The Time is Nigh: UA vs UK Game Thread

[animal]

The end was very sudden

[Thin Red Swine]

That is pretty good. However the ones we missed were ass clinching time.

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 7 with 7:56 left.

Wagner made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 8 with 4:37 left.

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 9 with 4:09 left.

We didn't shoot any in the last four minutes. For whatever (unusual) reason, I never felt that outcome was in doubt. Kentucky seemed to spit the bit when Z made that crazy 3 after they cut it to 6 on the Garrison dunk.

[Son of Spam]

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 7 with 7:56 left.

Wagner made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 8 with 4:37 left.

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 9 with 4:09 left.

We didn't shoot any in the last four minutes. For whatever (unusual) reason, I never felt that outcome was in doubt. Kentucky seemed to spit the bit when Z made that crazy 3 after they cut it to 6 on the Garrison dunk.

Yeah, but we all know what can happen with 4 minutes left. We were lucky KY missed some shots down the stretch or those FTs might have hurt. And KY had a lot of turnovers, thank goodness.

[Thin Red Swine]

Yeah, but we all know what can happen with 4 minutes left. We were lucky KY missed some shots down the stretch or those FTs might have hurt. And KY had a lot of turnovers, thank goodness.

I hear you. And normally I would've been quaking. But it just seemed like they were done. Maybe that's mainly because I think Pope is not yet capable of willing his team to come back from that deficit that late. And might never be.

[Son of Spam]

I hear you. And normally I would've been quaking. But it just seemed like they were done. Maybe that's mainly because I think Pope is not yet capable of willing his team to come back from that deficit that late. And might never be.

I think our next game will show if we have really turned the corner.

[DirkPiggler]

I hear you. And normally I would've been quaking. But it just seemed like they were done. Maybe that's mainly because I think Pope is not yet capable of willing his team to come back from that deficit that late. And might never be.

It seemed odd to me that Kentucky just quit trying late.  With around 2:00 left it seemed like they were content to not foul and just take their ass whipping.   

That doesn't bode well for them at tournament time.  They had a lot of quit in them. 

[BleedinRed]

We definetly showed we don't miss boogie.  That is a good sign going forward.  

[Son of Spam]

It seemed odd to me that Kentucky just quit trying late.  With around 2:00 left it seemed like they were content to not foul and just take their ass whipping.   

That doesn't bode well for them at tournament time.  They had a lot of quit in them. 

I noticed that, too. They seem to have just quit trying. Then started turning the ball over a lot. They knew they had lost.

[DirkPiggler]

We definetly showed we don't miss boogie.  That is a good sign going forward. 

It may have forced us to run an actual offense rather than just letting Boogie "create." 

My concern is for when DJ inevitably gets into foul trouble.  I don't like the idea of Richmond as our backup PG. 

[Barton Fink]

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 7 with 7:56 left.

Wagner made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 8 with 4:37 left.

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 9 with 4:09 left.

We didn't shoot any in the last four minutes. For whatever (unusual) reason, I never felt that outcome was in doubt. Kentucky seemed to spit the bit when Z made that crazy 3 after they cut it to 6 on the Garrison dunk.

That was the biggest shot of the game.

[jdcatty]

It seemed odd to me that Kentucky just quit trying late.  With around 2:00 left it seemed like they were content to not foul and just take their ass whipping.   

That doesn't bode well for them at tournament time.  They had a lot of quit in them. 

I thought the same thing about KY quitting at the end.  I sure didn't think we had it won.

[Usafhawg]

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 7 with 7:56 left.

Wagner made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 8 with 4:37 left.

Thiero made 1 of 2 when we were ahead by 9 with 4:09 left.

We didn't shoot any in the last four minutes. For whatever (unusual) reason, I never felt that outcome was in doubt. Kentucky seemed to spit the bit when Z made that crazy 3 after they cut it to 6 on the Garrison dunk.

Kentucky missing both of the technical FTs definitely helped. That took away any momentum they could have got from that.

