BTO’s Kentucky Postgame Report

#51
#51
Lefteye said:
It has and I was here for it after the Miss St game. But now, to me anyway, the reward doesn’t outweigh the risk of guys like DK, ZZ and Mashack losing legs for what they’re very good at. Also too late in the game for that switch.
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Agreed. Good to use in spurts and at key moments. There’s not many teams out there that could run a full court trap for 40 mins.
 
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#56
#56
cpavol said:
Vescovi and James don't need to score much but they have to hit wide open 3s. Vescovi's shooting has been terrible all season.
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This is going to seem dramatic (and it is) but 31 games in, I'm wondering if Santi even touched a basketball during the offseason. I cannot remember such an accomplished shooter struggle like he has for an entire season. And it isn't just the misses, it's the reluctance to put the ball in the air. And then when he does, you can just see on his face that he doesn't belive its going in. Just so disappointing for him. Not the senior day he wanted, I know.
 
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#57
#57
Was at the game. Tough loss but with sec ch trophy in hand was more about pride with the kitty cats, who were just simply red hot tonight and are Uber talented. Lots of mo still going into “2nd season” GBO!
 
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#58
#58
DarkVolder said:
Sorry you can’t handle the truth about Barnes lack of postseason success
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What you stated was about the future.

Barnes doubled the number of NCAAT appearances in Texas history. He has their only modern era Final Four and 5 of their 11 Sweet 16’s. He has 2 of UT’s 9 Sweet 16’s in 9 years of coaching. That’s his history.
 
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#60
#60
cncchris33 said:
This is going to seem dramatic (and it is) but 31 games in, I'm wondering if Santi even touched a basketball during the offseason. I cannot remember such an accomplished shooter struggle like he has for an entire season. And it isn't just the misses, it's the reluctance to put the ball in the air. And then when he does, you can just see on his face that he doesn't belive its going in. Just so disappointing for him. Not the senior day he wanted, I know.
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I can’t believe he got benched for, essentially, the entire 2H on his senior day. Back to back first team all SEC to being a total liability on offense all season (typically great on D, although awful today on both ends). I just don’t know what to make of it and I hope he’s okay personally. Would love if he could catch fire over the next few weeks, for his own sake and for his legacy here.
 
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#62
#62
cncchris33 said:
This is going to seem dramatic (and it is) but 31 games in, I'm wondering if Santi even touched a basketball during the offseason. I cannot remember such an accomplished shooter struggle like he has for an entire season. And it isn't just the misses, it's the reluctance to put the ball in the air. And then when he does, you can just see on his face that he doesn't belive its going in. Just so disappointing for him. Not the senior day he wanted, I know.
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Biggest mystery of the entire season has been Vescovi. I thought all off-season he was going to see the biggest impact from Knecht’s presence on the court and would thrive as a secondary scorer. But he turns down shots he used to never turn down and he pump fakes too much. It’s been weird. I hope he has a miraculous tournament turnaround. He’s been too important to this program to see his career end with a whimper.
 
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#64
#64
berryvol said:
I can’t believe he got benched for, essentially, the entire 2H on his senior day. Back to back first team all SEC to being a total liability on offense all season (typically great on D, although awful today on both ends). I just don’t know what to make of it and I hope he’s okay personally. Would love if he could catch fire over the next few weeks, for his own sake and for his legacy here.
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TheMookieMonster said:
Biggest mystery of the entire season has been Vescovi. I thought all off-season he was going to see the biggest impact from Knecht’s presence on the court and would thrive as a secondary scorer. But he turns down shots he used to never turn down and he pump fakes too much. It’s been weird. I hope he has a miraculous tournament turnaround. He’s been too important to this program to see his career end with a whimper.
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Right on to both of you. Just so odd that the scenario that should have "set him free" as a perimeter threat has chained him down like no other time in his career. I, too, hope he finds some late season success to cap off his great career, but I think 31 games is enough of a sample size to assume it would be an absolute luxury if he did.
 
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#65
#65
cncchris33 said:
Right on to both of you. Just so odd that the scenario that should have "set him free" as a perimeter threat has chained him down like no other time in his career. I, too, hope he finds some late season success to cap off his great career, but I think 31 games is enough of a sample size to assume it would be an absolute luxury if he did.
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Agree after 31 games getting first team SEC vescovi is unlikely. If Barnes can use every motivational tool and resource available to him to just get vescovi to simply shoot 6 shots a game then that would be huge first step.
 
#66
#66
bleedingTNorange said:
1. I get it, losing to Kentucky sucks, losing at TBA sucks, we are fans and want to win every single game, but have some perspective. Entering the 4 game stretch we all would’ve gladly taken 3-1, check. Entering the season we all would’ve taken a SEC regular season title, check as well. Entering the year we all would’ve gladly taken a 1 or 2 seed, check. Is/was there more to play for, absolutely, but also keep things in perspective as well.

2. Dalton Knecht was unbelievable yet again, and you get the feeling that as he feels his time is winding down he’s pressing the button a little sooner each game he senses trouble, he finally got his 40 piece, hate that it was in an losing effort but that’s no fault of his own. He’s playing elite offensive ball and he’s a major weapon as we head into the dance, the more help he can get the more dangerous he will become, which brings me to my next point.

3. Aidoo wasn’t great by any means, but I’ll include him in the Big 3 that I’ve referred to for awhile now (Zeigler, Knecht & Aidoo)…they combined to go 24-55 for 44%, everyone else combined for 4-19 for 21%, most of which was your 2 fifth year VFL seniors, Vescovi & JJJ, combining to go 2-14. Simply out, that can’t happen. Those guys don’t have to be stars, they don’t have to give 20+, but you need to be able to count on them to take and hit open shots at a decent percentage.

