Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
Looks like Darius Miller won’t be a World University Games medalist after all. The US team lost to Lithuania in a stunning quarterfinal upset, 76-74. Poor shooting doomed Team USA, who fell behind early after an early second half run by Lithuania and couldn’t recover. A late 8-0 run tied the game at 74, but Mantas Kadzevicius sank two free throws to seal the deal for Lithuania.
Darius Miller did not have the best outing, his sole point coming on a free throw. He was 0-2 from the field and pulled down four rebounds. Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins was the top scorer for the Americans with 17 points, followed by Pittsburgh’s Ashton Gibbs with 16. Team USA will play Romania (3-3) at 8:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. Eastern Time) on August 21, with the winner advancing to the 5th/6th place game.
Here’s the official USA Basketball writeup of the game. But, I think you should read Eurobasket’s writeup. It is much more entertaining:
Lithuania will play in World University Games semifinals. They stunned USA to stay in the title race. Gediminas Orelikas (200-G/F-90) stepped up with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the victory.
USA quite expectedly grabbed the initiative early in the game. The North Americans posted a 15:12 lead after ten minutes. They maintained the advantage throughout the second period. USA registered a 42:37 halftime advantage. However Lithuania tipped off the second half on a 7:0 run to surge ahead. Denmon Green returned the lead to the United States midway through the third quarter but Gediminas Orelikas and Marius Valukonis (198-F-88) made it 65:61 for the Baltic team heading into the fourth frame. Gediminas Zyle (209-C-88) stretched the gap to 8 points midway through the fourth quarter. But USA reacted with an 8:0 run to draw things level at 74 with under two minutes to go. Kadzevicius sank two free throws and then the teams went scoreless for almost 100 seconds as Lithuania escaped with a narrow win at the end. Marius Valukonis had 11 points, while Edgaras Stanionis (193-G-88) and Gediminas Zyle posted 10 points each in the victory. John Jenkins (193-G-91) replied with 17 points for USA. Ashton Gibbs (187-G-90) provided 16 points in defeat.
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Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
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August 20th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
ol Disappearius when it matters most!!
August 20th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Disappearius once more?
August 20th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
typical “fine” performance by the beloved “disappearius”………..
if ths guy can be the 6th man neXt year, he’lbe lucky!!!……
moreover, if gilchrest can’t beat him out for starting-5, then gilchrest ought not EVER entertain any thoughts of being “one-&-done”!!!!
August 20th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Miller will be both productive and clutch this year. No worries here
August 20th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Glad to see Darius apparently still not being aggressive or assertive
August 20th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
anyone interested in a 16gb or 32gb hp touchpad ?….have 5 of each
August 20th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Wow. Cruel.
August 20th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
After looking at the roster when this thing started, I really thought that Miller would be one of their best players. I may be slowing slipping off the Miller Bandwagon.
August 20th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Right on schedule to disappear again.
August 20th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
I heard Anthony Davis only scored 8 points in a pick-up game the other day. Can’t believe we wasted a scholarship on that guy.
August 20th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
no reason to dis Miller cause he didnt score a bunch of points! he will be very important to our team this year. I cant believe how some of you “so called BBN fans” can talk about our players! SAD!!!
August 20th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
CAT fans huh? you all are sad.. go be Louisville fans if thats how you feel about our players! you will fit right in.
August 20th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Ive Never Understood Fans Ripping Their Own Players. Dont You Guys Realize The Players Read Whats Said About Them, Especially On The Internet. Quit Being A Holes To Your Own Guy.
August 20th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
11 and 12 the guy has had 3 years to get his shit together and it looks like he’s not gonna have it together for the 4th. I love UK Basketball as good if not better than most, but the facts are facts. Go Cats!!
August 20th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Why not a write-up on the football scrimmage instead of yet another Miller fade?
August 20th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Anyone think Darius Miller goes to the NBA?
August 20th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
14. What do you mean, “has not got any better than the day he walked on campus?” Miller has improved by leaps and bounds EVERY year.
Year One: 5.3ppg, 3.1 reb, 2.0 as, 1.8 TO, .8 STL, .6 blk, 41.3% FG, 32.7% 3FG
Year Two: 6.5ppg, 2.7 reb, 1.5 as, .9 TO, .6 STL, .6 blk, 40.0% FG, 33.6% 3FG
Year Three: 10.9ppg, 4.6 reb, 1.8 as, 1.5 TO, .8 STL, 1.1 blk, 47.8% FG, 44.3% 3FG
I’d say that’s some pretty serious improvement.
August 20th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
18, when he buys a ticket.
August 20th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Don’t know why everyone hates on Miller. He’s not meant to be a 20+ppg 10+rpg guy. If he averages 10+ and 5+ i will be happy. Remember he is averagin less than 20 minutes in these games. Being a uk fan, I support jpolson warming up the bench, and you guys wanna talk shit all the time. Love um when they are up, hate um when they are down. Cant stand “fans” like you.
August 20th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Who knows what Miller’s role was on the USA team. None of us do (probably not even him).
What we do know is what his role should have been on the UK team last year and what will be expected of him this season.
As “the Senior” he must LEAD BY EXAMPLE. I’ve heard sympathizers say he’s not a vocal type person. That’s fine, LEAD BY EXAMPLE.
No Disappearius.
If I was a UK basketball player and I had earned the nickname disappearius, I would serve up a serious serving of STFU to anyone still saying. You do that on the court. The same place the nickname came from.
