come as we get into the season.

Harris…..stunned that anyone would say Harris didn’t play a good game, kid always seems to leave everything out there he has.

Cousins….hustled from beginning to end and yes made some mistakes but realized he was playing against smaller guys and took advantage.

Wall & Bledsoe…..2 freshman which tons of talent but still freshman. OF COURSE they’re going to make stupid turnovers but if they get just a little better everygame…..WOW what a set of guards we’ll have going into the tournament.

Patterson……great game and still working on being comfortable facing the basket but he’s still THE MAN.

Miller…..playing better and getting more comfortable. Needs to use his size inside more but another weapon.

Doghouse……well I’m sure Coach C has his reasons but he’d better start working on getting the bench involved because we were gassed at the end of that game and with the team he has….we shouldn’t be gassed against anyone. If Harrleson, Dodson and Liggins can’t play aganst SHS….they sure won’t be playing against UNC and UCONN.

My big concern really is that this team is sooooo talented that they seem to be trying to get by with just their talent and that just isn’t going to work against the better teams on our schedule.

I think people are missing the point, there’s a difference between attacking the players and discussing where the team can improve. It’s great to see Kentucky win games we would have DEFINITELY lost last year. These games look more relaxed, we were winning the whole time against SHS and saw where we needed to improve. Even the players saw that. I don’t think anyone will disagree that this team will get much better, it already has gotten better in three games.

thank goodness I don’t have to get up at 5:30 am to see Saturday’s game. All I have to do is cancel my Saturday night.

Two in row!!! Geese.

Like folks have said, you can’t easily defend 3’s, slung five feet from behind the arc. If Miami and SHS shot their average 3pt percentage, both games would probably have been blow outs.

or all of them can contribute when called upon. The reason we didnt see much of them last night is simple. Cal wants these guys to learn from their mistakes against a team we can still beat and have problems with. We are going to have to be patient with these freshmen.They will learn how to pick up on the switches and roll off of the picks. And every man on this team is contributing. Knocking Harris is no different than knocking Harrellson or any other sub. If they couldnt play, they would not be there. We knew when this recruiting class showed up that they were starters and not reserves. Even for all of his problems last night, Jon Hood learned. And right now that is what they need to do, learn. we have a team that has already scored over 100 pts twice in the first few games of the season. When did we do that last? Yes, our perimeter defense sucks right now.
But we will learn to do better. Is no one seeing how this team just refuses to let anything shake their confidence

John Wall can have 10 turnovers in a game and still come down the floor and weave through 4 guys and beat you with the winning shot. Bledsoe can throw the ball up from almost anywhere and still get it to go in the rim. Cousins was indeed a “beast” last night. Where does anyone think this team will be in a few weeks or a couple months???

We are watching something special here people. Yes, there are going to be a few snags along the way, and we might even get beat a time or two. But this team and all of its players down to the last man are winners. They will walk up to you and slap you in the face and dare you to come back at them every time they walk onto a court. Don’t spoil what is going to be a magical season by griping about how some players just arent as good as others, or how badly someone missed an assignment. They will get better every game. They cannot fail, because they dont know how. Even the kids that were here last year can sense this. Someone asked if the kids last night held grudges against the new guys because they were not playing. If these guys give us the best chance to win, and I will bet my next paycheck they do, then no one is going to complain. Dodson sat there last night and took his medicine. You think another 3 pt shooter could have helped us? Sure he could. No one is complaining, not even to their “inside sources” or we would have heard rumblings by now. These kids love playing for this guy, and he makes the games fun to watch, and we are winning…..we have had our VMI for the year and they went home with an “L”. Nuff’ said. I have never been this confident about a team since 1996…….and I wasnt this confident about them until about halfway through the season. This team is going to make a lot more mistakes, but they are also going to overcome them all. Have fun watching it……quit whining about what you “think” we don’t have and be grateful for what we do.

Cal has promised a better team by Christmas. I can wait……UK basketball is fun … AGAIN….. I am enjoying this like I haven’t in a long time, because the team is having fun. :-)

or at least to recognize that team defense and DDMO have fundamentally different underlying philosophies. One requires anticipating what your teammate is going to do several seconds ahead. The other requires maximizing one’s own talent advantages and only as a last resort getting others involved.

Before you start throwing eggs at the dinosaur, let me put my walker aside and turn up my hearing aid and explain that I’m not opposed to Coach Cal putting in any offense that will produce quality wins. That’s what he gets paid for, and he knows a heck of a lot more about coaching than I do.

What I’m really saying is that it will take time for the recent high school graduates to learn to make the mental shift required between the two ends of the floor. Call it maturity, synergy, chemistry, whatever. It takes time to learn to play as a team. That’s why the A-TO ratio sucks and the team defense stinks.

Patience, Grasshopper.

if you don’t know how to RUN a pick-and-roll, you probably won’t DEFEND it too well. Sorry.