- Joined
- Nov 23, 2013
- Messages
- 684
- Reaction Score
- 2,654
I've detailed every play in the 2nd half of the NC game. Excellent plays are denoted by bolding the player's name. Poor plays are denoted with a bold and strikethrough. Point is to give a general feel for the impact players had down the stretch. Obviously "excellent" and "poor" are just my opinion, and the importance of the play in the stream of the game is factored in.
Conclusions - Many excellent and several poor plays for Shabazz. Boat was extremely good, only a couple mistakes. Giffey and Kromah played mistake free ball. Nolan had an underappreciated impact.
Calipari – when asked why Harrison is not having a good game and does not look like himself. He’s 18. He’s nervous. Zip about UConn’s defense.
Aaron Harrison, good pass from randle, opens with a 3 pointer over Bazz, who was there for a decent challenge.
Daniels launches a quick, wide open 3 from ½ step behind arc, dead center. Shot clangs off front of rim.
Young blows by Giffey on the right, Nolan does a very good job stepping up and forcing Young to pull up from 6 or 8 feet. Young clangs shot. Daniels easy board.
Only 45 seconds of the clock gone at this point – fast pace.
After working shot clock, Boat shakes and bakes and hits a very nice jumper over Randle just inside the arc – omen of what is to come.
Young attempts 3 – Giffey great defense and challenge. Dakari Johnson fouls on Rebound.
UConn up 3 at this point.
Shabazz great drive and dish to Nolan, who is blocked on bunny. Ball off UK. Phil – study Kromah’s final upfake for use next season!
Boatright with a great pass to Briham, who is blocked, gets board, and throws up an over-the backboard shot, off UK. Brimah clearly fouled on arm by Johnson on first shot.
Boatright attempts 3 pointer with 13 or so on shot clock – not a great look, but not horrible. Missed.
2.5 minutes gone and UConn up 3 still.
Brimah fouls Johnson on drive to basket. 3rd on Brimah. Johnson misses both.
Boatright with a soft pass 10’ from Bazz, and it is picked.
Harrison drives left around Giffey, who funnels him into Nolan, who again does a nice job of standing straight, blocking the path to rim, and not fouling. – bad shot rebounded strongly by Giffey, one handed control, in traffic.
Still a 3 point lead with 3.5 minutes gone – game feels like it’s stuck.
Bazz pushes Boat in the now famous “rocking the boat” moment.
Daniels attempts a 2 from ½ foot inside the 3 point line over set defender – bad shot choice, bad shot. Space behind defender was open – should have gone to rim.
Young tries to go left past Giffey, who channels him into – you guessed it – Nolan, who has broken off Johnson and gone some distance to lend help – Young has tunnel vision. Great team D as Nolan goes up first to challenge shot and Giffey goes up secend. Young puts up crap, gets own board is stripped by Daniels - Nolan comes up with ball.
WILD possession follows, with Napier chucking the ball around and passing up wide open look from 3 feet inside of 3 point line. Napier nice bounce pass into Nolan, who fights to handle it, then kicks out to Giffey. Giffey misses open 3. I was nervous at this point. We looked out of control, Bazz passed on good shot, Daniels not hitting, and Giff misses an open 3. The rocking the boat has just happened, several blocks, and we seem to be in a bad rut.
Andrew Harrison goes in for a layup to cut lead to 1, and things do not look good. Almost ¼ through the half at this point.
Bazz comes down, pumps Harrison in air, draws foul to go to line for 2. HUGE. Hits both.
UConn goes 2/3 zone. Boat great D to dissuade Harrison from 3. Very bad charge call against Poythress. Nolan’s year of practicing flops pays off.
Daniels takes ball to 5 feet of rim in center creates contact, but can’t hit the short one.
Poythress misses open 3.
Bazz attempts difficulty level 9.8 bounce pass through traffic to Nolan – out of bounds TO.
Randle nice drive from right baseline, collects own rebound, fouled by Nolan. 1 of 2.
Nice dish down low from Daniels to Nolan, who flubs it.
Boatright with great, 40” pick of pass and collect foul on way down. 10 TOs for UK.
