"What's it all about, Alfie?
by oldcat'69 on Mar 8, 2010 11:35 AM EST
Email
PrintIs it just for the moment we live? . . .are we meant to take more than we give?"
Or is our present point time just an instant in a continuum that extends from somewhere in the past and leads somewhere else in the future? I know, it's kind of a deep subject for an engineering major, but past the jump are my thoughts on where we've been and the direction we're going, player by player (plus the coach), and as a unit.
I will probably get little disagreement when I state that this season is an abrupt departure from a depressing four-year trend, and, while most of us expected a change, the suddenness of the change of direction has some of us suffering from whiplash and all of us giddy with the prospects. How did it happen? And, as we take a deep breath before the most important parts of the season, where do we go from here? Here are the actors and what I see as their prospects:
The Coach-I think all of us expected to see DDMO to the exclusion of all else, but, to Coach Cal's eternal credit, he let this team play a style that took advantage of their talents, even when his "system" had to be put on hold. He was right when he said we'd see few picks (heightening my frustration!!!), but this group has the ability to work without that particular basic skill. He is the most at-ease-in-his-own-skin Kentucky coach I've ever seen, particularly with the media. Coach Smith was a very close second, with nobody else even close, but Cal presents an apparently honest, open front to the cameras and seems to appreciate his part in the long thread of Kentucky basketball. I say he stays a few more years.
Patrick Patterson-One of the most versatile, hard-working players I've had the pleasure of seeing. Does what the coach asks him to do (regardless of who is the coach) and what he has to do. A great young man, a great Wildcat, and, oh, yeah, a great basketball player. If we get in a crunch in the NCAA tournament, give him the ball.
Demarcus Cousins-A huge surprise (pun intended). All of us expected him to be good, but, my goodness, THIS GOOD? Soft hands, exceptional quickness for one his size, and an aggressiveness that strikes fear in opponents. When he comes out of his little two-game mini-slump, don't be the guy guarding him. If he stays next year, wonderful. If he goes to the NBA, it has been great having him. Thanks, D. You're a good guy.
John Wall-Most explosive speed I've ever seen, and the willingness to take the team on his shoulders. Still a little eager to take the ball into congestion, but gets by with it most of the time because of his incredible athleticism. If we get into a running game in the Dance, I say JW gets the win for us.
Eric Bledsoe-Great skills, but tries a little too hard to run the DDMO when there's no opening. Still, a great asset for the team and will grow in skills and maturity next year. We'll welcome him back.
Darius Miller-Maybe one of the nicest kids ever to wear the uniform. Just now learning to be nice off the court/aggressive on the court. Great skills. Gaining confidence every game. I say he has a great shooting game sometime in the next 9 games, and we win because of it.
Daniel Orton-Also a nice kid who's discovering his grrrrr. With work, has the potential to be as good as Cousins, but is just now making up for missing his last year in high school. Needs to do some work between seasons, but I, for one am darned glad he's coming back next year. He and Miller will be the foundations around which next year's success will be built. And I'm not giving up on this year, either. He can be the defensive stopper for an opponent's big man if DCuz gets in trouble. A very bright future for this kid. I'm glad he'll be wearing blue.
Darnell Dodson-Nice shooter (when he doesn't drift sideways), and just now learning to play defense in order to stay on the floor. More work on his shot and a bigger dose of hustle next year and he'll be out there more. Could be the shot in the arm we need on a cold shooting night this next month.
DeAndre Liggins-Coach Cal's biggest success story, by far. I don't know why his minutes went down against Florida, but he provides a spark of hustle greater than anyone else on this team. We need him on the floor when the opponent gets to shooting well.
Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson-Limited quality minutes by both these guys, but there's little letdown on defense when they're in there, and sometimes we need that. They both are just somewhat below their teammates on offense, and the flow shows that when they're in.
The "H" guys-Harrellson and Hood-Both good shooters, but can't yet carry the load on defense like Harris and Stevenson. Might get some PT in the tournament, but it'll be very limited.
Mark Krebs-I love walk-ons, even after they go over to the dark side and get a scholarship!!!!