4. As much as we want to point to those offensive struggles when you’ve essentially got a tied up game at the half (1pt game 30 seconds in), and the 2nd half score ends up being 53-53, it’s hard to point too much to the offense as the issue and not talk about the defense. Kentucky shot lights out, if they’re gonna shoot ~30 threes and game and hit them at a 50%+ clip they very well might win the whole thing, especially if they attempt to play defense like they did tonight. Now some of that was them and some of it was on us, but they got hot and we got lost a few times and continued to lose Shepperd which should never ever happen.

5. Big picture, obviously the SEC was won and the 1 seed in the SECT was already locked up, you were playing for NCAAT seeding at this point. I don’t think this game cost us the 1 seed as I’ve said before, I think it lowers the chances, but I definitely think it’s still on the table. An Arizona win tonight and I’ll say it’s 50/50 entering conference tournament play, a loss by Arizona tonight and I think it’s right back up to that 95%+ range we were seeing reflected on bracketmatrix. North Carolina beating Duke could bring them into the picture as well although I still think they’d be 3rd in the picture…all that to say, a win today and I think we’d have locked it up, with the L I think it’s back to competing for that 1 seed still.


GBO!!!
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I love Santi but lumping him with JJJ this game obscures the real issue imo. Of course you would like to see JJJ score more but he gave us 8 pts while shooting 33% from 3 with 10 boards and great defensive play. On the other hand, our former multi-year All SEC shooting guard Santi gave us an 0'fer all around which included an air ball on a wide open look from the corner.

This is now 15 out of 31 games where SV has scored 6 or less pts, 10 of 31 where he's scored 2 or less, and 4.1 avg points in his last 10 games while averaging 26 min per game overall.

Look, I love Santi and will forever consider him one of our great players and, yes, he does other things which help the team but, bottom line, he has to do better going forward if we are going to have the tourney success we hope for in the SEC and NCAA. We really need him to average 10 or more points a game but, at this point, I don't think it's going to happen.
 
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#67
#67
Chaz-Vol said:
Agree after 31 games getting first team SEC vescovi is unlikely. If Barnes can use every motivational tool and resource available to him to just get vescovi to simply shoot 6 shots a game then that would be huge first step.
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Why? Why does he have to do that with a super senior? Let's be real here. It's not like a coach can speak something into existence. As chris pointed out, it's 31 games. If "it" were going to happen, one would think "it "would have happened by now. Frustratingly, you really have no one to turn to because you didn't play the young guys more early and all through the regular season. Now, you really have little choice. You have to ride with Vescovi and "hope". Between Gainey and Vescovi, you got 2 pts, 3 rb and 4 asst in 31 minutes in the final home game and what might have secured a 1 seed. Really hard to imagine those 2 guys giving you such paltry numbers in OVER 30 MINUTES of playing time.
 
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#68
#68
DarkVolder said:
This team will choke in the tournament that’s what Rick Barnes does just go ahead and prepare yourself for that disappointment they won’t make it past the sweet 16. Barnes is a great regular season but a terrible ncaa tournament coach.
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Right on cue
 
#69
#69
Apologies if this has been discussed several times already, but when Pearl got a technical in the Auburn game, Knecht went 1-2 on the FTs. Calipari got a technical yesterday, and Gainey went 0-1. What am I missing? I was wondering aloud at the game if I didn’t see Gainey miss twice instead of once, or if the rule changed. I just remembered the Auburn technical and saw 0-1 in the play by play from yesterday. The only difference I can think of is that Pearl’s technical interrupted play, while Calipari’s technical was during a live ball. Does anyone know if that matters?
 
#70
#70
There is no continuing competition for the 1 seed. They either have it right now or they don't have it at all. The SEC tournament does not count toward seeding. I think they did enough and certainly better than any other team.
 
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#71
#71
ukvols said:
Apologies if this has been discussed several times already, but when Pearl got a technical in the Auburn game, Knecht went 1-2 on the FTs. Calipari got a technical yesterday, and Gainey went 0-1. What am I missing? I was wondering aloud at the game if I didn’t see Gainey miss twice instead of once, or if the rule changed. I just remembered the Auburn technical and saw 0-1 in the play by play from yesterday. The only difference I can think of is that Pearl’s technical interrupted play, while Calipari’s technical was during a live ball. Does anyone know if that matters?
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Cal received a class B technical for leaving the box. A Class B involves no physical contact and no unsportsmanlike conduct. It results in one shot.
 
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#72
#72
Stoerner Fumbles said:
Cal received a class B technical for leaving the box. A Class B involves no physical contact and no unsportsmanlike conduct. It results in one shot.
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Thanks. I take it Pearl’s was a Class A because he cut off the refs, on the floor, during a play.
 
#74
#74
How many lose balls were knocked around and ultimately found their way to a Kentucky player at the 3 point line in which they promptly nailed?? It seemed like that happened time after time. Some off of long rebounds too. We didn’t cover the 3 point line very well but they hit a lot of scramble 3s that are so deflating. You think you’ve got the rebound, or you’ve come up with a lose ball only for it to turn into a 3 for the opponent. It certainly deflated me
 
#75
#75
OrangeTsar said:
Not sure I agree. We were simply missing way too many shots, even good looks at the basket. If we don’t open shooting something like 2 for 20, we take control of the game early and don’t look back.
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We seem to keep shooting, which is fine if they start falling. But it always seems to take too long to start banging it down inside, for either 2 pts, a foul or kick out
 
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