Admit it. You thought it was over. You were cursing the coach, our enfeebled center, our worthless guards, the lousy towel boy. You gave up, threw something at the TV and stomped off.
Then Tubby Smith did it again.
Folks love him, hate love him, folks don't know what to make of him. But he's an astounding in-game coach.
 |
|
|
Some will say his erratic substitutions got the Cats in a 14-point hole in the first place. They may have a point. Some will point to another lackluster opening to the second half. They, too, have a point.
But look at the scoreboard. What do you know? The sucker did it again.
With Randolph Morris getting smoked play after play by a ponytailed white dude, his defense allowing threes, jumpers, layups, his offense bricking lay-ins, Smith went all 'coach' on us. Smith went small, running bodies at Steven Hill (aforementioned Phish fan looking guy), and speeding up the game. And, for reasons he understands and we tend to forget, the unconventional worked.
Jodie Meeks -- who is quickly becoming a Chuck Hayes of the backcourt -- was brilliant, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and racing past the tiring Arkansas defense over and over again.
Ramel shook off his brutal 2-point first half to score a ridiculous 22 points in the second frame, including 8-of-8 from the line.
Joe Crawford did his thing, with a quiet 13 points, but 4-of-6 choosy shot selection.
The defense and Randolph Morris? We'll worry about them later. Right now, we got a road win at Arkansas after being down huge in the second half.
I will eat my crow. I thought the Cats were toast. But now I look at the scoreboard and it reads 82-74. Kentucky.
What do you know ... he did it again.