Mississippi State 66, Kentucky 57:  Postmortem

I understand that encouraging him to shoot is possibly another answer to just praying PP and Jodie Meeks get their combined 44 a game. But what impressed me is he didn’t look out of control tonight. He didn’t heave up prayers and his defense was outstanding for the most part. I think we all hopefully caught a glimpse of the future. I do agree about everyone forcing the ball to those two as well. They don’t realize that the more they shoot, the more it opens up Meeks and Patterson to do their thing.

But, I think all knew at the start of the year that we would not be competitive on a national level. Truth be known, a lot of us would have taken 5-3 with this outfit. I saw hope tonight in th eplay of Liggins and Miller. I also agree with those who wondered where Harrellson went to after the first half.

Realistically, we are still one recruting class away for having the talent and depth that we need to really compete. We got Miller and Liggins this year, with Hood and Orton to follow.
Should Patterson and Meeks stay (I think they do), then we should be deeper and better on the perimeter both offensively and defensively.

I do think we right the ship enough this year to get to the NCAA, and maybe even win a game against an out of conference team.

Individual offensive performance doesn’t matter in any particular game. What matters is whether the team has an offensive system that allows all five players a decent chance to score if they are open.

Our offensive “system” consists of forcing the ball into the middle to Patterson. Tonight we forced it into him with a low bounce pass at the knees. They had a little guy right there to strip it from him. We took a 6-8 guy and made him 5-7 — with the wrong kind of pass.

When we are not forcing the ball in deep, we are setting picks for a three from Meeks. Sometimes he hits them, tonight he didn’t.

The last two games Miller has decided to dribble the ball to the basket and shoot 3 or 4 times in a row at a particular point in the game. He has been fairly successful, but it is apparent that this is a set play, not something that grows out of a system.

SEC coaches have watched enough video at this point to know that we don’t have a game. We just have plays to free up Patterson and Meeks. It’s not hard to defense that. It also helps when we have nobody except Meeks who can hit a three more than 10 percent of the time even if they are left open for 10 or more seconds.

Our players are trying to do what Coach tells them to do. But it doesn’t work. Because opposing coaches have identified our weaknesses. And our players are getting discouraged because they are doing what they are told, and the team is still getting beat.

Sooner or later you have to come out of man to man defense. We’re gettin beat on high post screens and when the big man tries to double it always ends bad. This play and jacking up 3’s is all Miss St. did to beat us.

May you dream of W’s and 20,000 strong celebrations at the corner of Euclid and Woodland!

TRUE It will take time I just feel that sometimes in games you have do something unexpected to keep the other team honest. (Like go ZONE for 5 min. then switch back to Man to Man)

But I disagree that this game is somehow fatal to UK’s NCAA tournament chances (making the field that is). Clearly the team was not as good as the 5-0 start might have suggested and clearly they are not as bad as the last three games might indicate.

There are some gleams in the darkness, notably Liggins and Miller getting better. It’s probably time for a lineup change to get them into the game at the beginning.

This team is better than the one that went 12-4 in the SEC last year. It’s time to find out if Gillispie is the coach we all want him to be. He needs to find a way to turn this thing around even if it means doing something he doesn’t want to do (like play zone every once in a while). I guess we’ll find out soon enough, but I still think 12-4 is realistic at this point.

Recall last season when Bradley and Joe suddenly “got it” after a few lost? It is gonna take the same for most of our players to realize they have to be confident, have to work hard, have to create opportunity in offense.

Our offense stinks firstly because we can’t create decent scoring opportunity for our two main offensive threat, our guards are simply not good enough in passing and ball handling.

Secondly the rest of the team doesn’t know when to step up and take chances
I don’t know whether it applies in basketball, but if it is in a fight, I will punch right on it when my enemy challenge me to punch his face. What I saw the team do instead is bouncing around trying to attack well defended scheme, and failed miserably. No wonder the team is deflated, and the opposing team lose respect to us.

