Cats hold of Bulldogs in a strange one, 85-79
In a game that seemed to be as goofy at times as the obnoxiously irritating ESPN SkyCam, Kentucky held off a motivated Mississippi State team, 85-79. The Cats still endured a sluggish start and a limp to the finish, but in between got 24 points and 7 steals from Brandon Knight, 17 points and 10 rebounds from Terrence Jones, 20 points from new starter Doron Lamb and four freebies thanks to an odd sequence at the end of the first half that included a Rick Stansbury technical. Darius Miller and his injured gonads even banded together to add 13 points, making Tuesday night an offensive explosion of sorts. Defensively, well, we can get to all of that later. There’s a lot to nitpick and the Cats showed a lot of the same symptoms that plagued them in road losses, but a win is a win and they found a way to hold on against a team that (shockingly) refused to quit.
More in a few…
144 Comments for Cats hold of Bulldogs in a strange one, 85-79
1st?
Somebody forgot to tell the guys that this was a HOME game. They’re not supposed to play like that in Rupp!
First!
I love SkyCam!
you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him dunk
at the end of games Jones throws the ball way every time he touches it. If this team doesnt learn to defend the 3, were done no matter the “talent” on this team.
The reason teams shoot so good against us is because they are OPEN.
Miss St sucks…glad we beat a team of lazy ass loudmouths, that would have been embarassing.
I love the camera shot from the top. Maybe next game ESPN can use a shot off the floor at center court and then we ccould see the game through the view of an ant.
Im really begining to wonder about Calipari’s real ability to coach. With Miss st in “foul mode” and the game on the line he puts Miller as the inbound passer and the two worst FT shooters on the team (Jones and Liggins) as the initial catch point for the inbound pass.
Why not have have Jones take the ball out and allow Miller, a MUCH better FT shooter, play the ball??
4, My wife said the exact same thing during the game. In hindsight, that frightens me.
Since I got blacklisted for cussing about the Skycam elsewhere I’ll post here. It sucked.
instead of inventing the wheel maybe espn should get better announcers.
A lamb in sheep’s clothing
where was liggins?
Need to go 5-1 down the stretch for the 2 seed…we’re now 1-0. SC at home Saturday = 2-0. That’s the focus….
Have to make late free throws though. And no more 3 foot passes under the basket. F#$k’n dunk it.
Slowing the game down really does not worl well with this team – it has only proven to either make the game close (tonight) or we end up turning it over and we lose.
Wonder why DeAndre is in the dog house?
-5-have to agree. we give up way too many 3s. sidney is the laziest, most out of shape, overrated pos in college bb. stansbury’s got a program of ass clowns.
Just called ESPN Customer Care and complained about the stupid blimp cam-1888-549-ESPN
You are a a miserable fool. Can’t be happy when the Cats win. You probably would get upset hitting five out of six lotto numbers. “Well, I only won $200,000” Get a life loser.
It is suppose to be 67 degrees Thursday !!!!
The Cats have trouble closing games. They either make a turnover or miss a front end of a one and one.
But it is a win, so I am happy.
Oh know..not another rafter cam shot!
#8… you are a moron along with all the other ‘coaches’ around here. get ur fat lazy a## off the couch and go to ur burger-flippin’ job at McDonalds and let the coaches coach.
vargas played very well, even though he muffed the dunk. good sign. i hope
We are terrible. Cal had to play an injured player (that had no business playing) in order to beat a squad that just lost to Auburn. They have a 400 pound center and our sorry coach wasn’t smart enough to make him run up and down the floor. Cal can recruit, no doubt. But his coaching skills are highly lacking.
I cant say Im happy with that either yeah they won but they did just about everything they could not to
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Hopefully-we-ve-seen-the-last-of-ESPN-s-ill-conc?urn=ncaab-321951
-beisner gets a shoutout
all those run outs sure cover up a lot of mistakes
Out of nowhere my eight year olf son asked me where the “nail” in the floor is tonight. Jimmy Dykes is so awful.
19- but apparently he can rate coaching ability
I can see the blimp cam maybe 1-2 times per half….but geez that was flat out annoying!
