I was pulling for you guys. But just can't miss three foul shots at the end of the game, and have your last two possession result in 0 points. You should have won.
You gave it away
- Thread starter trinitynole
- Start date
You can't make every foul shot, they shot a decent percentage overall. And they scored on like 8 or 9 straight possessions before the last two, also impressive. The thing is, UK made every single shot after the 12:16 point of the game.
Captain obvious is back to let us know hey no big deal, coming up short in every big game is okay.
KAT was unstoppable down the stretch. Went perfect from the field in the 2nd Half. That's the game decider.
I don't want to rub salt in the wound because I've been in your shoes before and know how this loss feels, however UK played nowhere near their best game of the year last night. Actually they played about average. All you have to do is look @ the previous game against WV for evidence of that. In fact of the top of my head I can think of a few others where they played better (Kansas, UCLA, Auburn, MST, FL, UofL, UNC...)
We survived and that is all that matters, but this was by far not the best game they played. It was certainly the best opponent though.
We survived and that is all that matters, but this was by far not the best game they played. It was certainly the best opponent though.
Well you shot 53.2 percent from the field vs a .468 season average.
You shot 50% from 3 pt range versus a .347 season average.
We shot 46% and 28% vs 50% and 39% for the season.
Connaughton 3-10, Jackson 1-7 and Grant 4-14 were a combined 8-31.
A lot of that is good defense, but we were off.
Wasn't Kentucky's last miss from the field at the 12:14 mark?
Can you show me another stretch like that in a similar circumstance?
I've followed you guys pretty darn closely and it was easily the best you've played that I have seen ....
What game(s) have you played better?
PS Thanks for the kind remark on opponent....
PPS Calipari stated, "...ND had a great year and easily could be National Champions...." on ESPN,
I think there are only 3 teams that can fit that bill Kentucky, Notre Dame and Wisconsin....
That's part of my rationale....
http://www.ncaa.com/game/basketball-men/d1/2015/03/28/notre-dame-kentucky/play-by-play
You shot 50% from 3 pt range versus a .347 season average.
We shot 46% and 28% vs 50% and 39% for the season.
Connaughton 3-10, Jackson 1-7 and Grant 4-14 were a combined 8-31.
A lot of that is good defense, but we were off.
Wasn't Kentucky's last miss from the field at the 12:14 mark?
Can you show me another stretch like that in a similar circumstance?
I've followed you guys pretty darn closely and it was easily the best you've played that I have seen ....
What game(s) have you played better?
PS Thanks for the kind remark on opponent....
PPS Calipari stated, "...ND had a great year and easily could be National Champions...." on ESPN,
I think there are only 3 teams that can fit that bill Kentucky, Notre Dame and Wisconsin....
That's part of my rationale....
http://www.ncaa.com/game/basketball-men/d1/2015/03/28/notre-dame-kentucky/play-by-play
I listed several games earlier stating where they played better. There are lots of factors that play into statistical anomalies such as you mentioned. Stats only tell part of the story.
I'll hold to my statement that UK did not play is best game even though they had very good stats.
1, Brey allowed Towns to totally abuse a weaker Auguste all game long and very rarely provided him with help. This alone made our fg % sky rocket. Had your coach made that single adjustment we would be having a totally different conversation right now. However he didn't and the pressure Towns put on ND big men allowed UK to take advantage of smaller defenders on the wings. Thus our offensive deficiencies weren't capitalized on and this made the numbers look better than what they were.
If you go back and look, there were long stretches where we stopped driving into the lane and just settled for jump shots. Our wings just stood around waiting for someone else to do something rather than rotating and running through screens. In fact the middle part of the first half I would classify as close to the worst half we've played all season.
2, Other than the WV game UK has very rarely won by much more than 20 points this season. Not because they couldn't have ,but because they stopped pushing and decided to grind out the clock. This has affected their stats and percentages in many games. So by using just stats to make this case you miss all of the times they put the game well out of reach in the first half and just cruised to an easy victory. Many of those games I would say they played better than yesterday's.
