I said this in another thread, but UK's defense was a big reason for that low percentage. It was really difficult to get open looks. We did miss a few open shots, but I don't think it was just us being cold.
Why ISU lost...
- Thread starter JUKEBOX
- Start date
Kentucky is LOADED, including the far and away best player in the NCAA this year, and we sucked at what is usually our biggest strength.
Great season guys, go for the B12 title next year!
Great season guys, go for the B12 title next year!
Knowing that if both teams would have had their average stats for 3's, it makes the loss hurt even more because we know we could have kept it very close and possibly won.
Yeah, you pick your poison with Kentucky, and think Freddie chose correctly, and the team executed defensively. Much rather take my chances on them from 3. Unfortunately, they were just on fire, and we were cold.
I thought there were a lot of good looks, with our feet square and Allen , McGee and Scotty just bricking. Allen had a couple head scratchers but the looks were open. Also missed some bunnies.
We lack physical guards. Stand-up shooters are fine, especially when they come off the bench. But against a team like Kentucky, it's painful to watch.
A guard, even a point guard, needs to have the capability of faceing up to and shooting over a defender, when needs be.
Nothing that happened tonight surprised me. Unfortunately.
I hope Long or another recruit, or K. Lucious, are a change from this next year.
honestly, the better team won tonight. I knew going in UK would have to have a bit of an off night for us to pull this one off. It was the exact opposite. When they throw up a crap shot as the shot clock buzzer goes off and it hits nothing but net, you can't beat that.
The thing that I keep thinking is that I'd have loved to have been in KSU's situation. Don't get me wrong, Syracuse is deep and is pretty good, but I liked our match-up with them (or MSU for that matter) much better than the draw we got. Oh well, if we make a few more 3s and UK doesn't just "kill it" with their outside shooting tonight, we could have had an awesome signature win. But, for a little while there, we put a little scare in them - proud of the team for getting after it to start the 2nd half. BTW, Calipari is still my all-time least favorite coach - and it isn't even close. UMASS and MEMPHIS were served so well by him.:no:
Yup. Remeber Justus Thigpen from back in the day? He was one who could do that. Watch the infamous OkSU comeback game for an example.
Assuming ESPN hasn't updated their stats, Kentucky is shooting 38.3% on the year to our ending percentage of 37.2%. They're better at shooting the 3.
Last edited:
This + the awesome team played quite possibly their best game + we didn't shoot well.
Pretty much sums it up. If you'd have told me Kentucky was going to shoot over 50% and we couldn't buy a three I would have been happy to stay within 20.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Any have said, Kentucky is just straight up better. They should be. Look at their payroll on the team.
But seriously, other than Royce, tell me who else stepped up. It seemed that Royce would bring us back and tie it up. Then when Kentucky put more focus on Royce, there was no one that could step up and hit anything. Albeit that Kentucky is very athletic and could get out and cover our guys. But still, that doesn't excuse our other big guys not being able to make open put backs or lay-ins when Royce got doubled, Ejim in particular. We did have an effort to win the game, we just didn't finish the easy plays to keep it close. Go back and look at how many easy ones we missed that turned into a bucket for Kentucky on the other end. It is hard to win a ball game when you get 4 point swings like that all over the place.
We had a great season. UNI, Drake, and Texas kept us from being a better seed. I wonder how far we could go if we had Xavier's seed. Lehigh, (which would be it) or Duke would have been a much better matchup in the second round.
But seriously, other than Royce, tell me who else stepped up. It seemed that Royce would bring us back and tie it up. Then when Kentucky put more focus on Royce, there was no one that could step up and hit anything. Albeit that Kentucky is very athletic and could get out and cover our guys. But still, that doesn't excuse our other big guys not being able to make open put backs or lay-ins when Royce got doubled, Ejim in particular. We did have an effort to win the game, we just didn't finish the easy plays to keep it close. Go back and look at how many easy ones we missed that turned into a bucket for Kentucky on the other end. It is hard to win a ball game when you get 4 point swings like that all over the place.
We had a great season. UNI, Drake, and Texas kept us from being a better seed. I wonder how far we could go if we had Xavier's seed. Lehigh, (which would be it) or Duke would have been a much better matchup in the second round.
Last edited:
Alright Mr. Technical. I'm sure that 1.1% adds up a bit but I'm pretty sure people know what I meant.