August 20th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Everyone has a bad game now and then. But with no else are there people watching to see if the player “disappears.” Lamb was less consistent than Miller last year. He just never got called out for it.
Games where pts. + ass + reb + blk + stl = < 10
Doron Lamb
Vs. WASH: 6pts., 1 ass., 1 reb, 0 blk, 0 stl
Vs. UCONN: 5pts., 0 ass., 0 reb, 0 blk, 0 stl
Vs. ND: 6 pts, 1 ass, 2 reb, 0 blk, 0 stl
Vs. Ark: 2pts., 0 ass, 0 reb, 0 blk, 0 stl
Vs. Tenn: 6pts., 1 ass, 1 reb, 0 blk, 1 stl
Vs. UF: 6pts., 1 ass, 0 reb, 0 blk, 0 stl
Vs. WVU: 6pts., 0 ass., 1 reb, 0 blk, 0 stl
Vs. OSU: 6pts., 0 ass., 0 reb, 1 blk, 0 stl
Darius Miller
Vs. MISS: 3pts., 1 ass., 1 reb, 0 blk, 0 stl
Vs. WVU: 3pts., 1 ass., 2 reb, 1 blk, 0 stl
And that doesn’t even consider Miller’s vastly superior defense.
August 20th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
23. Lamb was also a Freshman.
August 20th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
24. So what if Lamb was a freshman? So was Knight and TJones. Miller will be fine
August 20th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
I like the cm-position-kg notations for the Lithuanians.
August 20th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
1. Your method of determining if someone disappeared or not is missing one key element… the fact that the fans know when we need our leaders to stand up and play in critical points in the game. None of the stats you shared show that. But the fans know…
Check the losses. That should be a good lead.
2. Miller was THE UPPERCLASSMAN & at the beginning of the season Jorts was maybe a 10 minute a game guy. That changed due to Jorts arrival. Had this not occurred the Miller “disappearing” effect would have been highlighted even more so.
3. Lamb was a freshman (a significant difference, and one that is why Darius has a nickname and Lamb doesn’t).
August 20th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
My last post was for # 23 Dr. Wildcat
August 20th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
I like Darius but he still pulls the disappearing act,I see.
August 20th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
No offense but Lamb is the last person who should get a pass for flaming out as much as he did last year. The freshmen excuse is lame and old. I bet Lamb has dreams at night of being as good as Darius Miller some day.
August 20th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Miller is a baller and will be UK’s most important player this year.
August 20th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
What’s wrong with most of you people here…..been out in the sun too long today? Go find a Little League game and criticise the pitching or something…..
August 20th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
I’m not picking on Lamb either. The same could be said of every other player on the team. Everyone has bad games. Lamb was just the best contrast. I just can’t stand when people say that Jones and Lamb are going to make these huge improvements next year, but Miller is who he’s always been and he’ll never get better. You are just flat out ignorant if you can’t see the strides Miller has made, especially last year. The run high quality play Miller had from the Vanderbilt loss through the Princeton game was a better 10 game streak than anyone else had on the team last year, and should have shed the “Disappearius” title once and for all. Poor play against WVU, UConn, and Lithuania (which no one saw, so we can’t even be sure he played poorly. He could have been a stud on defense) don’t change that. Did you expect him to go the rest of his career without a bad game? Plus being only freshman doesn’t magically make you improve faster. Miller was better than Lamb last year. Period. They both get the same amount of time to work on their game. Until proven otherwise, it is a safe bet that he’ll be better than Lamb next year too.
August 20th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Is this the only picture you guys have of Darius Miller?
August 20th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Darius Miller and tits on a boar hog= unnecessary adornment.
August 20th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
#18 the Ky and Cal effect will be in full effect for him also just like it was for jorts and liggins!
August 20th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Wow. You people embarrass me as a UK fan. Vultures. I hope none of our frosh or prospective recruits read these comments. Some of you would throw your own children under the bus if they didn’t live up to your standards. Pathetic.
August 20th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
i cant believe how much yall are hating. none of you know what position miller was put into on the us team. he will be one of two consistent three point shooters on our team next year, and we have all seen how the ddmo really doesnt excel without good three point shooting. miller will start, he will do everything that is asked of him, and he will be good.
August 20th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
25. You can’t compare every freshman to the top of the class. It’s simply not fair. Not every freshman is gonna play like you want them to. You’d expect more out of a junior though. Like Darius.
August 20th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
I don’t really like to get down on one of our own, but there are times when they should be called out.
After all, he was representing UK, and he is a senior.
Miller’s play during these game–and especially this last one–was more like that of a freshman. It wasn’t just one game, it was the entire series.
August 20th, 2011 at 5:59 pm
Mr. Schwump, you are a lowlife scum. When Darius does well you are nowhere to be found. Yet, lo and behold here you are. I know who you are and you are way too and pathetic to comment on someone else’s athletic feats. So, please go back into your hole and remain there until we tell you to come out.
August 20th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Mr. Schwump, you are what is known as a front-runner. And that is a kind term for you. You are beyond pathetic. Here is an idea: Let’s arrange for you to meet Darius Miller and perhaps his parents, and you can read all your negative posts aloud. You are a sad little Creep.
August 20th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Got to go with the confidence in Miller this year.
#32 succinctly summed it up.
Good Doctor, I loved the pointed statistical analysis, dead on; I concur.
August 20th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
grrr…