Dykes didn’t say drive accross the nail….drive accross the SEC logo. had me a little confused….is it nail or logo?
The blimp cam would be fine as an extra – not the “main” camera.
Fortunate to win this one.
Cal’s late game slow down – nerve-racking!!!
However, you can’t coach maturity…
Miss. State was 12/22 (54%) from 3. 17/19 or 90% from the foul line. Why does every body light us up like this.
I definitely didn’t like the ‘SkyCam’…I fear change
ight i think cal pulled the dumbest decision by benchin liggins. he should bench miller. liggins has great d, hes our best penatrator, hes quick and long, he hits 3’s, and causes fouls.
Yet another team shoots 90% from the line against us. Why does that happen with such regularity?
-30-don’t be so pissed. uk will lose another game. maybe not til next year, but we will.
23. be careful who you call a burger flipper; I’ll buy you and allow you walk my dog. You wanna compare job titles and bank accounts Im ready son
If you liked the way that team played and the way they executed any play over the last 3 minutes, good for you. But I watched a team that has honestly regressed since the beginning of the seaon, and cant see anything that tells me its changing. Sorry if Im not in UK homer mode after watching a UK team favored by 18 throw the ball away everytime they touched it in the last minute and couldnt buy a FT.
if we had 3 players, Cal would play Hood but not start him
We got lucky the refs bailed us out at the end of the first half. That was huge.
#33…NO KIDDING…so sick and tired of seeing teams do that crap against us. and dont’ tell me about being left open. MSU shoots 32% from 3 on the year and 71% on FTs. Give me a freakin’ break on shooting 54% and 90%…so sick of these lucky ass teams doing this against us i could puke!
38…You’re an idiot…Bank account LOL!!!! Tell momma someone being mean to you….. bless his little heart….
Sky Cam = Epic Fail
Oh and the “rafter” cam completely sucks!!!! I’d like to take the nail i “subliminally” drove into jimmy dykes temple last week and drive it into the temple of the ESPN exec that came up w/that dumb ass idea.
42, youre welcome to try it, laugh all you want
they get their stroke on open 3’s and it carries over at the line
Get ready for the patented Nail Cam next game.
It’s not my fault they shot 90% from FT.
…is it? Am I supposed to block those shots like Stevenson?
Andre Drummond is a beast. Cal needs this kid…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYlnK-kQuHA
that sky cam sucked! It looks like an angle where a coach would break down film.
good win tonight. miss st was shooting the lights out. when u can beat any team shooting that hot you done good. knight is becoming a stud. great shooter and smart!! when drafting the pro qb’s they
look at IQ first!! i think coaches need to do this college bball.
try what you dumb a##????
Ky paid my mortgage payment for the month tonight. THANKS!! Did anybody actually think they would cover. Only time I have ever bet on them with Vagas.
GO CATS!!
Who thought of Big Bertha Cam? I mean REALLY? I ‘m getting motion sickness from watching the replay…not to mention sick from watching Cal’s Lazy Kittens. You think that maybe he could light a fire under them, guess not. The way they came out during team announcements shows how unenthused they are, something just seems out of whack with this litter of kittens. Maybe it’s the camera angle?
#55 I make a lot of tips when I bus tables at Fazoli’s. Plus, why would I go upstairs and wake my mom up, the basement is so cozy.
Everyone hits threes against us.
amen there J Hood… finally someone with some brain cells!! Hey theres a thought for you Just Sayin’ take some of that cash and buy you some BRAIN CELLS…..LOL
KY fans have so many complaints. I am a die hard but I try not to complain after EVERY single game. This team is not GREAT, but they can make a run. Enjoy the season and chill out. Good game…
Benching Liggins helped win the game. He plays hard but he’s a liability on offense. Lamb (in sheep’s clothing???) needs to keep getting better defensively and keep Liggy out.
38 – There’s an old saying that if you have to talk about money, you probably don’t have enough…to add to that, if you’re on the internet talking about money, you probably owe somebody
those that talk about other teams “lighting it up” against us…
that has gone on for as long as I can remember…
and people have said the same thing for a long time…
just step back and break it down from the view of the skycam instead
of a microscope, it will be OK.
