Post UK-IU Thoughts

I wish I would have quit watching when it was 32-6.  The Cats got off to their best start of the season, but after the first twelve minutes, the Indiana Hoosiers outscored UK 48-40, and the game ended with a final of 72-54. 

 “This is a lot harder without Dwyane Wade!!!”

Even though IU is not as talented as they usually are, but the way the Cats blitzed the Hoosiers, I don’t think Isiah Thomas, AJ Guyton, or Tom Coverdale would have helped Indiana all that much.  Even Billy Gillispie had to be happy with the way the Cats pressured the ball, rebounded (it seemed like the Hoosiers didn’t get an offensive for the first 10 minutes), got open shots in transition, and got the ball to Patterson.  Greg Anthony (who was announcing his first college game, and did an excellent job in my opinion) was nothing short of gushing in his praise for the way UK was playing at the outset, saying that UK was playing “like a top 5 team”.  Coach Gillispie, in his post game comments also praised UK’s defense, saying they played well in the second half of the Miami game, but that they “took it to another level” today.  As much uncertainty among the UK fan base as there is about this edition of UK basketball, one person who is unwavering in his optimism and expectations about the club is Coach Gillispie.  He sees this is as a team that can be great.  Based on the way last year’s team improved late in the season, I have to say, this makes me pretty excited.

A quick question to anyone who says Michael Porter does not have a role on this team: who was on the court when UK built most all of its lead in the first half?  It was Michael Porter who was running the point, and DeAndre Liggins played what I would call a very poor game.  His shot selection was nothing short of terrible, his decision making was questionable at best, and he turned the ball over six times.  Freshman point guards are going to have bad games like this (although Liggins still did get to the line six times, that’s something Porter will never do), and Porter, along with Kevin Galloway, is going to need to step up for stretches.

Once Patrick Patterson picked up his second foul early in the first half, I hoped UK’s intensity and execution would stay at the same high level, but it was not to be.  As hard as Jorts Harrellson tried, the offense just did not run smoothly (especially with Liggins running the point).  The rest of the way, UK was outplayed, and it was not fun to watch it all.  That kind of performance is not going to fly the rest of the way.  If UK were playing a deeper, more talented, more experience opponent (Tennessee, for example), do you think the lead they built would have held up?  I guarantee you a better team would have gotten closer than 15 points.  UK has to find a way to have more even performances.  I just want to see the same team in two straight halves. 

Kevin Galloway got another start today, and I thought he played better than he had all season.  I think along with Liggins he is probably UK’s best player in transition.  His alley oop pass to Patterson right before IU called a timeout was a thing of beauty.  I’m really not sure why he didn’t play more than he did the first half.  Darius Miller came in for him, and in one of the more encouraging plays of the game, got a steal and drilled a three and did not hesitate a bit within his first 90 seconds on the floor.  Miller again outplayed his stats, making a few beautiful blocks.

The two best performances today were turned in by the “other” big men, Jorts Harrellson and Perry Stevenson.  Jorts nailed a couple outside shots and also scored on a couple nice entry passes and quick moves, which is good to see.  Perry is not the kind of big man that you can throw the ball in to and expect him to score on his own, so the fact that Jorts has that ability is huge.  Jorts seemed to hesitate a bit on his shot after he missed a couple, which he needs to be encouraged not to do, because he very well may be our best outside shooter outside of Jodie.  Jorts led the squad with 15 points in only 18 minutes, and also contributed 7 boards.  Perry Stevenson was probably even more valuable than Harrellson; he was everywhere today.  He scored 10 points, 6 on dunks, grabbed 9 rebounds, swatted 6 shots, and got 2 steals.  Stevenson and Harrellson both stepped up as Patrick Patterson had one of his quieter games due to fouls and being keyed in on by IU, going for 12 and 8.

A quick side note: anyone who compares Tom Pritchard to Luke Harangody needs to stop.  I know he’s only a freshman, and has very little help, but he looked desperately overmatched by all three of UK’s big men.  He had more turnovers (5) than points (4), and as many fouls as points.

Stevenson’s best play of the day may have been one that was called a foul.  Devan Dumes went up for a dunk along the base line, and Perry block the attempt, but it was called a foul.  Stevenson had little time to elevate, but he out-jumped Dumes, the kid who dogged Jodie Meeks all day, so much so that the ref had to step in on a couple occasions to settle things down.  Jodie, like Patterson, was as quiet as he has been all season.  He did not shoot well (5-12, 2-6 from 3), but the main he reason he was so quiet was that he was unable to penetrate and get to the line as he has so far this season or do anything else outside of scoring: he did not register an assist or a rebound.

The first 12 minutes were the most fun as I have had watching UK this season (sometimes I forget that’s why I follow UK basketball, because it’s fun), but “blah” is the best word I can come up with describe the last 28.  It seemed like they were happy with the lead they had built, and UK better develop a killer instinct if they want to meet their coach’s expectations for the rest of the season.

Time for the grades:

Turnovers: C

Most of UK’s turnovers were aggressive turnovers, ones that I would not call egregious mistakes, outside of those made by DeAndre Liggins.  Unfortunately, Liggins was the primary ball handler most of the day (especially after Porter turned his ankle after throwing a beautiful alley oop pass to Patterson to open the second half, no update yet on his status), so his play has more today with the grading than anyone else.  Also, Liggins demeanor on the court was less than encouraging, lagging behind the rest of the team heading back to the bench during timeouts and seeming a little bit removed in general.  Rumor has it that Liggins did not arrive at the arena until the rest of the team was already shooting on the court.  Right now there are more negative signs and rumors than positive ones regarding Liggins, which is worrisome to say the least.  I’m not going to speculate or rumor monger too much, but this is clearly something that bears watching.

Rebounding: B

UK won the battle on the boards 38-30, and all three big men did pretty good rebounding work.  I expect them to do the lion’s share of the board work this season, but the other guys need to get more than 14 rebounds.  Liggins, Meeks, and Galloway had only 3 between them, and they need to do better if the Cats are going to make me happy with their rebounding

Getting the ball to Patterson: B+

I know it seems strange to give UK a high grade in this department when Patterson had such a quiet game, but when Patterson was on the court, he was the unquestioned center of UK’s offense.  They got him the ball early and often in both halves, but did not force it, and even found some inventive was to get it to him on oops over the top.