No point in being superstitious about live-blogging at this point. With 12:43 left in the first half, the Cats are 0-4 from three-point range and trail 10-7.
No point in being superstitious about live-blogging at this point. With 12:43 left in the first half, the Cats are 0-4 from three-point range and trail 10-7.
Cats now 0-5 from three-point range. For the year, they've shot 29.7 percent from three point range, which ranks 290th in the country. Of course, they shoot 46.7 percent from two-point range, which ranks 259th in the country.
ReplyDeleteLet's say you take 60 three point shots, and make 29.7 percent. That's almost 18, so we'll give you 18, and you get 54 points. Now let's say that you take 60 two point shots, and make 46.7 percent. That's 28, so you get 56 points. So as bad as the Cats are from three-point range, they do about as well as they would from two point range.
I wonder how frequently a missed 2 vs. a missed 3 results in a score for the opponent at the other end.
DeleteGeorgia leads 10-9 with 11:53 left in the first half.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, Georgia is terrible. They are 1-4 in the SEC. Arkansas beat them 99-69. Auburn beat them 95-77. K Pom has them as the number 90 team in the country.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Boston just missed a three-point shot. Coming into this game, he was 7 for 40 from three-point range. There have to be literally 2000 people in the Commonwealth who could make more than 7 of 40 from three-point range.
ReplyDeleteAnd he doesn't just miss. He's not even close. His shots bang off the front rim, or miss the rim altogether, or do other odd things. He looks like the kids you see shooting at a church gym -- not the good kids, the kids like me who could never play.
While I was typing that, he just missed another one. UK now 0-8 from three-point range.
There is rage dripping from each character in this post, and it's excellent reading.
DeleteWith 6:36 left in the first half, Georgia leads 20-17. Calipari calls time. UK still 0-8 from three-point range.
ReplyDeleteSee, people think that the Cats don't care or try. But that's not true. It's actually heartbreaking to see how much they would like to win. They just can't do anything with the ball. Everyone knows that they can't shoot, so the defense just hangs out around the rim and waits for the shot clock to run down. Eventually UK throws up a prayer, it misses, and the other team has the ball. And over time, this utter inability to run anything that looks like a normal offense kills any hope of success. The other team realizes that UK is hapless, and they put them away. The Cats are trying. But a team that can't shoot, pass or dribble isn't going to win many college games, even against teams as bad as Georgia.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia makes two three's in a row, now up 26-17. Cal calls time again. But he has no buttons to push, because no one on the team can score. Tom Crean's not the world's greatest coach, but he's not losing at home to a team that can't score.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think about creating an HP style book for myself. One of the things that often slows me down in posting or commenting is getting really stuck on things like, should I refer to a three-point attempt as a "three" or a "3"? (And then, of course, what about the plural?) (Even if I'm not actually going to use a plural at that moment.) (Like, I need to have a plan for the plural that works with the singular, in case I need to use the plural later.)
DeleteOne of my first major decisions this morning was whether I was going to put down the coffee cup in my left hand or the newspaper in my right to pick up something else in my kitchen. And I mean I got stuck on that for, seriously, five seconds or more.
One more point. The Cats make an enormous amount of turnovers. 21.7 percent of their possessions end in turnovers, ranking them 279th in the country in that category. Many of these result from the fact that they have no point guard. But a lot of their turnovers result from the fact that they have nothing positive to do with the ball, so they just keep passing and dribbling until the shot clock is almost over. All that passing and dribbling gives the other team lots of chances to create turnovers, which they do.
ReplyDeleteNo Point Guard, Long Winter is my working title for the book on this season's UK team.
DeleteGeorgia leads 26-23 with 3:27 left in the first half.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia leads 30-27 at the half. UK is 0-9 from three-point range with 8 turnovers.
ReplyDeleteWith Georgia leading 36-35, Devin Askew blocks a shot at the rim, and Olivier Sarr grabs the rebound for UK. Trying to throw the ball to Askew, Sarr immediately throws it away -- and then fouls the Georgia player laying the ball in. Two points for Georgia, and a free throw coming after the TV timeout. Georgia leads 38-35 with 15:53 left. UK is 0-9 from three-point range with 12 turnovers.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia is terrible, by the way. This is about as bad a team as you'll see in the SEC.
ReplyDeleteTrying to run that dribble drive offense, Boston just drops the ball at the top of the key. (You have to be able to handle the ball for that offense to work.) UGA goes the other way for an easy layup. Dawgs lead 41-35.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia misses a short shot, no one can get the rebound, a Georgia player picks the ball off the floor and lays it in. Dawgs lead 43-40.
ReplyDeleteDawgs lead 45-42 with just under 12 minutes left. This is usually the part where UK collapses.
ReplyDeleteLast night, Alabama went 23-43 from three-point range. I would love to see this UK team try that. Go out and shoot 43 three's in one game. If they shoot their average, they'd make 12 or 13. But they could miss them all. Either way, it would be more entertaining than this.
ReplyDeleteAgree.
DeleteOK, first possession after the TV timeout. HERE COME THE CATS! They try a couple of passes, and then Georgia steals the ball at the top of the key and goes all the way for a dunk. Dawgs lead 47-42.
