My Thoughts on the WV game

Lwcat
WT Administrator

First, I give WV credit....they are a very good team and they played solid defense. However, I do feel that UK was the better team. Unfortunately, for UK....a NEGATIVE PERFECT STORM occured in the game. WV known as a poor shooting team.....was making 3's like crazy, including one WV player who had never made a 3 the entire season. While WV was hitting 10 3 point shots.....UK was having a horrible shooting night.....missing it's first 20 perimeter shots and shooting 12.5%. On top of that...the Cats FT shooting, especially in the 2nd half, has terrible....55.2% for the game. To complete the PERFECT STORM....UK had 16 TO's.

Basketball isn't rocket science.....when you shoot only 34.3% from the field....12.5% from the perimeter....55.2% from the FT line....throw in 16 TO's.....guess what.....you are very likely to lose to a good team like WV.

I notice a few posters have blamed coach Cal....suggesting he is a poor bench coach. I respectfully disagree.....A coach doesn't go 35-2 with mostly freshmen....a new system.....win a number of very close games during the year....win the SEC and the SEC tourney....have UK ranked in the top 3 most of the season.....and advance to the Elite Eight....and be a poor bench coach. In fact, Calipari's record at U Mass and Memphis more than confirm his solid coaching ability.

Some posters have pointed to the fact that UK didn't go inside enough....but, WV had very tall defenders that had packed the zone around Cousins making it exceedingly difficult to go inside. WV simply didn't respect UK's ability to hit perimeter shots and let the Cats fire away. If UK could have hit a decent number of perimeter shots....then WV would have been forced to loosen the zone and that would have made it much easier to get the ball inside.

All UK fans have known that UK's too often......inconsistent perimeter shooting and poor FT shooting could cause UK to lose against a very good team.....that is what happened. Coach Cal wasn't shooting the ball.....the players were.....and unfortunately the Cats simply couldn't throw the ball in the ocean.

Folks, this was a tremendous season.....UK is back among the elite programs and the future looks very bright. The Cats have the perfect coach.....I give coach Cal an A plus for his first year at UK.....and I give these UK players an A plus for their hard work....their passion on the court.....their on court achievements....the thrills and excitement they have given UK fans. These Cats are great kids.....WOW....what a fantastic year!

KUDOS to the entire coaching staff and all the UK players for making all UK fans super proud of this year's UK team!!!!!!