[Thin Red Swine]

Kentucky missing both of the technical FTs definitely helped. That took away any momentum they could have got from that.

At that point we were ahead by 12 with a minute left.

[buff2.0]

Surprise, Louisville is laughing.

https://x.com/Louisvillecbb/status/1885904940318482657

[Piggielicious]

It seemed odd to me that Kentucky just quit trying late.  With around 2:00 left it seemed like they were content to not foul and just take their ass whipping. 

That doesn't bode well for them at tournament time.  They had a lot of quit in them. 

It's still baffling to me that KY hired Pope instead of Oats, Pearl, or Beard from within the conference, all of whom are much better and more accomplished coaches than Pope.

[Borenutz]

It's still baffling to me that KY hired Pope instead of Oats, Pearl, or Beard from within the conference, all of whom are much better and more accomplished coaches than Pope.

That just doesn't happen very often within the conference, especially when you're in a top conference and each team can almost realistically hire the right person (or not) and succeed.

 See bama hiring doboer in football. They couldn't or didn't go hire the top in conference sec coach.

The Cal to Ark was rare and we didn't really pull him here as opposed to him being pushed  to here with chicken nuggies.

I get your point though. Oats, pearl, beard would have all taken that call and would have been better hires. But all of them are great coaches and they don't typically move to other schools if they're in a top conference, getting paid, and have a chance to win the natty. Beard is kind of an outlier but kinda not with the Texas deal. He certainly wouldn't have left Texas for ole piss width out the mamma drama. Same with pearl, he'd still be at tenner if not for the ncaa bs.

[animal]

I think Pope will do fine at Kentucky. He's going to apply a more "team focused" approach and probably be less about the one-and-done types. So there will likely be an adjustment period but at the end of the season if you be winning games then who gives a fuck about recruiting rankings and all that shit. I know his current team is a mix of his boys from BYU and other hired guns but over the long haul I think we'll see him establish what little culture a college basketball coach can possibly have from season to season.

That all being said if Pope can't get it done within 4 or 5 years I doubt he'll be there to see a 6th season. He may go down as a bridge hire while Kentucky tries to figure it's shit out. And once again we must remind ourselves that these blue collar programs don't have nearly the appeal (including us) now that you can pay guys to come to any damn place.  Somehow I figure somebody will want that job though for many years to come but if you are already winning and established why move?

[DirkPiggler]

That just doesn't happen very often within the conference, especially when you're in a top conference and each team can almost realistically hire the right person (or not) and succeed.

 See bama hiring doboer in football. They couldn't or didn't go hire the top in conference sec coach.

The Cal to Ark was rare and we didn't really pull him here as opposed to him being pushed  to here with chicken nuggies.

I get your point though. Oats, pearl, beard would have all taken that call and would have been better hires. But all of them are great coaches and they don't typically move to other schools if they're in a top conference, getting paid, and have a chance to win the natty. Beard is kind of an outlier but kinda not with the Texas deal. He certainly wouldn't have left Texas for ole piss width out the mamma drama. Same with pearl, he'd still be at tenner if not for the ncaa bs.

Kentucky wasn't taking a chance with Beard so soon after his legal issues.  They got burned with the coked up version of Sutton and the hardcore alcoholic Gillespie. 

I was hoping they would hire Oats.  Kentucky being a perennial contender is a constant.   Alabama being more than an occasional tournament team is rare.  Moving Oats to Lexington would have brought Bama back to reality. 

[Pig Benis]

I was hoping they would hire Oats.  Kentucky being a perennial contender is a constant.   Alabama being more than an occasional tournament team is rare.  Moving Oats to Lexington would have brought Bama back to reality. 

Same here. I think Oats didn't want the job. They absolutely reached out to him.

[DirkPiggler]

Same here. I think Oats didn't want the job. They absolutely reached out to him.

Agreed.  It's much easier to follow the guy after the legend than the legend himself.