The TEAM. I'm still a little apprehensive about their unwillingness to stomp when they have their foot on the opponent's neck. On the other hand, they work pretty well when the game is close, and that could be a real big point now that we're in tournament time. When this team is on a spurt, nobody else in the country can stay with them, even Kansas/Syracuse/Duke/etc. It's the periods between the spurts that worries me a little. They seem to assume that they're better players than anyone else. So far, with two exceptions, they have been, but the gap will narrow after Round One and will continue to narrow right up to the final game, so Coach Cal has some motivational work to do.
Thanks to Jon Scott's site, I know that we have six of our regular nine players that are shooting 33%+ from three-point land. That's pretty tough to handle when an opposing coach starts tailoring a defense against us. Our offensive rebounding ability adds to the problem. Alas, we have only two guys who have an A:TO ratio greater than 1:1. That's another area of concern.
Still, regardless of how this season ends up, with two, three, or four losses, it's been as good of a ride as I can remember in the regular season. Let's hope it continues and becomes one of the really high points in the long history we all love. GO CATS!
26 comments
|
4 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
we are finishing with only 2 losses oldcat!!!!
lol……no more defeats…..
I AM THE CAT......The Cat In The Hat!!!
Let me the first of many recommends
At first I thought, wow, this is getting deep. But you pulled me out oc’69. This is a great post.
That being said, I saw an interview with Daniel a week or so ago, and he said he was working on bringing his grrrrr back up. He said in HS he toned it down because the refs were constantly calling him for fouls when the opponents fell down (he thought without touching them, of course).
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
It's that Song in the title line....lol......lulls you to sleep....!!!!
I AM THE CAT......The Cat In The Hat!!!
Let me "be" ..... typo alert !!
Now, I have to add, I am glad to see Coach Cal given a lot of credit for this team too. I think everyone can agree we wouldn’t be where we are without him. I think back-shelving his “system” as needed was brilliant on his part. And, he gets us, and that is not easy to do. ;-)
Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!
Thanks, a2,
but it’s nothing new, just what’s been on my mind. I’ve been out of pocket for a while, playing in a pro-am in the Dominican Republic and burying a friend, so I’ve kind of built up some thoughts without being able to share them.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
Great piece-
Here’s to “One shining moment” being full of Kentucky highlights, after we cut down the nets! GO CATS!
"You are what you are and you ain't what you ain't"
Thank you, iamruk.
Just what was on my mind. I’m all for a two-loss season and we’ve got at least a 30% chance of having that, IMO.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
Whoops, iam4uk. Fat fingers.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
Great piece oldcat,
I think the glass was about 3/4’s full on this one!!
Now let me share a thought about a point you bring up and many others have throughout the season. Saying that this team lets up on the opponents when they have them down is only looking at half the story. It is true that they have done so, they admit it themselves, but there are 5 more players on the floor at the same time and sometimes they have a little influence on what is going on in the game. Basketball is a game of spurts and in a really good game the spurts even out and it goes down to the wire. Sometimes good teams just come back on you (UK down by 19 at UT). My memory doesn’t serve me well at times but I don’t think either of our losses were to teams that we had down by a large margin. Rare is the team that never lets up a little from start to finish. After the SEC tournament, I don’t think Coach Cal will have much trouble motivating these guys!
Thanks, Wineman. Of course, you are right.
The difference, IMO, between teams with the killer instinct and those without is when the letup comes. Our letups have come with 18-point leads in the first half. If that same relaxation had come with 18 points up and four minutes to go in the second, or up 30 with 15:00 left, then I would have said they have “IT”. On the other hand, 3/4 full is pretty good for me, right? I seem to remember Uncle Adolph whining about the 65-66 team not putting opponents away. Of course, he could be a half-full guy, too.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
"Of course I'm right,
I’m always right!" Movie trivia, who said that and in which movie?
Oldcat, that's a nice bit of writing
This team has more potential than any I can think of since the mid-90’s. It’s been a great ride this year. Considering that this time last year, we were needing a good run through the SEC tourney/win the tourney to have a chance to play more; and this year is a really special one. We’ll continue to be this good for awhile, I think. As long as Coach Cal sticks around that is. How long before we become jaded again and expect it every year?
With the one-and-done generations, I think every year is going to be a new experience. Go Cats!
Thanks, sweasy.
I agree on the potential of this team. The fact that there are only 200 player-minutes in a game has limited the development of some of these guys, I think, but that’s the price you pay when you run with the big dogs.
