UK vulnerable to slow down game?
Of Kentucky's close calls this season, at least six of the games were kept at a slower than normal pace (for the 2010 Wildcats, that means anything below 71.1 possessions a game). Last night's win was no exception: although 'Bama lost, the Tide did not roll and slowed the game down considerably as UK only had 66.725 possession in the 66-55 win.
According to freshman Eric Bledsoe, this strategy is nothing new to John Calipari's squad and quite frankly, not appreciated. "It is really frustrating [when teams slow us down]," said Bledsoe.
So going forward into the second half stretch of conference play and the NCAA tournament, is this the best way to try and beat the Wildcats? In their upcoming seven games, two teams really stand out as possible to make UK play a 40 minute half-court game: South Carolina (tempo is slightly lower than UK but has beaten the 'Cats before by limiting the game to a 69 possession affair) and Georgia (a team that operates at a snail like 65.5 pace).
However, in the NCAA tournament, this could become an even bigger problem if UK is matched up with a team like Northern Iowa; the Panthers operate at a glacial pace (60 possessions) and are well equipped to run the shot clock down and score in the half-court.
Note: Tennessee games average 70.7 possessions per game. Pomeroy's calculations suggest our game against Kentucky will be 74 possessions. It is notable that four of our five losses this season were in games with 70 or more possesions.
over 2 years ago
golfballs03
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Pearl made the comment that he might start Goins at point and Maze at SG
If this is the case, I assume Hopson gets benched, and it seems to be a move made entirely for defensive purposes. Not sure that I would be totally shocked to see it happen against Kentucky.
Anyway, the slower the game, the more valuable each possession is. We really need to become more efficient on offense to play this way to be competitive with Kentucky
You can't bench Hopson
even though he had a bad night last night, there is no way he gets benched. He is our second leading scorer and leading 3 point shooter. Now Goins for Maze would not be a bad move in my opinion. Goins actually made some impressive offensive moves last night as well.
It's simple Cubs in the spring and summer, Vols in the fall and winter.
it's not that he wouldn't play
maybe it would give him some more motivation. his defense stinks. it’s actually a liability.
His defense is bad
but would you really start Maze at shooting guard? And I’m not really sure Maze’s defense is much better. Regardless of who starts, we need to play much better than that sorry performance we threw out there last night.
It's simple Cubs in the spring and summer, Vols in the fall and winter.
SG is Maze's natural position.
I would do it if I thought it would be better for the team. Hopson is still our best shooter and he would still get all his PT, it would all just come off the bench.
It's not a horrible idea
but Maze is shooting like 20% from 3 so I’m not sure he would exactly thrive as SG. Like I’ve been saying for a couple weeks now, unless this team can find a consistent 3 pt shooter I do not think we will be able to go deep in the tourney or finish any better than 10-6 in conference.
It's simple Cubs in the spring and summer, Vols in the fall and winter.
I think it was Hubert Davis that said
it best last night. We are a team that could make a deep run or very easily lose in the 1st round. I just hope to see more consistency over the last 4 weeks. I’m not just talking about wins, but in least show up in every game, we can’t lose to Florida or UK the same way we have already lost to Georgia, USC, and Vandy.
It's simple Cubs in the spring and summer, Vols in the fall and winter.
Everybody crosses me up with this "USC loss" thing
We throttled USC. We did lose to Southern Cal though, in a game I’d rather not remember. Every single time it’s mentioned, it takes me 5-10 seconds to remember that the schools have the same name. You’d think I’d learn.
by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 10, 2010 5:51 PM EST up reply actions
so after last night
Do any of yall’s predictions change for our last 8 games record? And yes I just said yall
It's simple Cubs in the spring and summer, Vols in the fall and winter.
yeah.
we lose to good teams on the road. MSU and Florida. I’d like to think we can beat Kentucky at home, but until I see how we play this Saturday, I don’t want to say for sure
I had us losing this game
So I’m keeping my prediction for now. I still think we can beat MSU and Florida away. I’m not convinced that either will be a tougher out than Memphis was, actually (not that they’ll be easy wins, just that they’re winnable).
by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 10, 2010 6:29 PM EST up reply actions
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