Now I completely agree that ND would have won against any other team last night (in fact I feel that they should have won against us) and I'm not taking anything away from them because other than not adjusting to Towns your coach came up with a tremendous game plan and your players executed it to near perfection. And as fans you have nothing to be ashamed of, because your team pushed this game to the brink and almost pulled it out. It doesn't matter if UK had a good night or a bad one, that is something to be proud of.
Bilas said it best when he said that if UK is playing their best nobody can beat them. And if they aren't playing their best, they just find a way to win.
If UK goes 40-0 this will be the game that ALL UK fans will remember. I know I certainly will.
No worries.
I've seen Kentucky play "Bruise ball" with Louisville and run like gazelles in other games.
Statistically you were extremely strong in a "do or die" situation.
This was the Elite 8 crucible and you finished the game making without missing for over 10 minutes.
You needed each of those 9 shots (2 3's?) to win.
The tough stretches you noted were due in large part to outstanding ND play.
That's not bad basketball being played. It's extraordinary effort/will being displayed.
We forced you to elevate your game and the "probing" you did led to taking advantage of Towns.
It may have been different had an offensive foul been called on Towns when he dropped his shoulder into Auguste earlier in the game.
Instead, Auguste was forced to back off a bit....
It was a great game and it took Kentucky's best shot.
You may disagree with that....
I've seen Kentucky play "Bruise ball" with Louisville and run like gazelles in other games.
Statistically you were extremely strong in a "do or die" situation.
This was the Elite 8 crucible and you finished the game making without missing for over 10 minutes.
You needed each of those 9 shots (2 3's?) to win.
The tough stretches you noted were due in large part to outstanding ND play.
That's not bad basketball being played. It's extraordinary effort/will being displayed.
We forced you to elevate your game and the "probing" you did led to taking advantage of Towns.
It may have been different had an offensive foul been called on Towns when he dropped his shoulder into Auguste earlier in the game.
Instead, Auguste was forced to back off a bit....
It was a great game and it took Kentucky's best shot.
You may disagree with that....
Well, I agree that ND played their heart out and forced UK to find different ways to win. Like I said earlier, I think ND beats any team in the field that night with their performance, other than UK.
UK didn't play up to their normal standards throughout the game but when it mattered they rose to the challenge that ND presented.
I give your team all the credit in the world, however you can't say that Towns got away with a push off / offensive foul and say that was the difference in the game. The refs missed a blatant push, travel hop skip and jump on the last play of the game. If that shot went down it would have been a terrible missed call.
This post was edited on 3/30 11:59 AM by Sithlyone
That's a great a angle on Grant. I hadn't seen that. Thanks.
I agree that Kentucky did not play up to normal standards.
Had they done so you would have lost.
Start with the shooting stats....
Also, I would say that the timing of the non-charge call was a big difference maker for 2 reasons: the number of minutes left in the game and the importance of the players involved.
If the call was correctly made Towns may have been forced to back off a bit and the tide may have shifted further.
Who knows?
It's too bad someone had to lose.
We had our shot and came up empty.
Kudos to you guys.
PS Have you guys heard anything about judd holding up our team buses and doing a victory dance in front of them?
or, Is that just an internet rumor?
I agree that Kentucky did not play up to normal standards.
Had they done so you would have lost.
Start with the shooting stats....
Also, I would say that the timing of the non-charge call was a big difference maker for 2 reasons: the number of minutes left in the game and the importance of the players involved.
If the call was correctly made Towns may have been forced to back off a bit and the tide may have shifted further.
Who knows?
It's too bad someone had to lose.
We had our shot and came up empty.
Kudos to you guys.
PS Have you guys heard anything about judd holding up our team buses and doing a victory dance in front of them?
or, Is that just an internet rumor?
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