And you’re spot on about the one-and-done generations. Blending those guys with the 3 or 4-year players will be one of the biggest tasks faced by the coach. I think Coach Cal is off to a good start getting the potential one-year folks to suppress their egos in favor of team play, but it would only take one big-head in a year to damage team chemistry. That’s what he gets paid the big bucks for, I guess.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
And guys like that are what the bench is for!!!;-))
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
I read
this and was like “wow, this has to be a coach or former ball player” and then I looked on your profile and sure enough you are. You truly understand the game!!! God bless you , you truly do!
Thanks, tenken. Thanks very much.
I’ve always looked at teams as to how they play, not just whether they win or lose. One of the things that bothers me the most about the current state of college ball is that the basics, as I learned them, are not taught or used by teams with great athletes. As long as their athleticism wins out, fine and dandy, but the further along you get into the Big Dance, the less athletic margin you’ll have over the opposition, and the larger the odds of letting a cold shooting night ruin your season. That’s when you could fall back on great defense and good team-oriented offense (pick and roll, etc) to pull you through.
When I see a player set a lazy pick, then roll away from the cutter, or see the cutter leave several feet between himself and the picker as he drives, I just want to scream. It’s not the way I learned to do business, but I’m a dinosaur, and what do I know?
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
We
were at my daughters ballgame and the grandfather of one of the kids sat beside me and was talking to me the whole game. I really loved what he said…….he said ………teach shooting, teach shooting, teach shooting at this young age (10 and 11). He said that kids today are force to focus on plays and how to navigate them way too much. He said not enough has been done to teach the kids how to shoot and shoot properly. John Wall has a beautiful shot to me. At times not so much, but as a former shooter myself I just sit back in awe. At times it is perfection. It just floats and dead on to the basket. That is a kid that was taught how to shoot. I was so blessed that my first coach would make me shoot over and over again. He taught me form and follow through which so many dont’ teach now. I have told my girls that follow through is so important. Had a parent tell me that it was stupid to teach the girls follow through at such a young age(this was two years ago) and i told her, if she learns it now then its just muscle memory from now on cause I am thirty four and I always follow through to this day. Also taught me girls to get set up for the shot, so many want to run and shoot without squaring up. My daughter did that and was reprimanded by momma. YOU MUST SQUARE UP. There are only a few that can get away without squaring up. Well this so off subject so I will stop but I will tell you I loved reading your post. It was so fun reading and nodding in agreement. :)
One question I have for you and wanted to ask you but didnt’ see your email…..how do you get a kid to be more aggressive? Do you have any pointers for that?
tenken,
if I knew how to do that, I would have been a far greater player in my time. I was fairly slow, but handled the ball very well and shot the lights out-WHEN I WOULD TAKE ONE. Since “maturing” and playing a lot of ball in my Air Force days, I have thought back on why I was so non-aggressive when I had the chance to play better.
The conclusion I’ve come to is that, after my dad died when I was nine, my mom taught me to be nice to other people and I mistakenly, and subconsciously, applied that to not making mistakes that would hurt the team. As a result, I took far too few shots (shot 45%FG/75%FT in high school-by far the best on my team and pretty darned good for the mid 60s (that’s 1960s, by the way, not 1860s :-) ).
So what would I conclude you could do? Let your daughter/players know that you, and their teammates, won’t hate them if they shoot more, are more aggressive, etc. If I could have had a “mean switch” when I took the court, I would have been a much better player and, as a result, would have helped the team more.
FWIW, I think both Patterson and Miller could benefit by having a mean switch.
Good luck. Teaching nice kids to be tougher is a hard thing to do.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
Nice piece Oldcat.....the music reference will be lost on some, but I unfortunately
am old enough to know it!
I am going to pose a question to you that you alone as a former player may be in the best position to answer, without a national TV camera in your face to record the answer, so being politically correct is not necessary.
I am a glass is overflowing type guy, so I always think we have plenty to do what needs to be done( the last few years not withstanding), but you have seen and heard it all from both perspectives as a fan and a player, so here is the 1,000,000.00 $$ question.
What would you have done differently, either in preparing for this tournament, or in selecting the composition of this team for the season? Do we lack somewhere(other than experience)? Have we done all that we can do? Is Cal making the right calls? What can be done to get us as ready as possible? I do not question your assessments, because frankly I hold many of them exactly as you do, but I want to know from someone who has been there and knows what is about to happen.
