I think all of us watching the Ole Miss game Saturday engaged in a collective gasp at the 10:07 minute mark of the first half when Anthony Davis collected his second foul. At that point, UK had built a nice little 22-14 lead and most of us were relaxed and thinking we were well on our way to a convincing victory number 26.
Enter an obstacle. Do you think Cal was secretly happy that he would now get to see how the team could perform without its consensus Freshman of the Year/Defensive Player of the Year/Player of the Year/First Pick in the NBA Draft? I believe he found out.
Within the next five minutes, all our worst fears were realized. As the shot chart below illustrates, Ole Miss slowed us down quite a bit offensely and simultaneously went on an offensive tear of their own, hitting four inside shots (a couple over our beloved Terrence Jones) and drilling two threes; UK only hit three shots during that time period (albeit one very nice three by Wiltjer) and we found ourselves behind 31-29.
During that period each team had ten possessions, with Ole Miss tracking a staggering 1.60 points per possession and UK struggling to do much of anything at 0.70.
I hate to say it but I was thinking Bloomington at this point. Everyone else, including Cal, must have been too, because he called timeout to "talk things over" (I've always loved that phrase - I bet the discussion was not very collaborative...). And lo and behold, initiated by Miller's "one of the most amazing dunks I've ever seen NOT make it to ESPN's top 10 plays", look what happened the last 4:45 of the half:
UK returned the favor, hitting four threes after Miller's monster jam, and Ole Miss only connected on a single shot from the field. The last five minutes of the half was almost a of mirror image of the previous five, with UK averaging a blistering 1.75 points per possession while holding Ole Miss to 0.57; UK exited the half with a yet again comfortable 43-35 lead.
Although we all clearly want Davis on the court, the "Miller jam"-inspired turnaround on both ends of the floor left me feeling like we might be okay in the tournament if Davis has to sit for a little while due to fouls. Thoughts?
(A little disclaimer. I think the shot charts are accurate, but I may have missed one or two here or there; the charts are representative I believe. I think the PPP are spot on however).
2 recs | 27 comments
That was a telling spell
We gathered ourselves and didn’t panic. Mostly we started making shots. At somebody else’s gym, that would have been harder to shoot our way out of it. We would have needed more of those inside buckets.
Still, the guys did a great job in regaining their composure and playing ball.
sweasyf - February 19, 2012
Good post Dan ... and I think you are correct here ..
A good illustration of just how much Anthony Davis changes the game strategy for opposing teams (Nerlens Noel …. take note please) … You have to give credit to the Ole Miss staff for exploiting the advantage (with Davis out) … and I really like the way UK also made the adjustment to it. Once again we were challenged and answered the challenge.
We really are a “7-legged” table, if you will, if one guy is off or in foul trouble the other six can step up … especially with the leadership of Miller and Jones … I would have liked to have seen a little more (just a minute or two) of Vargas yesterday …
ukcris - February 19, 2012
I was thinking the same about Vargas...
…but I guess his lack of presence (and Cal’s statement that “we have seven starters”) should probably tell us something.
Dan Harris - February 19, 2012
The Dunk
Yes, after that dunk, I knew victory was certain. How indeed did it not make Top 10 Plays?! Not only was it a guarded, in your face dunk but it was important to the outcome of the game.
LyricSmith - February 19, 2012
It didn’t make the “Top Ten” because we are Kentucky. The most hated program in BB history. And loving it! LOL
bigboyblue - February 19, 2012
One of the things which has been a constant all year is that this team responds well to coaching. Cal is one of the best at getting
a good play in at a T.O. And after watching the tape, I could see on a couple of occasions that the team was not responding to what he was yelling at them on the court, once he called the T.O., they decided to get their collective heads out of their collective backsides.
We have to remember that these kids are young, and at times, they are going to forget themselves. Even the greatest among us loses focus once in a while. The problem they faced with both Jones and Davis carrying 2 fouls was that they could not fall back on their shotblocking abilities, they needed to adjust and become more aggressive on man to man defense, while being more careful to hold their positions just a hair more. In cases like that, sometimes you have to burn a couple more fouls to check momentum. I know Cal could see all this better than we could, but it was pretty obvious.