6 minutes without FG. Bazz into lane, nice 8 footer, misses, Daniels misses bunny but collects own board and finishes. Great effort by Daniels.
Young crashes into Nolan and draws foul – no way that was going to a charge after the last blown call, even if Nolan had nailed his shoes to floor. Young hits both. UK down 2.
UK goes Zone. Young fails to recognize the German Sniper in the corner. Giffey hits open 3 – HUGE, with Bazz on bench. Young really playing like a freshman, as he did on last play with Kromah. First time I believed we were going to win, because I thought, “these guys don’t have the gumption to tighten the rope late.”
Boat great steal, gets fouled on breakaway. We’re up 5 and things and the victory is starting to form – we fought through rough patch in first portion of 2nd half, and now we seem to be back on our game. UP 7.
Brimah and Daniels double team Randle, who throws it to the ghost of Adolph Rupp in the 1st row.
After TO, Shabazz hits an incredible jumper, floating to his left, over a defender. Another huge shot. UP 9.
T. Sam overplays Young to Young’s right, Young throws down a dunk that will be played on NCAA highlight clips in 20 years, and one. Hits free.
Daniels puts up a 2 from 2 feet inside arc in traffic. No good.
Young goes hard to rim, fouled by Daniels. Young 1 of 2.
UK in 212 or 23 zone. Giffey receives pass from Kromah at key, 2 steps and sweet floater over defender from 4 feet, just misses. Good shot.
Harrison goes straight to rim at other end, nice dish to Johnson for lay in.
6-0 UK run, closes gap to within 3, momentum clearly shifting.
Boat comes up gimpy on ankle.
Boat stays in game. STAT is flashed – UConn minus 7 with Boat on bench. Yep. He was that important.
Shot clock down to 8Napier pulls up for contested 3 – not a good look.
Good D by Kromah on Harrison, but Harrison puts a nice pass on Young’s hands, who is fouled by Nolan. Young hits both.
Margin is 1, 8 minutes left. This is it. Put up or shut up RIGHT HERE.
Napier dribbles to center of lane, nowhere to go, bounces ball in air for TO.
Napier goes for ill advised steal on ball handler leaving Harrison open for 3 from corner – would have been really bad if that shot goes, as they would have lead and momentum. Harrison misses, Kromah ties up rebound. HUGE.
Napier hits HUGE three from straight away, 2 feet behind line, defender in face. Classic Bazz.
Randle goes around screen, unmolested for lay in (stock play for UK, blown D byBoat).
Bazz dumps to Giffey for HUGE three from straight away.
5 point lead notwithstanding the feeling that they were gaining momentum.
UConn goes zone to slow down Randle.
Young pulls up for jumper. Giffey with harassing defense forces bad miss.
UK goes back to zone.
Daniels contested 3 from right side, misses.
Randle goes by Daniels on nice drive and gets the call. Randle hits 1, misses second, then Bazz and Boat both go for ball out of bounds. Bazz angry with Boat, but misplaced, as Boat was just going for the ball.
Bazz with nice steal on poor pass.
Bazz loses ball right back losing track of trailing UK player.
Bazz fouls Harrison on drive.
Harrison misses front end of 1 and 1 Daniels with nice box out.
Boat gets handed pass with 6 seconds left, goes left on Randle, stops on dime, pulls up 40 inches, and hits a tremendously clutch shot. One I will never forget. Seemed like it was destiny at this point.
Randle blows by Giffey to rim, misses, Poythress with a beautiful slam back on board.
Poythress misses free, nice box out by Giff.
Bazz open 3 misses.
Young goes to middle of lane, Giffey meets with double arm and jump, Giffey pulls down rebound. HUGE plays.
Great pass from Bazz to Daniels for easy lay in.
Randle crashes into Giffey, who played excellent D, knocking him under board, Daniels fights for board and Kromah pulls it down.
2:20 left, up 6, and you can taste it.
Giffey shoots tough pull up 2’ inside arc with shot clock winding down, misses, KROMAH with tremendous rebound and outlet – was outside of the 3 point line when Giffey let the shot go. Watch 22 Poythress – does nothing to pick up defender and is out of position attempting to sandwich defender.