55. try getting youre nuts out of his mouth. You dont have to agree with what anyone says on here but youre the one that started with the personal attacks. Ill bet youre the fat uneployeed @$$ that doesnt have anything else to do tomorrow, either that or you better get to bed that bus comes early
62 – good game is right – i like W’s, and i still believe with the right matchups we can be very dangerous.
Does everyone overlook jorts he is a beast ….. Hustels, blocks, rebounds this kid gets it
fast break so u can get 80+ and win the rest…..the telegraph is better than the sky cam
65…. Dang that was soooo deep!!! But soooo true!!! Lets leave him alone now he’s busy drawin up a gameplan for Cal for the next game. LOL
random question…..can i listen to post game online anywhere….link provided?
That camera angle was hideous. ESPN sucks.
Just Saying is an idiot like Old School and Reality Check, just saying. Job Title’s and Bank Account’s, you’re such a tool.
hey 66…yep that bus is coming early… got a spelling test tomorrow… hardest word on it is EMPLOYED…DIPWEED
As I type, Fat Boy is still sucking wind at halfcourt, Stansbury is still crying to the media about the refs, and Riley Benock…is still Riley Benock.
That camera view was the worst! Hope they don’t keep that crap up!
If we are going to be tortured with sky cam the least they could do is put their number on top of their heads. This team apparently can’t play slow down to protect a lead. It produced no scoring and way too many turnovers.
74. Theres a reason for people like you, and we all know what it is. Good night kiddo, make sure you study up
I loved the last six seconds of the 1st half about as much as I loved hearing about the 15 seconds of Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher. That’s 21 seconds of total UK awesome-ness.
#19 Obviously there is a lot of things to talk about but I have to mention this…I once hit 5 out of 6 numbers in the lottery but I only got $1500 and yes I was upset at first because I was one digit away from the 40 million dollar jackpot. I apologize for being upset.
I guess we practice missing FTs and leaving every decent 3 pt shooter open. Who’s going to be the one that steps up leads this team?
Who’s going to start showing emotion on the court? Guess I’m saying “who’s going to talk the talk and walk the walk?”
The kittens need an attitude adjustment and stop being so apathetic. They need pride.
I know the camera angle had them confused.
finally….fast break points UK 12— Ms St 0
74… are you just sayin’s MOM… I bet you are…
Skycam was good. But we can do better. Next week let’s introduce roofcam! We’ll mount a camera on the roof and just show shots of downtown Lexington!
Great idea about numbers on top of the players heads! If they keep using the suckcam the team barber can shave their numbers in their hair!
ooops..I meant #78…. still studying for that spelling exam
trombone cam would b better
86. Nope honestly dont even know the guy (or gal), but I cant stand people like you that use a keyboard to launch personal attacks, it really does make you pathetic. I disagree with him questioning Calipari, but your “moron” “loser” and “burger flipper” are straight up immature, go to bed child, no onle on here wants to read this crap
I just wonder if “the nail” Dykes never shuts up about is a 4 inch nail or a 6 inch nail? Someone needs to ask him. And geez that sky cam is still annoying the hades out of me.
Harrelson is a gd beast he know what Kentucky basketball means to everyone in this state
Blimp camera view was horrible.Could only take the first half,listened to the second half on the radio.I hope ESPN never brodcasts a game using the sky cam again.
I’ll say this..A win is a win and we’ll take one anyway we can get it. The fact of the matter is, is that we need to find an asnwer quickly as to why we cannot defend the 3, cannot close out and why no one wants to step up and try to lead. I’m afraid if nothing changes it’ll be a short lived stay in both the SEC and NCAA tourney.. Agree?
What’s up with Poole? He must have splinters in his a** by now!
92…. yeah lets go back to billyball or tubbys last couple years…. dang people are losing it tonite!!!!
josh was great….he got our only 3 offensive boards other than 2 “team” rebounds
-Sky cam: Horrible
-Coach Cal: Great recruiter, but cannot coach. We should have ran away with this game.