The whole team needs to appreciate what it means to wear KENTUCKY uniform. Losing mentality is not acceptable when you wear KENTUCKY uniform. I hope they will wake up in time for the next game.

The team needs a team meeting and “stuff” needs to be discussed and settled. No one wants to be remembered as a member of the “Fumblin’ Five”.

I’m not sure what it is; it may be my inebriated state, or perhaps many people I’ve heard in various places utterly blasting our team and our coach, or it could even be because I’ve seen things like this before and know what’s coming tomorrow in regard to public reaction, but I just..don’t feel too bad about this. We have to face facts, there was very, very little we could have done to won this. MSU was simply insane tonight, and my hat is off to them. We, on the other hand, are on a down streak right now, and that’s alright, it happens to every team. But we, the Kentucky family, have to bind together. It’s easy to love a team when everything is firing as it should, but when things get tough, it’s imperative that we stick together for our boys in blue and white. Yes, the past three games hurt, with this one being an especially deep dagger in our hearts, but they are tougher than this. WE are tougher than this.

I’m asking every reader at ASoB to send our boys our best wishes. Tell them that there are still those of us out there that are still behind them, no matter what. I know Jodie Meeks got many messages when he lit up Tennessee, how many do you think he gets after a game like this? Don’t worry, the media will be plenty tough on our boys and on Coach, we have to stand with them. Like any good marriage, it is for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness (which Ramon Harris knows all too well) and in health. For those that may scoff at this analogy, think about it a moment. When a new coach comes along, do we not feel betrayed at times by the sudden change? As time goes by, we learn to accept them, and grow to love them. Our boys that come and go ARE our family. And I do NOT desert my family!

This loss…it broke us. That’s the only way I can think of it. Much like in Rocky III, MSU was our Clubber Lang. We have gotten soft, both us fans and the team. We fans thought the halcyon Jodie Meeks that we saw delivering bombs would last forever. The strong poppa bear Patrick Patterson would never falter. They became legends in our mind, instead of what they are, imperfect human beings who try their best. Coach BCG is not an omnipotent deity, he is just a guy in charge of a basketball program who is doing all he can to hold the team and himself together under what may be the most pressure anyone has ever seen put on a Kentucky team. And this MSU team, it finally broke us. But that’s not a completely bad thing.

We are left with just pieces. These are imperfect, rough pieces of a team. We now begin the process of smoothing these pieces, making them fit better together. We get back to basics. Become a better team, with better fundamentals. And then we glue this team back together, make them better than they were before this ever happened. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. We WILL come back. Much like Rocky Balboa, we will train, and work, and address our problems. And then we will return. What happens then, who can say? All I know is I will be standing beside my team; beside OUR team, no matter the storms lady destiny throws, I will stay strong in my conviction. We are Kentucky. No one can ever, EVER change that. And in the end, come win or loss, hell or high water, that simple fact will always shine clear and true. They can never take it away from us. After all, when we face our opponents, they do not see the names on our backs, only the one in front.

Now let’s get to work. We have plenty of it to do if we are to recover.

this team simply lacks quickness. He has said that his kids see one speed in practice and then they run into quicker players on game day who cannot be stopped.

And I was terribly disappointed. Frankly, I’m tired of blaming certain players or what have you. This was a team loss. The most frightening thing to me is that MSU basically spelled out how to play defense and beat Kentucky. I can’t imagine another team we face doing it any differently

But Ole Miss defeated this Miss St team in Starkville over the weekend.

And Cincinnati beat them back in December 2008.

I think Mississippi State was beatable. They just played very well last night.

And UK didn’t play well.

