I agree. They have plenty of time to rebound but I'll take some joy at the misery of our rivals. I'm also enjoying this in light of some of the extremely optimistic comments in this thread regarding the UNC match up. Kentucky will be lucky if they keep it as close as they did last year.Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS
It is melting down. I can't get into Wildcatnation.net. Absolutely pathetic performance. To me it looked like they hadn't practiced at all,at least defensively anyway. If anything BG has put himself in a huge hole with the fanbase that will very hard to dig out from. It's going to take some major victories over some big name teams to get them just to begin to forget about this loss. Very discouraging to say the least. The only solace is that they are very young and can comeback. But how many times can you keep coming back after losing to very bad teams like VMI and Gardner Webb?
Reds Fan Since 1971
I'm not exactly going to jump on the optimistic train right now, but I think the UNC game won't be the blowout people expect(That could change if Hansbrough plays). Hopefully jesusfan isn't having a Come to Jesus meeting right now.
VMI runs an uptempo style of play, Kyle Macy even said tonight they were playing street ball. Playing uptempo works when you are hitting everything in sight and that is exactly what happened. If they hadn't, it would have been a blowout the other way.
What scares me right now is our point guard play. Michael Porter may go down as the most hated player in Kentucky basketball not named Saul Smith. I'm hoping Liggins can step into the role and improve so Porter can stay buried on the bench.
I think you're overreacting quite a bit.
When a team pulls up for a 3 with 10 seconds off the shot clock what are you supposed to do except hope they miss? They took circus shot after circus shot and made them all.
Were there defensive lapses? Yes.
This was invaluable learning experience for Liggins and Miller.
We need to just roll with those two guys and let them play through their mistakes. Porter is not capable of handling the point.
Did we let VMI coax us into their run and gun style of play?
Yes.
Another sign of a young, generally inexperienced team.
I feel like I am going to be talking a lot of people out of suicide tonight.
I've always held to the three year rule when it comes to coaches:
First year: Implement your system.
Second year: Show some improvement once your players are in place.
Third year: You better start producing.
And even with this loss tonight, there was improvement. Last years team likely would have lost by even more if they had gotten down by this much to VMI, even with Bradley and Crawford. This team is better conditioned for a horse race, last years team was not.
I'm not ready to pull the plug on Gillispie just yet. Let's see how they respond Tuesday night. It wouldn't surprise me if they were looking ahead as well.
Is VMI the team that took Duke to the gun last year or two years ago?
You'll have to explain that one to me, Macro.
That was Belmont. VMI is the team that runs up and down the floor, scores a bunch of points, and generally loses about as many as they win in the Big South.
Sorry about the weird attempt at a joke, WM. It was my sarcastic way of saying "Way to go tonight, fellas." Just doing a little Billy Clyde bashing is all, and given the situation, that was the least flattering photo I could come up with.
i was really impressed with how he handled the post-game show.
"It was all my fault."
Clearly this game didn't go how we as fans wanted it to go, but it still remains so refreshing to have a coach who refuses to say negative things about his players to the press. He will say things that the team/individuals need to improve upon, but he always puts the onus for making that happen on his own shoulders.
The biggest thing that Coach Gillispie talked about during his post-game conference was a lack of leadership on the floor in terms of the players.
Someone (hopefully more than just one) will have to step up and assume that leadership role. He also said there was not nearly enough communication on the floor tonight (which ties into the general dearth of leadership).
I thought it was the same team that had Anthony Grant, but that is Virginia Commonwealth.
An easy mistake to make. You'll understand if I'm a little bias (Go Gators), but I think Anthony Grant is one of the next big names in coaching. Big things on his horizon.
Losing an early game to VMI sucks, but maybe it's the kind of blessing in disguise game. It wouldn't shock me to see Florida blow a similar game early this year. I didn't watch Kentucky last night, so I don't really know what I'm talking about, but sometimes I think young guys come out of high school and feel like if they strap on the Blue and White, or Orange and Blue, and feel like good things will magically happen. All they know is that they've always been the best player on the court, and Kentucky's always been good. So mash those two factors together, and good things are bound to happen, you know? This kind of early loss underlines the need for work ethic for them. D1 college basketball players, even those on VMI or Toledo, are big and fast. Coaches can tell them whatever they want, but they gotta see it with their own eyes.
Sucks to lose, and it's embarrassing, but in the large scheme of things it's not that big a deal. No BCS to see here, move along.
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