-Knight: Smart kid/player, but too weak for the NBA. When pressure is applied, he folds and turns it over.
-Jones: I get scared to death when he touches the ball late in the game.
-Lamb: Cool and level headed player. I love those New York ballers. We need more of them.
-Miller: Great game tonight. Played good D and was assertive on offense.
-Jorts: Great 1st half. Where was he in the 2nd half?
-Liggins: No offense at all. When he’s on the floor, we have four offensive threats.
-Vargas: MUCH improved all around. Needs more minutes before good things can happen.
-Hood: Should transfer. If he can’t play on this team, he sure won’t play next year.
-Poole: See Hood.
-Polson: Looked very good in shoot around tonight.
-Jimmy Dykes: He annoys me more than the ESPN female announcers.
97 – I think if we can get the two seed in the east (we’d play the winner of the West3/East 6, right now Ark/SC) to get to Bama…we can win those two games.
As for the big dance – matchups, matchups…i think we can actually get through at least 1 two game tournament…from there, who knows?
Don’t pound your chest too hard KY… we’ve also lost to AUBURN!! Auburn? YES, AUBURN!!!! We’re pitiful and we played you toe to toe… we’re both pitiful…Yeah, I know, Auburn…
103: “Call me”
I think we really, really need to aim for a 3 seed though. we could end up in a SDSU bracket, or a Notre Dame bracket. If we get a 4/5, I just think the pressure of the first two rounds could be too much and we may be toast in a matchup against a 1 seed.
102. you make a good point. But someone has to step up and make it happen..still gotta close out these games.
I actually liked the SkyCam. Not every game but it was nice to see how our plays work/don’t work… Liked the win. Vargas is still terrible… I heard fans laugh on the missed dunk… Ouch.
Rick Stansbury had every right to complain about the refs…”…You got some splainin’ to do ref.”
Things should change after this game and maybe just maybe they can start showing up and playing full tilt for the entire game. If they do pick it up we can go far with a little luck and some more help from the stripes, if not… they are one and done in both of the tournaments.
I like skin ropes.
ho-hum troublemaker….You’re soooo forceful when you’re in your police mode…lol
Also, can the in-game interviews become more awkward?
Also i believe the lack of depth will play a role..I mean at some point fatigue has to become an issue playing 7 players
I like when jorts plays well. He has taken so much crap from everyone. He tries his best. Gotta support our team not good to always find the negative things about our team! Go cats!
I liked the skycam. It was like watching the game from Thor’s perspective.
It’s never seize to amaze me Kentucky fans WHINE when we lose and they WHINE even more when we win. Damn seriously enjoy the win this team is not the same dominant team we had last year. There is no winning against these fan base. No wonder Billy Donovan did not want any part of this and if we run Calipari away there isn’t a coach in the country who will take this job. Then we will be stuck with the likes of Billy Gillispie and NIT season.
preach on Viren!!!!! amen brother!!!!
I hear ESPN is developing goggle cameras for next weeks UK game.
The more i watch Jones the more i think “He is not ready for the NBA”. He should wait at least one more year and try to sharpen up. Yeah he messes around and gets his points and boards, i just don’t think hes NBA ready.. Not at all trying to bash the kid just don’t see hime being anything more than a Patrick Patterson(Probably less than)
Maybe next game ESPN does and Dykes calls, but instead of the Skycam they could use one on the floor and call it Nailcam.
Looks like the meeting of the nads worked!!!
111. no police mode here, I dont care about him and couldnt care less about you either, but I didnt come on here to read your [email protected]$$ comments. If U want to talk UK basketball, great Id love to read it, but if you want to talk trash to people, because their opinion is different than yours, please leave. Go check your facebook, twitter, chemistry.com or whatever site you go to and talk crap there. This is a UK site for UK fans, no matter what their opinion might be
Didn’t we at one time lead the SEC in 3 PFG defense ?
dang…. such hostility…. mmmmm
If I wanted to watch a game from the sky then I would pay good money to sit in the top of Rupp Arena. Why can’t those idiots from ESPN figure out why the lower arena seats cost more? If they do that again I’ll just listen to it on the radio. Screw ESPN.
