Morehouse College 40, Kentucky Wildcats 125:  Postmortem

i wasn’t too surprised at the score, but i really thought morehouse would put up 50 or 60 points, easy. it’s obvious that the cats have been working on their weaknesses, but they definitely have a long road ahead to get to perfection. If they continue to improve like they have been, we might just have a new banner coming to rupp.

… but he may already be its MIP (Most Important Player).

That defensive intensity is, as you noted, infectious. If the team gets it in its head to make life truly miserable for every opponent with pure effort on the defensive end…. wow.

I think the edge of my seat is destined to get worn out this season.

.

I must have grabbed something from ‘95-’96 by mistake.

I totally kid, but I have always wanted to type that for all those who say the same about football. (I had previous engagements).
Cal actually said we were really good.
Go Big Blue!

One of his questions was, “do they always do this?” :-) Had to admit that this was rather new, but this is what happens when you’ve got 10 guys that run the floor and shoot the rock!

Kyle just puts a smile on my face, so fundamentally sound! He shot the 3, he shot the hook, he was banking it off the glass in traffic, wow, just wow. Now I know why they called him “Water Fountain” on the AAU circuit, he can shoot it from everywhere! And MKG, just a dynamo… And him as “MIP” (^^ up post) could very well be the truth!

Well folks, we’ve got the basis for something special this year, gonna be interesting to see how it all works out!

#getinsitdownbuckleup

in the right places, doing the right things. When you can attribute your turnovers to your center and forwards bringing the ball up the court, your freshman guard trying his best to figure out a way to get the ball to every guy on the court, and the occasional tie up going for loose balls, it has been a pretty good night.

We do still have things to work on, although most of them are timing and placement issues. Once those are resolved, we may see this team take it to another level. Tubby’s undefeated season in the SEC just might be at risk.

What other team in Division 1 team has an exhibition game on national TV (ESPN3)? None. Talk about a free recruiting get. Shabazz even tweeted he was watching. The first 2 off the bench (Miller/Lamb and Wiltjer ) would be starters for every division 1 team , including North Carolina. So Cal needs to say “I have seven starters”, not six. Jones already looks “unleashed” playing away from the basket.

…this game proves that I’m ready for the regular season to start.

I saw a stat in the LHL write-up about the game—the starters (first five on the court, not all seven) shot 19-for-19 in the first half. Worse (better?) than that, they shot 31-for-34 for the game. Those are video game numbers. Simply ridiculous. Hard not to be exuberant about such a performance, regardless of the competition level.

Great point about MKG’s impact on the game, relative to his stat line. I think the same can absolutely be said about Miller. I was at the game, and spent a lot of time focusing on Miller. (If there’s anyone out there who wants to see Miller assert himself and live up to the potential he’s displayed more than me, I haven’t met the person yet.) While he deferred to other players in a lot of instances when he had easy shots himself, I got the impression that he was doing so because the game was already out of hand and he wanted to encourage his teammates’ success, not because he was unwilling to take the shot. I infer (from my upper arena bench seat) that in a situation where those shots were critical, Darius would have taken and nailed them. And that’s what I expect to see in the future if such a situation arises.

Or maybe we’ll just blow out every team by 85 (would certainly be nice to do to Kansas) and it won’t matter. :)

Sorry folks, my son already has my Marist tickets in his hands. It is the only home game I will miss. I will be using my iPhone app to keep up with things and will record as many games as possible on my DVR. I may be asking the score a lot if I am awake during the actual games. Hold down the fort til I get back.

Wonder if the Miller starting at 2 is a permanent fix, or just a test by Calipari.

This team will run out of superlatives if they can do what they did last night on a regular basis. Certainly not to the tune of 125-40 but the fast break was one of the best I have seen at UK and they will only get better defensively.

The Kidd is unbelievable. He is advertised. Can do everything you would want a ball player to do. When this guy fully matures and adds about 25 lbs of muscle he will be an NBA All Star. I am in awe of that Kidd.

Davis is unguardable on the break. He runs the floor extremely well and is a big time finisher.

And we have to give props to Eloy Vargas. I understand this was an undersized and outmatched opponent but he did lead the team in rebounds. If he can continue to hustle and provide that rebounding, he will be a contributor. If only he had some finishing moves around the basket.

…but would it be fair to compare Kyle Wiltjer’s skill set to Scott Padgett’s?

Rational or not, I think we will see a lot of that.

I’ve been sitting back and trying to examine this team as an opposing coach would. What is there right now to exploit? We’ve only seen some weaker teams, but Transylvania gave us the best look. If you can bottle up the dynamite for awhile (and preferably get MKG in foul trouble , so his motor isn’t on the floor), you might get the frosh a little antsy. In that case will there be enough jump shooters to stop a tight zone/sagging m2m D?

The killer question. If that works once or twice, the Cat’s will see it over and over – how long before they figure it out? 3 or 4 games tops.

Worst case: about 3 or 4 early losses, then 1 or 2 flukes till tourney time. Then its anybodies guess, way too early right now. (That is actually a pretty bold worst case with Kansas, UNC, Louisville etc, in the non-conf sched)

Best Case: Giddy exuberance all winter.

I vote for giddy exuberance – only time will tell.