Saturday, December 26, 2020

Louisville 62 - 59 Kentucky (Final)

Another hapless performance by the Cats.  Typical offense for the Big Blue:  (15-41 from 2-point range (36.6 percent), 5-17 from 3-point range (29.4 percent), 14-22 from the line (63.6 percent)).

Here's the bottom line:  These guys are not very good at the game of basketball.  They look like the sort of recruiting class you would expect at Ole Miss or Penn State.  And if you asked a bunch of Ole Miss freshman to play the whole game, with no help from better and more experienced players, these are the type of results you would get.  I'm sure Calipari is coaching as hard as he can, but the talent gap is just too great to be overcome.

Personally, I also think that Calipari has failed to adapt to the increasing importance of the three-point shot.  Kentucky still plays like it did ten years ago, as if the world had never seen Villanova, Duke, and UVA combine for five national titles built around strong three-point shooting.  Imagine a college football coach at Oklahoma trying to win the national championship in the modern game with defense, a solid kicking game, and the Wishbone.  That's what UK has been like.  In recent years, Kentucky's inability to shoot has ruined its chances in the NCAA Tournament.  That's a moot topic this year, as the Cats will certainly be home in March.  But if UK ever wants to contend for another national title, the Cats need to start playing a more modern style.

There are really only seven interesting questions left for UK fans in this season (in reverse order of importance):

7.  Will UK finish ahead of Western Kentucky in the final Ken Pom rankings (UK is currently 50; WKU is currently 83)?

6.  Will the Cats shoot less than 30 percent from three-point range for the year?  (Through seven games, they are at 25 percent).

5.  Will the Cats score 70 points in any of their remaining games?  (In their last six games -- all losses -- the Cats have yet to score more than 64 points).

4.  How many of the current players will leave before the season ends?

3.  How many of the current players will be back for UK next year?

2.  How far behind will UK trail Kansas for the all-time lead in wins after this season?

1.  Does Calipari still want to do what it would take to win a National Championship at UK, or are we now in late John Thompson/Nolan Richardson/Gary Williams territory?

I'm going to let Mitch Barnhart sort that last question out -- that is his job, after all.  If he doesn't get that question right, the others aren't likely to matter.

Personally, I plan to spend the next few months watching British soccer and seeing whether 2021 will be -- finally -- the year that Gonzaga goes all the way.

28 comments:

  1. Northwestern beats Ohio State 71-70 and goes to 3-0 in the Big 10 for the first time since the 1967-68 season.

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  2. In Fort Worth, Texas, Gonzaga leads UVA 18-5 with 14:15 left in the first half. Zags would be a heavy favorite to go all the way if the NCAA Tournament started next week. But will they still be this sharp after two months in the West Coast Conference?

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  3. Zags lead the Hoos 23-12 with 11:11 left in the first.

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  4. It's so weird to see college players making 3-point shots. As a UK fan, you get in the habit of assuming that they always miss.

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  5. Zags up 31-16 with 7:34 left in the first half. It's really strange to see a team that isn't affected by the UVA defense.

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  6. Zags lead 42-24 with 3:13 left before halftime. They are on their way to 100 points at this rate. UVA can't even slow them down.

    In case you're wondering, before this game Ken Pom said that UVA had the third-best defense in the country. He thought Gonzaga would win 71-66.

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  7. The closest thing we've seen to this Gonzaga team are those great UNLV teams that used to score tons of points, and that was almost 30 years ago.

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    1. Those UNLV teams were amazing. I loved them.

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    2. Zion Williamson was even more of a unicorn, but Larry Johnson was about 80 percent of a Zionicorn.

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  8. At the half, Gonzaga leads 44-31 -- UVA made a little run down the stretch to pull within 13. Wahoos need Gonzaga to go cold so that they can get back into this.

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  9. Gonzaga blows the game open with an 18-7 run to start the second half. Zags lead 62-38 with 15:55 left. Zags now 9-17 from three-point range. UVA's defense is based on the assumption that college players can't shoot this well. That assumption is usually sound, but not today.

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  10. And that's it. Gonzaga leads 84-58 with 7:44 left. According to Bill James's formula, this game is over. Only question now is whether the Zags put up 100 points.

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  11. After beating Iowa 99-88 last week, this week Gonzaga rolls 98-75 over UVA. In both games, the Zags could have scored more than 100 points, but they eased up down the stretch. They are awesome, and now we just have to hope that no one gets hurt before the tournament starts.

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  12. OK, now over to Amazon Prime Video, where the Cardinals (8-6) are hosting the Niners (5-9) in an NFL game. Niners lead 7-6 at the beginning of the second half.

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  13. Calipari is about to find out, by the way, that the Lexington media regards the U of L game as more important than any 20 other games put together. One reason they've always given him so much support is because he has a good record against U of L. Calipari will assume that because UK played better this week than it did against UNC, the press should ease up. But the UK press rather likes UNC, and really dislikes losing to U of L. So they're much more upset this week than they were last week.

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    1. In fact, if UK had pulled out the game today, the Lexington media would have pretty much given Cal a pass for all the other losses, and would have told the fans to quit complaining so much. In that sense, this loss was good for the program -- it means that Cal's feet will be held to the fire, as they should be.

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    2. I think the Lexington media will now basically write off the rest of this season, and say that Cal has to do better next year. And by "better," they mean that he needs to beat U of L at Rupp.

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    3. As for Cal, he will hate every bit of this -- he doesn't like being criticized under the best of circumstances, and he will really dislike being treated like someone who's completely washed up and coaching to save his job next year. I really think there's a good chance that he walks.

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    4. On the other hand, Jerry Tipton will have a blast. His ship has finally come in.

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  14. In Arizona, the Cardinals score a touchdown to pull within two points of the Niners at 14-12. The Cards go for two but don't make it. There are 12 minutes left in the game. Arizona really needs this game.

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  15. Casey Kasem is doing the year-end countdown for 1975, and he tells us that "Rhinestone Cowboy" was the number 2 song for the whole year. He says it was the first song to be number one on the country chart and the pop chart at the same time since "Big Bad John."

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  16. The Number 1 song for 1975 was "Love Will Keep Us Together."

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    1. I loved that song, and it felt like it was opening a door to a whole new sophisticated understanding of and ease with the adult world for me. Instead, I was approaching nascent puberty and the noticing of girls, and I was about to turn 180 degrees on this whole deal. By 1977, I was going to despise "You Light Up My Life," and that was no fault of Debby Boone's at all.

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  17. The Forty-Niners stop Arizona on a fourth down in its own territory, and then drive the short field for a touchdown. But then they miss the extra point! SF leads 20-12 with 8:36 to go.

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  18. On 4th and inches at the SF 42, Murray takes off on a naked bootleg, and dashes all the way down to the 13. 5:17 left.

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  19. But two plays later, Murray throws a pass off of his back foot, and the ball floats on him. It turns into an easy interception for the Forty-Niners, who take over with 4:37 left. Still 20-12 for SF.

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  20. Forty-Niners have a chance to put the game away with a 35-yard field goal, but MISS. Cardinals have one last chance with 1:09 to go.

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  21. 1/10, AZ 27: Murray completes 4-yd pass to Fitzgerald
    2/6, AZ 31: Murray completes 9-yd pass to Fitzgerald
    1/10, AZ 40: Murray spikes the football
    2/10, AZ 40: Murray completes 4-yd pass to Kirk
    3/6, AZ 44: Deep Pass incomplete (20 seconds left)
    4/6, AZ 44: Sideline Pass incomplete (Murray blitzed and hit as he threw)

    And that's it. The Cards lose 20-12 and fall to 8-7.

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