Tonight's game, on the other hand, will not stand out in the same way. Georgia, unlike Arkansas, does not throw the ball out and play. The Bulldogs rank 304th in the nation in terms of pace of play. They've actually become even slower since they entered SEC play. And tonight, even though they spent almost the entire second half trailing by double digits, they never made a serious effort to change the game and mount a comeback. When we had the ball, they just sat in their zone and let the time run. Whey they had the ball, they held it for at least 20-25 seconds before doing anything. The whole second half was very weird; it was more like watching a scrimmage than an actual game. UK won that half by only 19-18.
But UK won the first half -- which featured more of an effort from both teams -- by 38-26, due in large part to the non-Lambs. I've been saying that UK will do much better if Miller and Wiltjer make their shots, and they proved me right in the first half. Miller and Wiltjer made five three's in the first half, and that's what really blew the game open. (Miller had one of his best games ever: 7-8 from the field, 4-4 from three-point range, and 1-2 from the line for 19 points -- one third of UK's total.)
The Cats also did a great job rebounding the ball. UK had been out-rebounded in most of its SEC games so far, but they out-rebounded Georgia 39-18 tonight. Davis and MKG had 11 rebounds each, while Jones and Teague (!) each grabbed 7 rebounds. So that was a good sign.
Shooting note: the Cats looked like one of Pitino's teams from three-point range tonight, shooting 8-18 from behind the arc for 44.4 percent. But the Cats only made 7-12 free throws (58.3 percent), mainly because Jones went 1-4. I've finally figured out that Jones puts too much arc on his free throws; they look very pretty when they go in, but he never gets the roll.
So, on the surface, a fairly forgettable performance. But it's a tribute to how far we've come and how hard our guys play that we can almost take a 13-point road win in Conference for granted. Personally, I'm still remembering that we went 2-6 in SEC road games last year, and that we already have three SEC road wins this year.
Next up: at LSU. I remember a bunch of games down there.
Also, take a way Miller, and UK shot 14 of 40 from the field. That it looked a like a scrimmage is a good way of putting it. We were at a viewing party with bunch of retired and current Hopkins County schools employees, and the old women spent the whole second half talking about Lamb's and Teague's new haircuts.
ReplyDeleteTeague, by the way, had seven assists and no turnovers. That's terrific. He's improved from noticeable off-key voice to almost imperceptible (but I guess I'd know it if he wasn't there) rhythm player.
Ken Pom reports that there were only 56 possessions in that game, which is an absurdly low number. But based on UK's poor offensive performance, his rankings now have the Cats at number 6 in the country. They started at number 1 and have been falling all year. They now trail Ohio State, Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Syracuse.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the Cats are now shooting 37.1 percent from three-point range for the year, and they are 39.2 percent from three-point range in SEC play.
I like Teague a lot. I think he's been playing pretty well over the last few weeks; he just cannot shoot. He is honestly one of the worst-shooting college guards from 10 feet or more from the basket I have ever seen. If he could make even 40 percent of shots from the top of the key where there is no one within five feet of him, he could be an All-American.
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