The insight you hold would be invaluable to all of us as we start this post-season free-for-all…..
I AM THE CAT......The Cat In The Hat!!!
The line I left out,
“what’s it all about when we sort it out, Alfie” will have to wait till the season is over, I guess. Thanks.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
First of all, I think Coach Cal has done a great job
of getting the potentially big egos to meld together as a team. I still think that JW and Bledsoe take the ball too deep into the defense when they’re badly outnumbered, but part of that can be racked up to inexperience and immaturity (and the resulting overconfidence) and part can be because they’ve been taught elements of the DDMO and are trying to do what they think the coach wants them to.
In terms of preparation, I’m glad to see that Coach Cal has been using ten guys to some degree all season. I think that the idea of settling into an eight-man rotation, as I seem to recall some other coach suggested to him, is a mistake in this day and age.
Coach Rupp could get by with six or seven regular players, even though the offense was fast-paced because there weren’t as many pressing defenses in those days (at least until the "points behind:time left ratio got critical). But, these days, with incredible athletes on most teams to some degree, you’ve got to have some breathing time, particularly for the really big guys. PPat doesn’t seem to need it, but DCuz does, and so does Orton, IMO. I think we may hit a point in a running game in the tournament (and some of these teams think they can run with us!!) when ‘Mon, Perry, DeAndre, and Darnell have to spell the starters and we need them to have been in stressful situations before. I think they have and that’s good.
One thing I vehemently disagree with, and you’ll know this if you’ve read my comments, is the lack of team-oriented plays, whether set or impromptu. I’m talking about pick and roll, picks off the ball, picks on the weak side of a zone defense, etc. As I’ve said several times, including above, the talent gap gets pretty small when you have a Kansas, Syracuse, or Duke in your face, and you may not be able to get by on raw athletic talent alone. Now, I know I’m certifiably old-school on this, and there’s no hope for me in the modern game, but I read Tru’s comments about UT’s picks (couldn’t get the game myself in the Dominican Republic), and they beat us, even though most would say UK had the more talented team. This worries me!
All that said, Coach Cal understands these kids much better than I do (Liggins might not have been on the team if I was coach, and it would have been terrible if it were so, because he’s one of my favorites now). And he has to find out how to motivate them in the face of from two to nine more games. I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY THAT’S BETTER EQUIPPED TO DO IT.
As far as “glasses” go, I’m as full as can be on the potential of this team. What removes some of the wine from the glass for me is whether they can all pull it together and live up to that potential. The same thing would concern me if I was a fan of any of the other favorite schools, BTW. It’s not always the most talented team that wins in the Dance, it’s the one that has the best chemistry at the right time. Right now, I don’t see indications that we peaked too soon. I hope I’m right.
Thanks for asking.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
Appreciate It.......gives me a little better idea of what people are looking at.......Thanks......A Lot....
I AM THE CAT......The Cat In The Hat!!!
Great response,
and let me fill that glass back up for you!
"knowing" you, there'll be plenty to spare
from your overflow.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
Float that basket/assist
An observation about Darius Miller: He has the ability to move laterally across court from the three position into the key and shoot the floater as if the defense believes he is not serious about scoring, as if they think he might be setting a decoy for some kind of pass—and they will just watch as he shoots. Uncanny!
This is in contrast to John Wall who must dribble rather straight toward the basket while flying down the center of the court, sometimes allowing defenders to close up in tight formation in front of him, sometimes causing a charging foul or turnover.
The floater skill of Miller is a priceless addition to the Cats’ offensive arsenal. At 6’7", highly athletic , a good ball-handler, and a great shooter with the floater, Darius, with work next year, could turn this into a scoring-and-assist machine.
Lee, you are right on the money.
Miller is about the only guy on this team that will pull up and shoot, or do that little lateral move. The other ball-handlers seem to want to take the ball into double/triple coverage. Sometimes it works out, sometimes they turn it over. The neat thing about that pullup is that if you get up, you can frequently drop it to a big underneath.
Good to hear from you again. Fun watchin’ this team, eh?
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . .who spends himself for a worthy cause . . ."
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Community Guidelines
[UPDATED 01/18/2012]
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