Boatright – Phenomenal drive, draws 3 defenders, kicks to Daniels for as open a 3 as he will ever get to seal the game – clang.
Young with nice lay in – single handedly kept Kentucky in the game in the 2nd half.
Calipari was terrible with use of timeouts – several remaining with 1 minute left. No discernable strategy coming down the stretch. Outcoached.
Shabazz to Kromah for pump fake – hits both.
Boat with great D on ensuing possession to force ball out wide, Harrison misses a deep 3 that is smartly defended by Kromah, Giff tips 2nd rebound to Boat – Ballgame.
Conclusions - Many excellent and several poor plays for Shabazz. Boat was extremely good, only a couple mistakes. Giffey and Kromah played mistake free ball. Nolan had an underappreciated impact.
Aaron Harrison, good pass from randle, opens with a 3 pointer over Bazz, who was there for a decent challenge.
Daniels launches a quick, wide open 3 from ½ step behind arc, dead center. Shot clangs off front of rim.
Young blows by Giffey on the right, Nolan does a very good job stepping up and forcing Young to pull up from 6 or 8 feet. Young clangs shot. Daniels easy board.
Only 45 seconds of the clock gone at this point – fast pace.
After working shot clock, Boat shakes and bakes and hits a very nice jumper over Randle just inside the arc – omen of what is to come.
Young attempts 3 – Giffey great defense and challenge. Dakari Johnson fouls on Rebound.
UConn up 3 at this point.
Shabazz great drive and dish to Nolan, who is blocked on bunny. Ball off UK. Phil – study Kromah’s final upfake for use next season!
Boatright with a great pass to Briham, who is blocked, gets board, and throws up an over-the backboard shot, off UK. Brimah clearly fouled on arm by Johnson on first shot.
Boatright attempts 3 pointer with 13 or so on shot clock – not a great look, but not horrible. Missed.
2.5 minutes gone and UConn up 3 still.
Brimah fouls Johnson on drive to basket. 3rd on Brimah. Johnson misses both.
Harrison drives left around Giffey, who funnels him into Nolan, who again does a nice job of standing straight, blocking the path to rim, and not fouling. – bad shot rebounded strongly by Giffey, one handed control, in traffic.
Still a 3 point lead with 3.5 minutes gone – game feels like it’s stuck.
Bazz pushes Boat in the now famous “rocking the boat” moment.
Young tries to go left past Giffey, who channels him into – you guessed it – Nolan, who has broken off Johnson and gone some distance to lend help – Young has tunnel vision. Great team D as Nolan goes up first to challenge shot and Giffey goes up secend. Young puts up crap, gets own board is stripped by Daniels - Nolan comes up with ball.
WILD possession follows, with Napier chucking the ball around and passing up wide open look from 3 feet inside of 3 point line. Napier nice bounce pass into Nolan, who fights to handle it, then kicks out to Giffey. Giffey misses open 3. I was nervous at this point. We looked out of control, Bazz passed on good shot, Daniels not hitting, and Giff misses an open 3. The rocking the boat has just happened, several blocks, and we seem to be in a bad rut.
Andrew Harrison goes in for a layup to cut lead to 1, and things do not look good. Almost ¼ through the half at this point.
Bazz comes down, pumps Harrison in air, draws foul to go to line for 2. HUGE. Hits both.
UConn goes 2/3 zone. Boat great D to dissuade Harrison from 3. Very bad charge call against Poythress. Nolan’s year of practicing flops pays off.
Daniels takes ball to 5 feet of rim in center creates contact, but can’t hit the short one.
Poythress misses open 3.
Randle nice drive from right baseline, collects own rebound, fouled by Nolan. 1 of 2.
Nice dish down low from Daniels to Nolan, who flubs it.
Boatright with great, 40” pick of pass and collect foul on way down. 10 TOs for UK.
6 minutes without FG. Bazz into lane, nice 8 footer, misses, Daniels misses bunny but collects own board and finishes. Great effort by Daniels.
Young crashes into Nolan and draws foul – no way that was going to a charge after the last blown call, even if Nolan had nailed his shoes to floor. Young hits both. UK down 2.
UK goes Zone. Young fails to recognize the German Sniper in the corner. Giffey hits open 3 – HUGE, with Bazz on bench. Young really playing like a freshman, as he did on last play with Kromah. First time I believed we were going to win, because I thought, “these guys don’t have the gumption to tighten the rope late.”
Boat great steal, gets fouled on breakaway. We’re up 5 and things and the victory is starting to form – we fought through rough patch in first portion of 2nd half, and now we seem to be back on our game. UP 7.
Brimah and Daniels double team Randle, who throws it to the ghost of Adolph Rupp in the 1st row.
After TO, Shabazz hits an incredible jumper, floating to his left, over a defender. Another huge shot. UP 9.
Daniels puts up a 2 from 2 feet inside arc in traffic. No good.
Young goes hard to rim, fouled by Daniels. Young 1 of 2.
UK in 212 or 23 zone. Giffey receives pass from Kromah at key, 2 steps and sweet floater over defender from 4 feet, just misses. Good shot.
Harrison goes straight to rim at other end, nice dish to Johnson for lay in.
6-0 UK run, closes gap to within 3, momentum clearly shifting.
Boat comes up gimpy on ankle.
Boat stays in game. STAT is flashed – UConn minus 7 with Boat on bench. Yep. He was that important.
Shot clock down to 8
Good D by Kromah on Harrison, but Harrison puts a nice pass on Young’s hands, who is fouled by Nolan. Young hits both.
Margin is 1, 8 minutes left. This is it. Put up or shut up RIGHT HERE.
Napier hits HUGE three from straight away, 2 feet behind line, defender in face. Classic Bazz.
Randle goes around screen, unmolested for lay in (stock play for UK, blown D by
Bazz dumps to Giffey for HUGE three from straight away.
5 point lead notwithstanding the feeling that they were gaining momentum.
UConn goes zone to slow down Randle.
Young pulls up for jumper. Giffey with harassing defense forces bad miss.
UK goes back to zone.
Daniels contested 3 from right side, misses.
Randle goes by Daniels on nice drive and gets the call. Randle hits 1, misses second, then Bazz and Boat both go for ball out of bounds. Bazz angry with Boat, but misplaced, as Boat was just going for the ball.
Bazz with nice steal on poor pass.
Bazz fouls Harrison on drive.
Harrison misses front end of 1 and 1 Daniels with nice box out.
Boat gets handed pass with 6 seconds left, goes left on Randle, stops on dime, pulls up 40 inches, and hits a tremendously clutch shot. One I will never forget. Seemed like it was destiny at this point.
Randle blows by Giffey to rim, misses, Poythress with a beautiful slam back on board.
Poythress misses free, nice box out by Giff.
Bazz open 3 misses.
Young goes to middle of lane, Giffey meets with double arm and jump, Giffey pulls down rebound. HUGE plays.
Great pass from Bazz to Daniels for easy lay in.
Randle crashes into Giffey, who played excellent D, knocking him under board, Daniels fights for board and Kromah pulls it down.
2:20 left, up 6, and you can taste it.
Giffey shoots tough pull up 2’ inside arc with shot clock winding down, misses, KROMAH with tremendous rebound and outlet – was outside of the 3 point line when Giffey let the shot go. Watch 22 Poythress – does nothing to pick up defender and is out of position attempting to sandwich defender.
Boatright – Phenomenal drive, draws 3 defenders, kicks to Daniels for as open a 3 as he will ever get to seal the game – clang.
Young with nice lay in – single handedly kept Kentucky in the game in the 2nd half.
Calipari was terrible with use of timeouts – several remaining with 1 minute left. No discernable strategy coming down the stretch. Outcoached.
Shabazz to Kromah for pump fake – hits both.
Boat with great D on ensuing possession to force ball out wide, Harrison misses a deep 3 that is smartly defended by Kromah, Giff tips 2nd rebound to Boat – Ballgame.