Greg Alan Edwards - February 19, 2012
Very good points. All true. Thanks.
bigboyblue - February 19, 2012
Agreed...
..sometimes amazes me how the team responds after Cal talks to them.
Dan Harris - February 19, 2012
The First Five Minutes AD (after Davis)
My memory is that I was most annoyed with Teague. I thought he didn’t make sure the team was running their offense. At the time of AD’s second foul, the team was psychologically getting “loose” thinking this is easy.
I think you are right, that Cal was pleased to see how they would react, but he would have been more pleased, I think, if Teague had continued his development and made sure they took good shots.
It must be tough to be Cal’s PG. Rewarding, but tough.
darkandbloody@gmail.com - February 19, 2012
That’s true but he is only a freshman who is having to make a drastic change in regrads to how he played in HS.
bigboyblue - February 19, 2012
interesting post..
and your first post, and within a week of joining the board, I am impressed and look forward to you next one.
Al (cat fan in Canada) class of 68
blenheim bard - February 19, 2012
Second post. He was Jimmy the Geek, for a short, short time.
Impressive posts.
a2d2 - February 19, 2012
Thanks...
…no longer Jimmy, still a Geek…
Dan Harris - February 19, 2012
Geeks are useful
Especially this one
I have come to love stats, so you and JLev keep bringing them.
kydamcat - February 19, 2012
Makes you wonder...
…however if teams will begin to intentionally start throwing bodies at Davis. We are obviously at our worst when he is on the bench (see Indiana, UK vs). On the other hand he is pretty good at staying out of foul trouble.
-k
sp00kyDude - February 19, 2012
Nice stuff Dan,thanks for doing this...
EagleTDL - February 19, 2012
Thanks!
Dan Harris - February 19, 2012
“Enter an obstacle. Do you think Cal was secretly happy that he would now get to see how the team could perform without its consensus Freshman of the Year/Defensive Player of the Year/Player of the Year/First Pick in the NBA Draft?”
No, I do not. That would have been the equivalent of “Gallows Humor.” There’s no way of knowing that this sort of incidence will happen. All you can do is hope that the rest of the team steps up.
Plus he is not going to put a 49 game home winning streak on the line to find that out.
They did. All of them. Wiltjer had to fill some awfully big shoes and the other guys had to make a tremendous adjustment. They did it in only about 5 minutes. THAT is very acceptable. Darius got them fired up because he is a senior. That’s why Cal got on him. If Darius stepped it up, the others would too.
All’s well that ends well.
bigboyblue - February 19, 2012
Agree wholeheartedly...
…Miller and Witljer were “the men”.
Dan Harris - February 19, 2012
Nice come back
but I’d hate to see the same situation in the NCAAT. Ole Miss is NOT a tourney quality team.
bigbill992001 - February 19, 2012
No they aren’t. But they certainly were on 02/18/2012 in Lexington, KY.
bigboyblue - February 19, 2012
Also, Dan, a good view from another perspective.
bigboyblue - February 19, 2012
Appreciate it...
Dan Harris - February 19, 2012
Very nice Dan
The charts look sharp – what did you use to make them?
Watching the game live I was more irritated at the offense than the defense during this stretch. As dark mentions above, Teague made some curious decisions on shot selection, but he wasn’t alone. Instead of taking some time to adjust to playing without Davis on the floor, they rushed shots early in the clock and without a lot of movement (ball or otherwise).
Just another learning experience, and I have to think that if Cal had been truly concerned about the game getting out of hand we would have seen Davis back on the floor.
JLeverenz - February 19, 2012
Thanks JL...
… I’m with you on the offense — that one time we missed about three shots in a row from a couple of feet was tough too — lots of desire to get the ORs, but…
I hate to admit I actually “drew” the shot charts manually in PowerPoint — for the data plots I’m using Excel 2010 — much improved compared to the 2007 I was using until recently.
Dan Harris - February 19, 2012
Hey, I do all my drawing in Paint so no need to feel bad ;-)
JLeverenz - February 20, 2012
Funny you mentioned Bloomington
Cal said the exact same thing during the radio show last week,and thought the week off actually hurt the team.That is one of the reasons he held the televised practice.
Zoso- - February 19, 2012
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