Let me start off by apologizing for what follows, after last night I need to vent and this is the least expensive way. For the last year and a half I have been at a verbal war with colleagues and coworkers about giving Billy a chance. There are alot of Tubby fans that did not want to do that. I am a Tubby fan as well, but first and foremost I am a Kentucky fan and Tubby is no longer our coach so lets move on! As I said before I truly believed (thats right, you can tell by the past tense where this is going) we have to give Billy a chance. After last night, the wedding is over and the divorce has begun. You can say what you want, yet every problem this team has comes down directly to poor coaching! Why is it every player on every team we play seems to have a career night against us? Why is it I can call 4 friends up and play a pick up game at shilito park and run the same offense UK has been running for the last year and a half? Why is it we have some of the most talented players in the country yet insist on playing them in positions they have never played? All these and many other answers to many, maybe even all, of UK’s problems comes down to poor coaching! If you want to feel sorry for someone feel sorry for the young men playing on this team without a game plan! I hear people blaming all kinds of things except what really matter, fundamentals. This is not meant to be a personal attack on Billy, just pointing out the facts. Too many times I have seen players being played in the wrong position e.g. Jasper 2g, Bradley 1g. Too many times I have seen our center and/or forward at the top of the key initiating the offense and starting what plays it looks like we might be trying to run. Too many times I have seen UNATTESTED THREE POINT SHOTS go in the hoop costing us valuable points. Yeah, I know the argument, " you have to let them shoot those low percentage shots! " And I say to that, NO YOU DON’T. Yes, they may be low percentage shots, and yeah maybe you let them try it once, maybe even twice. But if they are hitting them and have shown you they are going to take them you have to get in their face, especially when the game is close. Back to last night, I have never ever felt the way about UK basketball I felt in the first 6 minutes of the game last night. I mean, hello make some adjustments. Yeah I know we start slow alot of times but that can and did set the tone for the rest of the game. Last time I checked there are not negative points in basketball, pull all 5 guys out and put 5 new guys in. Talk to the starting five, tell them what you want. What was the worst that could happen, not be able to score. WE WERE NOT SCORING ANYWAYS! To sum it up I think Billy is a good guy, Truly dedicated to the game of basketball but I think he is way in over his head here. This is the University of Kentucky, the winningest program in NCAA history currently, don’t get me started on that, and we have to win or at least look good loosing and keep games close and we are unable to do that at this time. Do to my carpel tunnell kicking in I must go, Thanks to all who read this. Hopefully this is the first step in recovering from my broken blue heart due to last night! C-A-T-S CATS! CATS! CATS!

As soon as the temperature in Lexington returns to normal, the Cats will “heat up” again and return to their winning ways.

Yours Truly,

Mel Gibson’s character in “Conspiracy Theory.”

(I say this, of course, in jest. But you cannot deny that the Cat’s current losing streak has coincided with the ice storms and record low temps that have plagued Lexington in the past two weeks.)

Besides meeks. “somebody” needs to step up and hit some jumpshots with confidence…

Listen, you have to call a spade a spade. I too am a Kentucky fan and it hurts me to have to say this but the fact of the matter is there is no reason why we are loosing other than we are getting out-coached. We play Ole Miss and their 3 best players are out with knee injuries, we get beat. We play South Carolina who has their 3 best players out and a first year head coach and get beat. We play Miss st. and we should know they are faster than us, we should know they like to shoot the three and we get beat. UK’s main problem is we are not making in game adjustments! Again, yes you give people 27 foot three point shots, but not if they are making them! We have two of the best shot blockers/shot alterers in the country so if we have to pick our poison I say get your John Y. Brown hind parts out there and guard them and if they get around you there will be two of your worst nightmares waiting for you in the paint. Someone else said there is no improvement and for that I say, We have a winner! These guys are not getting any better as the season or Billy’s coaching career moves on. I watched Florida play the other night, I saw Donovan performing more ingame coaching in ten minutes than I have seen Gillespie do in 10 months! And don’t get me started on the fact I saw the UF guards bringing the ball over half court and actually calling plays and running the floor. I haven’t seen us call a play in 2 yrs. I like Billy Gillespie, I really do. I admire his dedication to the game and I admire his ambition. Yet, as bad as I want to I will never be the greatest three point shooter in NCAA history because I do not have the ability. I swear to you, I hope I am wrong. I hope UK turns it around and Billy Gillespie is the greatest coach college basketball has ever seen (just as long as he is at UK when it happens) but I just do not see it. He has shown me he is an outstanding recruiter, but coaching wise I am far from impressed. Riddle me this Batman, is it better to be able to recruit a ton of talent and not be able to get them to win or coach mediocre talent to many victories. But ahhhhhh, isn’t that sweet, everyone wants to blame everything from players having career nights to the weather outside. If you ask me we have the greatest fan base, far superior facilities and a cornicopia more talent than any of the last three teams we have lost to. So in the grand scheme of things I have covered facilities, players and fans so where are we lacking. The most important part of the formula, a great coach! If you can change my mind I would appreciate it but I don’t think you will be able to. And before you ask, no I do not know who we could get that could do a better job I just know in poker as soon as you realize you can’t win with a hand, you fold.