ReplyDeleteThis UK team will probably set the record for most dunks allowed by a Kentucky team. They get dunked on a lot.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I tried to argue with my dad that, if they were going to count three points for really long shots, they should count three points for dunks, too. I argued this point pretty often, actually. I know Dad was really sad when I moved out of the house, but I don't think he was sad about every little piece of my being out of the house.
DeleteAfter yet another easy bucket, Georgia is called for a technical for taunting. Dontae Allen goes to the other end, makes one free throw -- but misses the second. Dawgs lead 49-47. This game may be the worst one ever played in the history of the SEC.
ReplyDeleteThe Cats have put together a 7-0 run! They now lead 53-49 with just under 8 minutes left. Here was my favorite play. They threw the ball to Brooks in the paint -- UGA knocked it away, and it rolled to Sarr in the corner. When he picked it up, UGA knocked it away, and it rolled to Brooks under the basket. He tried to score, was fouled, and made two free throws.
ReplyDeleteCats now 1-11 from three-point range, with 15 turnovers. But they lead 53-49 with 7:56 left. GO BIG BLUE!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCome on, Kentucky! I forgot about this game last night, and I don't know how it comes out.
DeleteCats go on a 10-0 run to take a 56-49 lead with 6:56 left. Sarr commits a foul. UGA makes 1 of 2. Cats lead 56-50.
ReplyDeleteOh, my gosh, this is exciting. COME ON, KENTUCKY!
DeleteIn the last 1:40, the Cats have missed four shots, and Georgia has missed two. Cats still lead 56-50 with 5:16 to go.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia makes a layup, and the Cats lead 56-52 with 4:38 left.
ReplyDeleteCats dribble the ball for 28 seconds and then throw it out of bounds. UGA ball.
ReplyDeleteTV timeout with 3:17 left. Cats lead 58-54 with UGA going to the line. The UK offense has utterly collapsed. Cats now 1-13 from three-point range with 16 turnovers. Most possessions now ending in long two-point shots that have no chance of going in.
ReplyDeleteNow I don't want to watch again.
DeleteUGA makes both FT's; Cats lead 58-56 with 3:17 left.
ReplyDeleteWith 2:59 left, Brooks takes a weird, twisting shot in the lane -- but is fouled. He makes the first FT. Makes the second. Cats lead 60-56.
ReplyDeleteUGA misses a three but gets the rebound. Misses a scoop shot. UK's ball with 2:16 left.
ReplyDeleteIsaiah Jackson makes a five footer, to put the Cats up by six, but UGA hits a three. Cats lead 62-59 with 1:39 left.
ReplyDeleteArgh.
DeleteI think the game was lost here. If UGA had missed that three-point shot, the Cats would have had the ball and a six point lead. Even they would struggle to lose under those circumstances. But once they made this shot, UK fell apart. From here to the end, the Cats do nothing right.
DeleteUGA steals the ball from Askew, but misses a three. Cats lead 62-59 with 1:01 left. Cats call time.
ReplyDeleteCats 23-39 on two-point shots, 1-13 on three-point shots, 13-17 from the line, and 17 turnovers.
ReplyDeleteUGA 20-48 on two-point shots, 4-15 on three-point shots, 7-9 from the line, and 11 turnovers.
It will be interesting to see if UK gets off a shot here. They didn't the last possession.
ReplyDeleteWell, they dribbled around for a while. Boston eventually took a weird off-balance shot with time running out. He missed, UGA got a runout the other way. Cats now lead 62-61 with 23.5 seconds left. Askew at the line.
ReplyDeleteMy description here doesn't do justice to the complete inability of UK to ever put themselves in a position where you thought they had a chance of scoring.
DeleteThis is brutal.
DeleteAskew misses, and UGA can win.
ReplyDeleteUGA drives the lane. Jackson blocks their shot out of bounds. UGA calls time with 3.6 seconds left, still trailing 62-61.
ReplyDeleteNow Cal calls time. We got a real chess match going here. I can remember when Crean and Cal were coaching against each other in the 2012 Sweet 16. How did they come to this?
ReplyDeleteCats scored six points in the last seven minutes of this game.
ReplyDeleteAnd zero points in the last two minutes.
DeleteUGA can't get the ball in, so they call time. It's like watching a Washington Generals scrimmage.
ReplyDeleteOn the inbounds play, UGA simply passes the ball to a guy about three feet from the basket. He drops it, picks it up, lays it in, and the Dawgs win 63-62. In the whole history of the UK program, no Kentucky team has ever deserved to lose a game more than this group of players deserved to lose this game. They had to make about 20 mistakes down the stretch to lose, and they made them all.
ReplyDeleteOh, my word, that is awful.
DeleteI want to emphasize that with 1:01 left in the game, the Cats had a three-point lead and the ball. They were playing one of the worst teams from any major conference. They lost in regulation. That's almost impossible.
ReplyDeleteCal is in the Hall of Fame, which means that this is probably the worst team ever fielded by a Hall of Fame coach. It's certainly the worst UK team I've ever seen. Both Eddie Sutton's last team and Gillispie's last team would wipe the floor with these guys. And again, it's not that they don't try. They were trying tonight. They just can't play basketball.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know where they go from here. I have no idea how they ended up with a whole team of guys who can't play basketball. And I have no idea how this gets fixed by next season. Presumably a lot of these guys will be gone. But why would we expect next year's team to be any better?
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for Calipari and all the players. It's got to be heartbreaking to go through life thinking that you were great at basketball, only to find out that you're really not.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDelete