As is my wont after a late Kentucky Wildcats game and staying up until 1:30 AM, I pretty much turned off my blogging for a while just to reclaim my thoughts from the madness of the night before and the emotion of a game that probably should register in the "L" column.
So when I finally got around to looking at something besides the comments to my own article of last night, I ran across the article Thayer Evans wrote for Fox Sports recycling some of the same old knocks on John Calipari you see everywhere. These three paragraphs encapsulate the entire tone, if not the detail of the piece, so if you are one of those people who don't want to give pageviews to sportswriters who draw your ire, don't click the link above and just read this:
But Calipari knows he was rather fortunate against a Mississippi State team that scored only four points in the final 6-1/2 minutes and is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament after losing four straight games. His team had been feasting on the waifish-weak Southeastern Conference and entered Tuesday with just the nation’s 47th-best strength of schedule.
So there’s still plenty of reason to doubt Kentucky, just like there always is with Calipari’s teams.
Because the knock on Calipari will remain the same until he finally wins his first NCAA championship: He can collect all the talent he wants, but inevitably underachieves with it because of his coaching shortcomings.
Two things need to be pointed out here when it comes to facts: first of all, the SEC is 3rd in the RPI in conference strength, and 4th in Ken Pomeroy's rankings. Calling the SEC "waifish-weak" is not a defensible opinion, and Evans even goes so far as to suggest Calipari is somehow coaching his players to always say the same thing about him when asked.
The second thing is that Mississippi St. only scored four points in 6-1/2 minutes because Kentucky locked them up like Charlie Manson with a basketball concept known as "defense," something Evans should familiarize himself with -- because apparently everyone but him knows the Wildcats are really good at this "defense" thing.
When discussing a basketball team, toughness can be described in many ways, and can mean different things to different people. One of the most widely held definitions of toughness within the (basketball) team concept is a team's ability to overcome obstacles, in some cases, mountainous obstacles.
In No. 1 Kentucky's 73-64 come from behind win over a reeling Mississippi State squad, the 'Cats, after being whipped in every phase of the game in the first half, and with an inspirational halftime lecture from their head coach still resonating in their ears, came out of the locker room for the second stanza with one thing on their minds, climb back into the game possession-by-possession, rebound-by-rebound, shot-by-shot, stop-by-stop. Offensively the 'Cats, instead of continuing to play the shrinking violet, fearful of contact, became the team they've been all year. One which invites contact and relishes the hoop-and-harm.
Defensively, Kentucky defended the paint like it was its living room, and extended the defense to choke off MSU's --on this night anyway -- incredibly accurate 3-point shooters. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist put the brakes on Bulldog point guard Dee Bost's career night (he had 16 first half points, five in the second), and Doron Lamb, after being back-doored in the first stanza on more than one occasion, locked up MSU guards Brian Bryant and Jalen Steele with attentive defense.
One of the things that teams eventually learn at Kentucky since Calipari has been there is that the day you leave your A-game laying around on the locker room floor is the day that SEC opponents rise up and smite you like the Wrath of God. That's what happened to Kentucky tonight, but instead of regressing to the wet-behind-the-ears team of early January that might have dropped this game, they got up, dusted themselves off, and decided to play some basketball in the second half.
A great effort by the Mississippi St. Bulldogs tonight. They went nuts in the first half, and showed Kentucky just how good they can be when they are playing well. But after the half, the Dawgs came out a little cocky, and even though they fought off a couple of Kentucky charges, you could just feel the momentum begin to swing when the Wildcats just refused to go quietly into that good StarkVegas night. Despite an amazing first half from Dee Bost, Michael Kidd-Gilcrhist significantly hampered his effectiveness in the second, and the Wildcats pulled away for a nine point victory.
This game really was a tale of two halves. The Wildcats noticeably failed to compete in the first half, looking like they were just in Starkville for a little scrimmage for funsies and didn't much care who won. When MSU smacked them in the mouth, then spun them around and planted a foot firmly in their keister, Kentucky started barking at the officials, whining at each other, and generally acted like a bunch of sad sacks with the collective spine of a jellyfish. Heading into the half, the Wildcats were extremely fortunate not to be down 18 or 20.
They say the most meaningless score in college basketball is the halftime score. That truism was proven yet again, in spades.
Tonight, the Mississippi St. Bulldogs welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to The Hump in Starksville, Mississippi for a basketball contest that has no major implications for the SEC regular season, but major implications, at least potentially, for the NCAA tournament. A win here by the Bulldogs would really help them climb the seed ladder.
However, this Kentucky team seems to know not indifference, or overconfidence. What they do know is winning, and intensity, and execution, and they don't seem to need motivation from anywhere but within. That's nice to see, and as this team has matured, Calipari has been giving them their head more and more often, and it's paying off big time. With that said, this road trip is an SEC away game, and all such games require extra care, extra effort, and extra attention to detail.
Mississippi St. has been the other side of that coin. They seem to require a constant reminder of what they are playing for and what is at stake lest they drift off into fruitless basketball. The last three games, inexplicable losses to less talented teams all, stand in stark contrast to Kentucky's in terms of motivation, execution, and frankly, success. Mississippi St. is talented enough to go far in the NCAA tournament, but they don't seem to be willing, or able, to put all that talent to purposeful, efficient basketball.
For Whom The Cowbell Tolls is SB Nation's excellent Mississippi St. Bulldogs blog, and the site editor Mark thoughtfully asked me to do a Q&A with them about the upcoming game with the Kentucky Wildcats in Starkville tomorrow.