Big Bertha Cam? Really
#3 seed? ha
They just got past MSU who lost to Auburn…
not much to hang your hat on…yeah a win is a win but dang.
We should have put them away when they tipped off. What happened to Poole? Did he think to bring extra padding for his seat on the bench?
He must feel like a porcupine. Wait I know where is…he’s operating SKYcam!
The kittens are a bit timid this year.
I love Kentucky basketball as much
as any man in this world but this bullsht has to stop u guys kill me with cal can’t coach no he is not the greatest coach to ever coach but who would you guys ratther have as a all around coach.just get a grip when u complain about cal u guys will never be happy yes there is times I disagree with the man but he is a great recruiter ok on the xs and os and a great human being
a smart coach once said “[email protected]@N! is that a nail in that FLOOR???
One of the biggest reasons we struggle with the three is our guards get caught switching down trying to help defend the post, because, like it or not, Josh doesn’t defend the big man the greatest in the world and the quick kick out kills us. We are suddenly out of position.
Cal, how about teaching your players how to pass the ball correctly, usually taught in Middle School… especially Jones
one hand push pass with the same hand he is dribbling with…
We get a 5 point lead and go way to fast and turn the ball over and over again… bad decision after bad decision
Cal, how about teaching your players how to pass the ball correctly, usually taught in Middle School… especially Jones
one hand push pass with the same hand he is dribbling with…
We get a 5 point lead and go way to fast and turn the ball over and over again… bad decision after bad decision
10 turnovers a game is alot lower than last years team. I can’t say I complain much about turning the ball over!
I love Calipari and did back flips when he decided to come here but sometimes he can make you scratch your head. These guys are pure talented players but the way they end games makes you really wonder if the coaching in these close games situations doesnt lack. We had 4 timeouts and MSU put the press on, and everytime our guys got a little heat they threw a wild pass, I was screaming Call a timeout so loud my neighbors probably thought I was crazy. It just doesnt look like our guys know what to do when the game gets tight in the final minutes.
The problem with that is if they dont know by now they probably wont. Weve been in a ton of close games and we make the exact same mistakes every time, luckily lamb and Knight caught fire from deep in the second half or that could have been ugly. We allowed 80 points to a team that lost to Auburn
Worst..camera angle…ever!
Hey Boogieman11.. very astute observation, couldn’t have said it better… there, that better #121?? One other thing… you’re still a DIPSTICK Troublemaker.
How many steals, defections and take aways to we get…tonight we got a couple but we rarely do.
128) you hit the nail on the head! thank you.
96) ESPN didn’t use the sky cam in the 2nd half. My guess is their switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree with complaints. I was getting car sick with it jerking around every time the ball was passed. Dumbest idea ever! Aside from that, some of the three’s MS hit tonight were made with UK players all over the shooter. The defense wasn’t always bad. MS just made tough shots. Jorts played very well. If we’d hit our free throws at the end, we win by 10-12.I do think we could have exposed that 300 pound tub of [email protected] a little better.
sky cam didn’t bother us in section 15…………….
I wish Eloy would make an attempt like that every game! I don’t care if he ever gets it in, that aggressive kind of play is all he’s lacking. He will kick ass if he ever figures out that he’s physically gifted enough to do so.
In response to why teams shoot so well against us, there are a couple of reasons. One, we don’t guard as well as many past Calipari teams have, thus leaving shooters open or allowing drives to basket. The drives to the basket create fouls. Two, having played or coached basketball for most of my life, there is no doubt all teams shoot better from the field and especially the foul line when motivated and ready to play. KENTUCKY across the chest gets all opponents motivated, especially those in the SEC.
Well, I guess I’ll have ease up on the bourbon if espn uses that akycam view again. I got dizzy and had to sleep it off before the first tv timeout. How about we use a coach cam. At least we could see who was who! That sucked!
I love how some of you guys are saying Cal is a shitty coach.
