Not much to say ...

by JL Blue on Jan 24, 2007 10:32 PM EST in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

Kentucky's 78-69 overtime loss at Georgia is one of those games where there's not much good to say about it. Everything that worked in the first half failed in the second.

Joe Crawford scored a career-high 29 points, but to no avail. Randolph Morris' disappearing act returned, with a whopping two rebounds in 29 foul-plagued minutes. Ramel Bradley was miserable, scoring just two points on 1-of-5 shooting. After all my talk about leadership, that's what he had? Lame.

As a result, instead of a return to normalcy, with folks talking about winning on the road and facing a down Tennessee on Sunday, the message boards are melting down and Tubby in the postgame sounds lost and defeated.

Truthfully, I got nothin'.

I'm going to be traveling over the next few days. I'll be updating when I can, but, frankly, I'm burned out today. There was a lot to like about the bench's play in the first frame. I loved the defense and the odd lineups showing depth. But I worried about the second half, especially with a Georgia team that can score in bunches.

Crazy night in the conference, with Arkansas losing to South Carolina, Tennessee falling to Ole Miss and Vandy continuing to surprise with a road win over LSU. Only a late surge by Florida is looking like an "expected" outcome. Still, the Cats had that game.

Regular readers know I keep up a real optimistic front, and there's a lot of season left, but that display in the second half -- halfway to a big conference road win -- is pretty unacceptable. Tubby's teams are struggling in the exact same ways year in and year out, even when they prevail.

Hopefully, this season doesn't go the way of last season, though I'd be lying if I said it didn't have the same setup. Even the fans less inclined to trash the coach are coming out of the woodwork.

I want to help you, Tubster, but it's getting really hard. UK basketball is a special thing, but not the kind of special thing that can stay that way in perpetuity. It has to be worked hard for, and I am starting to wonder if complacency has set in.

But instead of jumping off a cliff, I'm just going to leave it be. Not a good night for the alma mater. Not a good night at all.

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As I said in the game thread

I am a Tubby supporter. However, something just isn't going right lately. I understand that road wins are not easy to come by in the SEC. That said, we should not lose a game when we are up 17. It seems like a trend lately that Tubby teams have lacked that passion and desire to truly compete with the upper echelon teams.

What can be done to fix that I don't know. Can Tubby fix it? That, too, I don't know. I think he is every bit as lost and confused as we are.

by piketaylor on Jan 24, 2007 10:52 PM EST reply actions

On some level ...

I just don't get the impression that any of these players really enjoy PLAYING at Kentucky. They seem reluctant and just display so little of the enthuiasm we got so used to seeing out of the Erik Daniels and Chuck Hayes.

Is that lack of fire coming from the head coach or in spite of him?

Tubby has not had the same fire in his belly he had in 2003.

I don't know if he has it in him to keep this up. It's not fun for him, can't be. It sure isn't fun for us.

The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...

by JL Blue on Jan 24, 2007 11:01 PM EST up reply actions

New NBA draft rules...

are going to kill the old basketball dynasties. Many of the great players know they're going to be gone after a year, and want a college that can solidify a relationship with a NBA team.

That said it doesn't excuse our loss tonight. I think the hungrier team won tonight, and Georgia deserves it.

by searenas on Jan 24, 2007 11:11 PM EST up reply actions

i think...

We're all right here with you in the burned out department. For those of us who truly love the game/our team, these losses can not only ruin the 2 hours of play, but the rest of the evening. I didn't even watch the last 30 seconds of the OT because it puts me in such a bad mood.

I would also like to say, out in the openness of cyberspace, that I think Bobby Perry is hands down the worst ball player on our team. At one point tonight, when Georgia blocked us out 2x during an inbounds play, the announcer shouts out "Perry is wide open". My boyfriend and I both agreed that an open Bobby Perry is a far worse bet than a double (or triple) teamed Morris, Crawford, etc. That guy shouldn't just be taken out of the starting line-up, he should be demoted to towel boy.

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I am an unhappy UK bball fan.

by searenas on Jan 24, 2007 11:05 PM EST reply actions

Where is the real UK basketball program?

"Tubby's teams are struggling in the exact same ways year in and year out, even when they prevail."

Truer words were never spoken. I worried about this before the game started but everything I had seen about this team so far this season told me they would not quit. This team, I believed, had what it took to avoid the mistakes of past UK teams. Instead, we got exactly what we have now started to expect from Kentucky.

Tubby's teams, with the exception of 98 and 03 simply do not have the drive or the need to take it to the next level when they have to. Now, we've gotten to the point where we're waiting for the meltdown in a crucial game. We've come to expect it. That's not Kentucky basketball.

I'm just worried that Tubby is developing George W. Bush syndrome - he just can't admit when something isn't working. It doesn't seem like his motivational techniques, his offensive schemes, or his game-to-game adjustments are getting the team where they need to be.

What to do about that? Beats the hell out of me.

by Logan5 on Jan 25, 2007 11:50 AM EST reply actions