Obviously, this is a much bigger game for the Bulldogs than for Kentucky, primarily because the Bulldogs are on a 3-game slide, and a win against UK would really lift both their spirits and their seed, assuming (as we do) that they will be an at-large team at least in the NCAA tournament.
But that doesn't mean this game is meaningless for Kentucky. None of them are, and the Wildcats have seemingly treated every game as a big game, and the Bulldogs are possibly the most capable team in the SEC to defeat Kentucky at home, primarily because they are so athletic and match up so well with UK.
You can find my answers to Mark's questions at For Whom The Cowbell Tolls here.
So with all that said, here is our Q&A with Mark of For Whom The Cowbell Tolls:
FWTCT: Frankly, State fans are just as confused about the last 3 games as the rest of the country is. 3 games ago State was 19-5 and was expecting to be 22-5 heading into the big matchup with UK tonight. One week later here we sit at 19-8 and the feeling around the program couldn’t be more different than after that Ole Miss game. I think a lot of it has to do with depth or lack thereof. State’s Dee Bost, Rodney Hood and Arnett Moultrie are 1-2-3 in the SEC in minutes played per game, and I think that is starting to take a toll late in the year. The Georgia game I think was simply MSU overlooking UGA and credit to them, they came out and played like they wanted to win. The LSU and Auburn games? No clue what happened there. State led 30-13 against LSU in the first half and blew that lead. Really no words for that. Auburn is the same, I expected to win that one. No SEC road game is ever given, but it’s Auburn. Then again, we’ve always had trouble playing there.
FWTCT: I think you’ll most likely see Sidney tonight. Renardo is all about the spotlight, and he knows playing Kentucky is a chance for the world to see him play. I am not questioning the severity of his back spasms, but something tells me he’ll feel much better going into tonight's Super Tuesday matchup on ESPN.
We members of the BBN are often looking for early hints to help predict how our post season will turn out for our Kentucky Wildcats. Breaking down what can be expected for March Madness can be a difficult task. Ask anyone that has ever tried to fill out a bracket prediction how tough it is. March Madness is on like Donkey Kong as every serious team is even more focused on bringing their all to every game.
Some have questioned Cal's request for teams to 'go all nutty on us'. My theory about his wishes is that he wants our team to face an opponent that is playing as if the game were a win or go home situation, now. What better way could he prepare our young guys for the Nuttiness of March? You know how it is, often a team lights up in an area or areas where it was never expected. Facing that now requires the team to make important how-to-win decisions on the court. Studying tape or stats does not prepare you for any game of nutty.
I wanted to know more about Kentucky's history of do or die time so I went searching on Jon Scott's website for any trends I could find about March games. I never knew he had info of wins and losses for a specific date though. Light bulb moment right then and there. Yes, you read that right, I am delving into reading the tea leaves of past game dates. I thought it would be fun, especially when we are looking for another reason to be a little more excited this season. We are after all ... aren't we? So now, if you ever wanted to know if the past Wildcat calendar in March is revealing, let's all jump and take a look.
[Insert Jaws theme music here.]
Click here for an explanation of how the DSS is charted and what the ratings and box score represent.
This was an odd game from a defensive perspective. For the game, the Kentucky Wildcats held the Ole Miss Rebels to 62 points on 66 possessions for a Defensive Efficiency of 93.9. That's not too far off their overall performance against the SEC entering the game (91.9 defensive efficiency) but the defensive effort was a bit uneven.
Early in the game the Cats were engaged, but even before Anthony Davis picked up his 2nd foul Ole Miss was starting to put together an effective offense behind the play of Terrence Henry. The Rebels executed against the press the Cats used against them to get some easy baskets and hit a few three points shots that were moderately contested, but mostly they were able to drive to the basket and get layups and dunks.
With Davis back on the floor for the second half, the Wildcats were back to their typically tough field goal defense as they held the Rebels to only 7 made shots and 15 total points in the first 12 minutes of the game. Once the Cats built a 20 point lead the defensive pressure relaxed somewhat although they didn't give up the kind of easy shots that South Carolina hit in the final minutes of the game at Columbia. Ole Miss hit 5 of their last 7 field goal attempts to make the score (and their FG%) look somewhat respectable, but by then the game was basically over.
On the good side, UK did a terrific job grabbing defensive rebounds and limiting 2nd chance opportunities. That helped counteract the worse-than-usual field goal defense. Everything else was pretty much what we've come to expect from the Cats this year.
This was a game where the Kentucky Wildcats were seriously challenged in the first half, and Anthony Davis wound up in foul trouble, which exacerbated the problem quite a bit. Ole Miss was on a roll, and the Wildcats on their heels. But they responded late in the first half in a way that will make coach John Calipari proud.
Well done by the Mississippi Rebels. Ole Miss has some significant talent, they just don't quite have the confidence to sustain a challenge against Kentucky. Terrance Henry is a very talented player, and for a while, he absolutely owned every Wildcat who guarded him. As the game wore on, he wore down and began to shoot poor shots, but he is a very skilled player. Jelan Kendrick, the troubled but extremely skilled young man who was dismissed from Memphis showed his great skills, but he simply doesn't have the mentality it takes to win at this level yet. Good try by the Rebels in a tough situation.
Let's face it, though -- it is impossible to zone Kentucky at home. It isn't just Ole Miss, if this had been the Syracuse Orange, the outcome would have been the same. You cannot zone the Wildcats and survive, they simply have too many weapons at too many positions, and they will make three pointers from somewhere. Darius Miller started out cold, but then began to rain on the Rebels, as did Doron Lamb and Kyle Wiltjer. If you can't play Kentucky man-to-man, you can forget about winning.
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