Post UK-Tennessee Thoughts (that Meeks guy is decent)

I debated this evening whether I would write my postgame thoughts late tonight or just sleep and do it tomorrow.  Jodie Meeks made my decision pretty easy, because I think the permanent grin I have on my face right now is going to make it pretty difficult to fall asleep.

What is there to say, really?  When he went for 46 against Appalachian State, there was no way he was going to top it…or so we thought.  Then, Jodie Meeks goes and drops 54 (fifty four, unreal) on Tennessee on the road in an SEC East showdown to lead UK to a win over the rival (as Tennessee likes to think) Volunteers.  It’s one thing to run up a big point total against some non conference nobody in a friendly environment; it’s another thing entirely to break Dan Issel’s all time single game UK scoring record in an enormous, nationally televised game, in which the ‘Cats picked up a HUGE 90-72 win for not only their quest for the SEC title, but also for UK’s NCAA Tournament profile.

Tonight was the chance for the sports viewing world to meet Mr. Jodie Meeks.  He’s been sort of under the radar as UK has played fewer high profile national TV games than usual and people outside of the Commonwealth are just now starting to care about college basketball.  Jodie introduced himself emphatically, showing his full skill set that he has developed over the past couple years.  He took it to the basket, he hit open threes, he hit contested threes (10-15 from distance in total, another school record), nailed free throws (14-14), he played defense (a key steal in the midst of UT’s run late in the second half), he rebounded (8 rebounds), and he even made some nice passes that led to easy buckets (4 assists). 

The result: Jimmy Dykes thrusts him into National POY discussion, Brad Nessler calls Jodie’s performance the best he has seen in his near two decades of announcing, and Scott Van Pelt extols his virtues in the lead highlight on the 11 pm SportsCenter.  UK fans have complained a lot about how anonymous Jodie has remained as the nation’s fifth leading scorer (before last night) playing for the most tradition-rich program in all the land.  I think a few more people are going to know his name now.

Jeanine Edwards interviewed Jodie right after he and his teammates had finished celebrating, and Jodie was very quick to deflect some of the attention he was getting to his teammates and the big win UK had just picked up, and I think I would be smart to take Jodie’s cue.  I wrote before the game that UK needed to capitalize on the remaining opportunities for quality road wins, and they certainly did in ending UT’s 16 game home winning streak.  The last time UT had lost to an SEC team at home was the infamous chest bump game, when Tubby Smith caught Brandon Stockton off guard with a highly awkward celebratory move in 2006.  UT was the preseason SEC favorite and UK now has a big leg up in beating them on the road (neither UK nor UT lost at home in conference last season). 

Also, the calendar has flipped to 2009, so that happy time of year when buzzwords like BCS, computer rankings, and the bowl season give way to RPI, quality wins, and March Madness.  Entering Tuesday night’s game, UK was an iffy 67^th according to realtimerpi.com.  At last check, UK had shot all the way up to a much more comfortable 56^th thanks to the win.

Alright, back on task now, let’s talk about the game itself, particularly about the non-Jodie Meeks parts of the game (reviewing the box score, I have indeed confirmed that there were 9 other players on the court with Jodie all night and yes, Jodie really did score FIFTY FOUR POINTS). 

If you can only remember one other thing about tonight’s game besides what Jodie did, I would nominate the way Darius Miller stepped up and played some meaningful, quality minutes.  He continued to show increased offensive confidence, looking surer of himself with the dribble and not afraid to shoot.  He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting, including a three, added 3 offensive rebounds, an assist, and 2 blocks.  He did turn the ball over 5 times, but that was partially a function of the fact that he was the inbounds man for a lot of his time on the court.  It’s well documented how well UT defends in bounds passes, and quite often, Darius’s teammates weren’t where they needed to be.  All in all, Darius is coming alive, and it could not be coming at a better time. 

Prior to tonight, I anticipated that DeAndre Liggins would be a major player against UT, but Coach Gillispie did not call his name once all night.  What did DeAndre do in practice on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to undo the positives that came out of his defensive performance against Vandy?  This is a saga that will continue to unfold, and I honestly have NO idea how it’s going to end.  At this point, nothing would really surprise me. 

***UPDATE-Rumors are circulating that Liggins walked out of practice this week, leading to his benching last night.  This is the second big screw up by DeAndre so far, which is not good.  He’s still on the team and celebrated with the team on the floor afterward.  Gillispie addressed his not playing by the good ol’ “coach’s decision” line and left it at that.  I don’t need to tell you that this situation bears watching the rest of the way***

The first guy off the bench tonight was Kevin Galloway, and he played decent enough in his early playing time.  However, he was most responsible for the ‘Cats lapse at the end of the first half that allowed Tennessee to cut UK’s lead to four, committing 2 turnovers and a foul.  His playing time diminished significantly in the second half, although he still played more than Jorts, who did not get to shed the warm-ups all night.

Based on UK’s last two road games against UofL and UT, I think we can surmise that Coach Gillispie is going to narrow down his rotation quite a bit in these kinds of games.  He has a group of guys who have proven themselves worthy of being trusted, and he’s going to stick with them most of the time.  As frustrated as you may get at times with the patterns, UK just played its best game of the season with a 6 man rotation (with Galloway and Stewart sprinkled in).

We’ll have more on Jodie’s historic night and UK’s big win over the coming days, but before that, it’s report card time:

Turnovers/point guard play: A-

Jimmy Dykes is a little goofy and sometimes what he says is impertinent, but I think his cute little graphic about where UK committed its turnovers had some significance.  UK limited turnovers in the back court, and by doing so, limited easy baskets and runs.  It was only when UK committed some of those turnovers that Tennessee managed to gain any momentum.  UK turned the ball over 15 times tonight, and for the first time, consistently showed poise with the ball in a hostile environment.

Michael Porter again deserves some big praise for his performance tonight.  You cannot overstate the difference in his overall confidence from earlier in the season.  He’s comfortable with his dribble, going behind the back regularly, he gets the offense where it needs to be and generally runs the game well.  He even threw a behind the back pass to Ramon Harris for an open layup.  Porter had 6 assists (4 led to Meeks threes) and 3 turnovers in 33 minutes against a defense that puts pressure on ball handlers.

Rebounding: C+

I can honestly say I was shocked when I looked at the box score and saw that Kentucky outrebounded Tennessee 39-32.  Tennessee’s best offense all night was the offensive rebound, and 19 of their 32 rebounds were offensive (strange proportion, huh?).  Kentucky won that game 90-72, but it really could have been a lot worse had they done a better job knocking UT around.  I have not seen quotes by Gillispie after the game, but I can guarantee you this will be addressed.

Getting the ball to Patterson: incomplete

Patterson was only 3-8 for 9 points and 12 boards tonight, but with the way Jodie was playing, Jodie had to have the ball in his hands.  Why throw it inside when a guy is shooting 10-15 from three?  This kind of game can only be a good thing for Patrick.  You have to believe teams will shift their focus from Patterson to Meeks at least in the short term, and I will bet you a big game from Patterson is close at hand.  Also, it was difficult to tell if Patterson is affected by his finger injury.  He didn’t shoot well, but the sample size was small enough that the jury is still out.

Secondary scoring: B

Porter, Harris, Stevenson, and Miller all had some timely buckets and played with some confidence.  It can be easy to get lost on offense with a teammate playing like Jodie was, but I was pleased with how the “other guys” stayed involved.

Jodie Meeks: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Enough said.