Post UK-Florida Thoughts

I think one of the main reasons why sports are so popular and why UK basketball is so popular is the feeling as a fan that you are really a part of the team you are supporting, and being a part of a crowd that helps your team to a victory is probably the best example of that.

There really is no feeling like when fans are streaming out of a stadium after a big win. You talk about the biggest plays in a hoarse voice, you start random “C-A-T-S, Cats, Cats, Cats” chants, you high five total strangers. Leaving Rupp Arena after UK’s 68-65 win over Nick Calath…I mean Florida was exactly that kind of atmosphere. I’ve gotten to go to UK’s last two games, and I can’t imagine feeling more different after back to back games. I’m convinced that the crowd had a role in both games. I think the crowd was partly to blame for the Mississippi State loss with the way it seemed to get tense at all the wrong moments, boo substitutions, and groan at shots passed up. The players seemed like they were paralyzed to some degree by the crowd. Players can say otherwise a million times, but the crowd has an effect.

Ask Nick Calathes about that. I know it’s easy to get caught up in hyperbole in the immediate aftermath of a game, but I have never heard a crowd louder than the 24,355 in Rupp when Nick Calathes stepped to the line for 3 foul shots (the last in a series of really iffy calls by officials and Calathes was getting superstar calls all second half) after Jodie Meeks hit his miracle 3 to give UK the lead. It didn’t matter that Calathes had killed UK all night on his way to a career high 33, when he stepped to the line I really believe Rupp affected him. I’m guessing that will be what he remembers.

Jodie Meeks had somewhat of an off night tonight, but when Patrick Patterson went down with an injury (Gillispie called it a common ankle sprain on his right ankle, not the foot that was operated on last year), Jodie really, really stepped up. I’m writing without a box score at hand, but I know Jodie had at least 10 points in the last 5 minutes, including the winner, to go along with some big rebounds. There must be something about Super Tuesday on ESPN, because Jodie has had some pretty memorable moments in the past month on the big stage.

As big as Jodie was down the stretch, the story of tonight had to be Kevin Galloway and Josh Harrellson. Both guys had battled with inconsistent playing time of late, but both stepped up with enormous performances. Galloway had 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists in a downright Derrick Jasper-esque showing, with a couple highlights thrown in, including one play where he dribbled the length of the court, split the defense, and jammed it home, which really energized the crowd (as did Michael Porter’s 3 threes). Josh Harrellson came up with 11 big points for his night, many of which came on passes from Galloway.

When Patterson went out, UK went with a small line-up for the remainder of the game. With either Jorts or Perry Stevenson out there with Jodie, Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, and Kevin Galloway.  While this lineup was a product of the situation, I would like to see it the rest of the year. UK was getting killed by small lineups the last three games, and tonight they kept switching big guys onto Calathes and allowing easy basket after easy basket. Having a little extra quickness out there with a small lineup is very helpful, and they can get away with it because of UK’s size in the backcourt. If Patterson misses any time due to his ankle, I think you will see this approach get a serious look. I’ll be posting tomorrow with a full update on Patterson’s injury and its impact on the team because I don’t want to turn into Debbie Downer with that kind of talk in the afterglow of this big win.

Winning certainly cures a lot of ills. Things in the Bluegrass would not have been much fun had Calathes not choked, sent that game to OT, and Florida had won. Instead, UK is back in win column and back in the thick of the SEC race, now tied with South Carolina and Florida atop the SEC East at 6-3. UK hits the road and will face two of the toughest SEC environments at Arkansas and Vandy. I really don’t know what to expect out of Arkansas and Vandy has won 3 in a row. It’s doesn’t get any easier, but a win feels good.

A quick (and unfortunately negative) aside before the grades: early in the season, it looked like Ramon Harris was really growing into his role as the small forward for UK, but tonight, he didn’t belong on the court any more than Jared Carter. I’m not going to speculate on the cause, but he’s turned into a complete liability on the court, and he doesn’t need to be playing more than 5-8 minutes a night. His supposed strength (defense) looked a lot more like a weakness with the way he was abused by Calathes, and offense he contributed nothing and turned the ball over multiple times. Hopefully Galloway’s emergence will allow this to happen smoothly.

Turnovers/Point guard play: C+ (last game C-

UK had trouble with Florida’s backcourt pressure all night. Porter and Stevenson were walking turnovers and Galloway made plenty of mistakes, but his passing certainly made up for it. Galloway wasn’t officially running the point, but he took an awful lot of pressure off of Porter. Liggins was on the floor for only 7 minutes (not sure what the story is there).

Key Stat-Assist to turnover ratio: 14:19 (1:4 for Liggins and Porter) (last game (9:15 and 2:2)

Rebounding: B+ (Last game C)

UK did a pretty solid job rebounding most of the night (they outrebounded the Gators 39-26), but UK’s grade would be higher if not for a few offensive rebounds given up at inopportune times once Patterson took a seat.

Key Stat-Defensive rebounding percentage (defensive rebounds/opponent FG missed + opponent FT missed x100): (28/32+11)x100=65.1% (Last game 69.7%)

Getting the ball to Patterson: C (Last game C)

Pat was almost a non factor even before he went down to injury. He got the ball in the post a fair amount, but Florida managed his touches well and pressured him in the post effectively. 7 points on 9 shots and 8 rebounds is one of the quieter nights Patterson has had in his two years at UK.

Key Stat-FGA+FTA-offensive rebounds by Patterson: 9+2-2=9 (Last game 11)

Secondary scoring: A-

Harrellson (11 points), Stevenson (10), Porter (9), and Galloway (6) stepping up allowed UK to weather Patterson’s absence and they deserve a lot of credit for their play.

Key Stat-Percentage of points scored by Meeks and Patterson: 23+7/68=44.1% (Last game 52.3%)

Also, I would like to offer condolences to UK signee Daniel Orton and his family. Carolyn Orton, Daniel’s mother, had been hospitalized after a stroke and seemed to be going better, but she passed away late last night. This is a tough thing for an 18 year old kid to have to deal with, but Daniel is already a part of UK, and the support of everybody.

http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html

For more on the game from the Strait Pinkie Squad, click here.