Kentucky loses it’s first game of the season and it’s number one ranking Tuesday night. The loss to South Carolina is frustrating to say the least. It’s hard to understand how a team with so much talent can just not play hard enough to win, but that’s what happened. Obama, Downey, who’s to blame?… At the end of the day, it falls on us. We just didn’t come to play.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
I’m sitting here after the game and I’m wondering, “what happened”, “how did that happen”, and besides Devan Downey and the Obama phone call, I still can’t get a clear answer. It’s definitely one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever watched. From the time the ball was tipped, it seemed that UK just never believed that USC had a chance of winning. I’m fine with having that kind of attitude, as long as you show them it’s true. Instead, we let USC hang around, and when the second half started, the Gamecocks and their fans believed they had a chance to win. Just like the 07′ UK Football team, once you “believe” you can win, you’re not that far from making it happen.
Going into the game, it seemed that there was not one statistic that South Carolina had an advantage. At the end of the game, USC beat UK at the free throw line and on the offensive boards. This paved the way to for USC to be in a position to win the game. Yes I said the offensive boards… The tallest team in the nation just got out rebounded because we just didn’t want it!
[B]Let’s do a quick rundown….[/B]
[B]John Wall[/B] – He’s a huge reason we were 19-0. He finished with 19 points and 4 turnovers. The big surprise, was fumbling a perfect pass off of a back-door cut that landed out of bounds. He also missed some key free throws in critical situations. That’s not very “Wall Like”, but he still had a good game. He can’t do it all, and he’s going to need some help from time to time.
[B]Patrick Patterson[/B] – I’ve giving the Tubby Smith / Kelenna Azubuike quote before and I’m going to do it again. Patrick Patterson on this years team, “looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane”. He plays 35min and has five points. He only made it to the free throw line once and shot 50% when that happened. On a positive note, he did get eight rebounds. Overall, he just seems to vanish on the floor. I still think this has something to do with our guard play, but we need to see him demanding the ball. There was one play I do remember him looking like the Pat of old. He was working to get open down low and then he made his jump hook in the center of the lane. He can’t play down low all the time, but he’s got to figure something out. He’s too good to not make a larger impact.
[B]Demarcus Cousins[/B] – 27 Points in 37 minutes, 90% from the free throw line and 12 rebounds. Could you ask for anything more? During the live blog I said that Cousins footwork was better than singer/dancer Usher. Each game, he makes his case to be this teams MVP. John Wall may get all the media attention, but there’s no doubt who’s holding this team together. He gave everything he had and at one point was demanding to get the ball. [B]We need more Boogie if we’re going to go to Indy in March![/B]
[B]Darius Miller[/B] – Darius didn’t make the trip to Columbia due to being invisible. The box score says he played 14 minutes but you would have never known it. I don’t understand how he can lead the team in scoring against Arkansas, and then come out as flat as he did today. With only two field goal attempts, Coach Cal was looking for someone who was going to be aggressive, and it wasn’t going to be Miller.
[B]Eric Bledsoe[/B] – 31min, 4 points, five rebounds and five turnovers. He finishes the game shooting 28% from the field… Do you think he should evaluate his shot selection? He also had five assist, but if he’s not scoring, turning the ball over five times and shooting 28%, I’m not sure he needs to be out there. He’s one of the best players on the team, but he’s got to settle down and let the game come to him. He was one of the only players with some hustle, so that probably had a lot to do with him staying in the lineup late in the game.
[B]Darnell Dodson[/B] – Not sure how I feel about Dodson.. I’m not impressed, but he did lead the team in steals (how did that happen). He was one of maybe three players that seemed like they really wanted to be out there. He may not have performed at the level we would like, but he was hustling.
[B]DeAndre Liggins[/B] – WHAT HAPPENED? Did something happen at practice? You worked your way into the rotation with hustle and determination. Tonight, that same DeAndre Liggins didn’t make the trip to Columbia
[B]Daniel Orton – [/B]I like Daniel Orton more and more each time I see him. He gives you quality minutes and he gives you everything he’s got in the process. It’s hard not to like a guy that hustles like he does.
[B]Stevenson and Harris – [/B]Both played a handful of minutes but nothing much out of either of them. Harris had two rebounds, but they definitely missed out on an opportunity to move up some places in the rotation. All they had to do was be aggressive and hustle, but that didn’t happen.
At the onset, it seemed as UK was going through the motions and their play showed it. Our defense seemed to be non-existent, as we let the one man wrecking crew known as Devan Downey have his way. USC’s number two scorer was injured and Downey was the only guy we needed to pay attention to. We still couldn’t contain this guy. We looked like Rocky chasing that Chicken on the first Rocky movie, you just couldn’t catch this guy.
So the question we’re left with is this. [B]Will we lose another game in the regular season? If so, how many and to whome?[/B] Leave a comment below to let us know what you think….
[B]Here’s the post game interviews…[/B]
[B][SIZE=3]Darrin Horn[/SIZE][/B]
[youtube_sc width=430 url=TPp5mSR-qW8]
[B][SIZE=3]John Calipari Part 1[/SIZE][/B]
[youtube_sc width=430 url=k_OTEJoT3hE]
[B][SIZE=3]John Calipari Part 2 W/Demarcus Cousins[/SIZE][/B]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][B]John Calipari Part 3 W/Demarcus Cousins[/B][/SIZE]
[youtube_sc width=430 url=Bvx7Di0MC-E]
