I’ve spent the past several minutes trying to think of a way to describe today’s game. To paint a picture of how ugly and foul-riddled it was. To convey how poorly both teams shot the ball.
But I can’t.
So I’ll let the poet John Leonard do it: “Football, basketball, and hockey are played with hand grenades and machine guns.”
Now, I’m sure he had a much more noble application in mind, but today’s game was just that: hand grenades and machine guns. You want hand grenades? How about 53(!) total fouls? You want machine guns? How about a combined shooting effort of 37-119, bad for 31%?
How about casualties? Two players fouled out, and six others had 4 fouls at the end of the game.
Heavy artillery? Kentucky owned the boards 49-28.
But in an ugly game, there were some beautiful performances.
If this game was a war, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was a Howitzer tank. He apparently sacrificed a chicken in the name of Jobu before tip-off, because he DOMINATED this game. If you watched the game, try to think of a play where MKG wasn’t a factor in some way, whether it was defense, offense, rebounding, or just hustle. I love this guy.
[I][SIZE=1]Probably not pictured: MKG’s locker.[/SIZE][/I]
How much of a tank was he? Try 24 points, 19 rebounds, and zero turnovers in 39 minutes. It’s as commanding performance as I’ve seen in a while.
If MKG was a tank, Anthony Davis was an RPG, as he propelled several Louisville shots away from the rim. Davis finished with 6 blocks; he also threw in 18 points and 10 boards for good measure.
As good as those two played, I was most happy to see Terrence Jones back in the mix. Sure, he only had 2 points on 1-9 shooting, but he played a great game otherwise, getting 11 rebounds and 3 steals to go with some solid defense. It was a good performance from a guy who has needed one sorely.
For those of you complaining about Jones’ shooting today, try this: Bend the pinky of your shooting hand sideways at 90°. Now, in two weeks, go shoot against a bunch of people who are as tall and strong as you. Let me know how it goes.
Louisville hit the first shot of the game, and never led again. Kentucky used Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and early Louisville foul trouble to jump out to a 15 point lead, which the Cards quickly erased once they realized it was possible to play defense without fouling. The Cats led by 3 at the half, 36-33.
The second half was more of the same. Lots of fouls, no offensive rhythm, and horrible shooting. Although, the scoring was a bit closer, and Louisville managed to tie the game at 40 with a little over 15 minutes left, but it wasn’t much of a game after that. To be honest, it wasn’t much of a game anyway. The only things worth watching were the performances of MKG, Davis, Jones, and Louisville’s Russ Smith, who finished with 30 points, including 2 garbage time 3-pointers to cut a 13-point UK lead down to 7, setting the final score. Russ Smith is a good player. No one else for Louisville today was.
Chene Behanan predicted a great game today. He also predicted an undefeated season. Whatever. That’s what players are supposed to do: have faith in their teams. But, players are not supposed to take themselves out of the game only 5 minutes in, which is what Behanan did, after a couple of fouls and a technical. Good thing he thought today’s game was going to be great; he had lots of time to sit and watch it.
As good as Russ Smith was (10-20, 3-8 3FG, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), no one else on the team had more than 8 points.
Among Kentucky’s disappointments for the day were Marquis Teague, who had as many turnovers as points, and more fouls. Doron Lamb couldn’t get going, either, finishing with 10 points, 8 of which came from the line (on 9 attempts).
Speaking of the line, it was kind to the Cats today. They shot an absurd 43 free throws, hitting on 32 of them for 74%. Take away the 0-4 from Terrence Jones and his still-hurting pinky, and that number jumps to 82%. Even better, Davis was 12-13. Don’t look now, but in his last 23 trips to the line, Davis has hit 20 of them (87%). I’m thinking he’s going to end up a much better free-throw shooter than his 59% season average suggests he is.
Complete stats can be found [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=313650096″]here[/URL].
Even though it was fugly, the Cats won, and that’s all that matters. And, even though we already knew it, a star was officially born today. Make your toasts tonight in honor of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Happy New Year. Be safe.