19 Seasons
491-148
12 (soon 13) NCAA appearances/5 NIT appearances (that’s one season he failed to play in postseason, his first at UMASS)
8 Sweet 16s
6 Elite 8s
2 Final Fours
3 Time National Coach of the Year (Naismith 96, 08 – NABC 96, 09)
Yep…dude has no idea what he’s doing. We’d be better off if some of you jackwagons were coaching.
After reading this site for 3 years, I’m starting to believe more and more that it’s a detriment to our program. I know for a fact the players and perspectives get on here and read these comments. It’s an odd situation, because I think it’s good for the fanbase on one hand and bad for the program on the other. We may lose players and coaches in the future because of KSR. It’s worth thinking about before you comment…let’s not run off the best thing we have had in awhile. I have my issues with this team and Cal too, but people need to really think about the possibiilites. Rupp ain’t walking through that door.
Who was the guy on the floor seats they should during the game? Javard Tindley or something?
With time running out in first half, MS had only 4 fouls (2 to give) so plan was obviously to foul KY and prevent a shot. In timeout, Cal told Knight he was going to get fouled intentionally so throw the ball toward basket as he was fouled to earn free throws. First foul Knight failed. On second he hurled shot and got 3 free throws. (From postgame show)
Poole is riding bench because he still has not learned the plays!
143. I can’t disagree with you. This site seems to go off the rails sometimes. Love the recruiting info, game/player analysis is average at best, the rest needs to go.
Trevard Lindley is cornerback for Philadelphia Eagles. At UK he was second team All American and All-SEC first team. Voted team MVP by UK teammates.
@71: Try http://www.wlap.com/ and click “Listen Live”
You complainers need to shut up seriously, Cal can’t coach? Really? Yes I question some of the stuff he does like slowing down the pass of the game but the man can coach and has as much passion as any coach in the country.
Listen we are not the same team as last year and alot of our losses you can think the NCAA for (Kanter) but last time I checked being 11 games above .500 is not a horrible team as some of you are saying. We can not expect to go 35-3 every year ppl.
Should have said like when Cal slows down the pace of the game.Dang phone changed the word.
Oh and GO Cats!!!!!!
#31-couldn’t see the nail from the moon cam so Dykes had to change his game to talk about the logo…even though it’s a few feet away from the infamous nail.
149. I agree. Last year we didn’t even use the dribble drive due to having Cousins. We lose 5 guys (2 unexpected) to the draft. Leaves us with with the whole team learning the true system this year, three freshmen for scoring, Jorts has improved significantly but still isn’t a real good “big man” and our two veterans that lack leadership skills. I always will love our team, every year, but to judge Cal’s coaching skills off one full season, which was great, and this season thus far is just insane imo. We complain about no depth, but we ARE building it. Eventually Hood, Poole and Polson will be contributors not only on the court during games but off the court as well.
not one drop of alchohol last night and I have a hangover from the sky cam. What a sham. Why do they always choose to screw up UK games? They lose signal, the signal breaks up, it goes out ofr a few minutes, we have to watchth end of a game between nobody and nobody and miss the first 5 minutes of our game. It is funny how this stuff always happens to UK and not to UL or Duke or anyone else from what I have seen. New campagne, fire ESPN, they suck. Sportscenter sucks now to. Has for about 5 years. Nothing new, just the same old same old and every 30 minutes it is a re-run.
The photo attached to this thread possibly captures something of the Cats’ problems, in terms of offense and rebounding. To wit: Player positioning is atrocious, as three players are about six feet beyond the three-point line, another player (Jones)is standing on the line, and one player is blocked out near the basket. Why is there no one near the right elbow? If Jones successfully sets that screen, where does it get the offensive positioning? It will place FOUR players beyond the three-point line. I believe Coach Cal will need to somehow revamp the offense, if the Cats are going very far.
Please no more SkyCam…Im begging you for the sake of everyone watching at home NO MORE SKYCAM!!!
That overhead cam made it feel like I was playing Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball, for the old Super Nintendo. But, then again, Louisville would have to be the opponent, for the combat part to be totally accurate.