     I guess it depends on your definition of short term. We all have watched for a year and a half and seen no improvement! I am not saying we have to win every game, but we should be able to keep 9 out of 10 losses at least respectable. For those of you joining the conversation late, not fully aware of previous conversations I absolutely hate this but the facts are the facts. We are not improving as a team and though making shots and playing defense come from the players, the coach has to be able to give the kids the tools to win and frankly I don’t see it.
     As far as my poker analogy, yeah I realize a basketball program and a poker game are very different, duh. But the principal is the same. When it becomes obvious you can’t win you fold, and no I am not talking about the current game and go to the next one. Please try to keep up, if we can not win we should make a change. And since we are diagnosing peoples Texas hold’em experience. I have played quite a bit and let me tell those you a person who hangs on to those “worst cards” too far into the hand waiting on them to become the best hand I say. Pleeeeeeease lets play some poker, you people only win 1 out of every 10 hands. Here’s a lesson, its called chasing and its not good most of the time.
     I agree with alot of what you say tru, but respectfully not this time. If substantial experience is what he is lacking I have five words for you, Travis Ford and John Pelphrey! Both of these guys have proven to have the ability but experience was the problem. I love UK basketball, and unlike some of our fans I know there will be losses most of which will be painful. It would be asking too much for a coach to come in here and win 90% of his games and a national championship but is asking a coach to come in here and show improvement for the first couple of years asking to much? Nope, it is what is expected! Tru there are your paragraphs, How’s my punctuation?

     I disagree respectfully. I never said Pelphrey or Ford were better coaches than Gillespie. What I said was if a lack of experience we are willing to overlook, why didn’t they get a shot. I heard people screaming for Pelphrey and Ford and thought it was absurd. I, like you it sounds, do not want Pelphrey or Ford here yet but you are looking at the situation in hind sight which as you know is always 20 20. As far as the recruiting class not yielding one starter, whose fault is that? The coaches. Even then I really can’t hold that against him, because usually if you recruit a starter it means you didn’t bring along the players you already had to fill the position. And whose job is it to bring them along, the coaches. As far as you have seen improvement, where is it. We are not running offensive plays it’s just a free for all street ball game. We rarely if ever play anything other than man to man defense. We rarely fall behind and make adjustments to change the outcome of the game unless luckily someONE gets on fire. I just don’t see it even though I wish I did. Let me ask you this, at one point is enough enough.
And then you bring a very valid point, we are UK! The winningest school in NCAA history with the greatest fan and second to none facilities. So if there are better coaches out there, why aren’t they here? Is the problem further up the chain of command. Were we failed by not giving us what we need as far as a coach goes? How long do you wait to make a change?
     I think where we vary is you are seeing improvement that I am not. Looking down the road we have UF (I just threw up in my mouth a little) and UT (there it went again) coming up at Rupp. Both of the before mentioned are better teams than what we have already lost to. So will it be 4 consecutive losses at home, I sure hope not. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens but the prospect doesn’t look good in my eyes. Keep in mind, I wasn’t lying when I said I verbally faught tooth and nail with colleagues and co-workers about giving Billy a chance. But there comes a time when you have to say it’s just not going to happen and for me and me alone that time came in the first 6 minutes of the MSU game. For all that is Big Blue, I sure hope I am wrong. I appreciate all your input.