A few random observations (minimal U of L content)
In the wake of the University of Kentucky's mild-upset 73-66 loss to West Virginia University in the NCAA East Regional championship game, some random observations come to mind. To wit:
At the worst possible moment, some of UK's freshmen played like freshmen. Other than John Wall, that is; without his 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, UK would have had no prayer of keeping things competitive. True, Wall turned the ball over five times, but balanced those errors with four steals and a blocked shot. I could nitpick his 1-for-5 three-point shooting, but his teammates were worse at 3 for 27.
In the face of perhaps their first real adversity of the season, Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins let frustration get the better of them. Both wore pained expressions much of the second half, and their play suffered as shots failed to fall. They had plenty of company, though, as the team's composure evaporated in the face of West Virginia's uncharacteristically deadly outside shooting.
What on earth can John Calipari do for an encore? After a first season in which he recruited a fabulous freshman class and took a team that lost in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals the previous year to 35 wins and the NCAA's Elite Eight, how does he satisfy one of the most demanding fan bases in college basketball? There are only two rungs left on the ladder, and it's hardly a failure not to win a national championship.
Next year's Cats almost surely won't have Wall, Cousins or Patrick Patterson, and could lose Bledsoe as well, though I think Bledsoe could benefit by a couple more seasons in Lexington to enhance his draft position. Daniel Orton has the NBA in his future as well, but not immediately; I can envision him and Bledsoe declaring, but not hiring agents in order to leave open the option of returning to UK.
How long will it take before another combination of this kind of talent with this kind of chemistry comes back to Lexington? For an example of what top talent without UK-like chemistry looks like, turn your eyes to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where a similar collection of blue-chip recruits failed to mesh into a cohesive team. As a result, the vaunted Tar Heels landed with a thud in the NIT.
Where in blazes did that sharpshooting West Virginia team come from? It certainly wasn't in evidence during the regular season; the Mountaineers were among the best offensive rebounders in the country because they missed an awfully large number of shots. Heck, WVU was hard-pressed to beat Louisville in Morgantown -- in fact, the Cards lost that game more than the Mountaineers won it.
Additionally, in an eerie parallel to Calipari's 2008 University of Memphis NCAA finalists, three of UK's weaknesses finally caught up with the Cats against WVU: inconsistent perimeter shooting, too many turnovers and poor free-throw shooting. Hitting only four treys in 32 attempts, 16 of 29 foul shots and 34 percent from the field overall will get you beaten most nights; it's a credit to Kentucky's outrageous talent WVU won by only seven.
Kentucky is back. At least far enough that a 35-3 season leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in the collective mouths of Big Blue Nation.
In the wake of the University of Kentucky's mild-upset 73-66 loss to West Virginia University in the NCAA East Regional championship game, some random observations come to mind. To wit:
At the worst possible moment, some of UK's freshmen played like freshmen. Other than John Wall, that is; without his 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists, UK would have had no prayer of keeping things competitive. True, Wall turned the ball over five times, but balanced those errors with four steals and a blocked shot. I could nitpick his 1-for-5 three-point shooting, but his teammates were worse at 3 for 27.
In the face of perhaps their first real adversity of the season, Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins let frustration get the better of them. Both wore pained expressions much of the second half, and their play suffered as shots failed to fall. They had plenty of company, though, as the team's composure evaporated in the face of West Virginia's uncharacteristically deadly outside shooting.
What on earth can John Calipari do for an encore? After a first season in which he recruited a fabulous freshman class and took a team that lost in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals the previous year to 35 wins and the NCAA's Elite Eight, how does he satisfy one of the most demanding fan bases in college basketball? There are only two rungs left on the ladder, and it's hardly a failure not to win a national championship.
Next year's Cats almost surely won't have Wall, Cousins or Patrick Patterson, and could lose Bledsoe as well, though I think Bledsoe could benefit by a couple more seasons in Lexington to enhance his draft position. Daniel Orton has the NBA in his future as well, but not immediately; I can envision him and Bledsoe declaring, but not hiring agents in order to leave open the option of returning to UK.
How long will it take before another combination of this kind of talent with this kind of chemistry comes back to Lexington? For an example of what top talent without UK-like chemistry looks like, turn your eyes to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where a similar collection of blue-chip recruits failed to mesh into a cohesive team. As a result, the vaunted Tar Heels landed with a thud in the NIT.
Where in blazes did that sharpshooting West Virginia team come from? It certainly wasn't in evidence during the regular season; the Mountaineers were among the best offensive rebounders in the country because they missed an awfully large number of shots. Heck, WVU was hard-pressed to beat Louisville in Morgantown -- in fact, the Cards lost that game more than the Mountaineers won it.
Additionally, in an eerie parallel to Calipari's 2008 University of Memphis NCAA finalists, three of UK's weaknesses finally caught up with the Cats against WVU: inconsistent perimeter shooting, too many turnovers and poor free-throw shooting. Hitting only four treys in 32 attempts, 16 of 29 foul shots and 34 percent from the field overall will get you beaten most nights; it's a credit to Kentucky's outrageous talent WVU won by only seven.
Kentucky is back. At least far enough that a 35-3 season leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in the collective mouths of Big Blue Nation.
posted by Alan at 2:09 PM
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