So How Ugly Is This Going To Get On Monday?

[aceboon]

Once K Marshall broke his wrist I figured OSU was the next best team to knock off UK. They had a PG to give Teague problems on the defensive end, SG to matchup and score with Lamb, a PF that could play with Jones, and a C that could potentially give AD some problems(although if you struggle with the length of Jeff Withey, I can't imagine him playing well against AD). Then OSU pretty much just gave the game away tonight. The first matchup b/w UK-KU wasn't very competitive at all, I don't see this being much different and expect a 10+ point differential.

On another note, credit to Self, he's choked with some loaded teams but after seeing them early in the year and not seeing much beyond T-Rob I never expected this team to get as far as it has.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

KU showed some pluck and grit, but it would be a surprise to me if they played close to UK, but who knows, maybe Kentucky will come out tight and lose confidence or something. Anthony Davis just seems to be too good.

 

[Silk City]

I think people are giving Kentucky way too much credit. They're a good team, but they're not 06 Florida, or even 09 Carolina. UK played pretty solid today and still couldn't put away a Louisville team with much less talent. Kansas won't allow Kentucky many of those easy dunks considering their size down low, and I'd be stunned if the Cats ran away with it Monday night.

Understand Kansas will be an underdog but come on.. it should be a pretty competitive game

 

[jorge34]

I think people are giving Kentucky way too much credit. They're a good team, but they're not 06 Florida, or even 09 Carolina. UK played pretty solid today and still couldn't put away a Louisville team with much less talent. Kansas won't allow Kentucky many of those easy dunks considering their size down low, and I'd be stunned if the Cats ran away with it Monday night.

Understand Kansas will be an underdog but come on.. it should be a pretty competitive game

Kansas can play some pretty tough D, but can also shoot the ball better than Louisville at this point. They have a good shot to win this game, but their bigs HAVE to stay out of foul trouble.

I don't put too much stock in the first game between these teams....as it came in November.

 

[Ts5034]

I think Kansas can pull off the upset. I would love to see that happen.

 

[champs99and04]

I'm not really feeling the chatter about UK being an all-time great team. Really good obviously, but they don't really blow teams out.

That said, Kansas doesn't impress me and I'd be shocked if UK beat them. Syracuse and UNC were the only two teams that could have beaten them this season, and unfortunatley, both of them were derailed by injuries and Fab Melo doing Fab Melo things.

 

[aceboon]

I think people are giving Kentucky way too much credit. They're a good team, but they're not 06 Florida, or even 09 Carolina. UK played pretty solid today and still couldn't put away a Louisville team with much less talent. Kansas won't allow Kentucky many of those easy dunks considering their size down low, and I'd be stunned if the Cats ran away with it Monday night.

Understand Kansas will be an underdog but come on.. it should be a pretty competitive game

They're not on that level of those teams but they don't have to be, college basketball is watered down. I know they only have 2 losses but I don't really see anyone putting them on all time great level because of how bad college ball is these days.

 

[mauconnfan]

Hey I'm not getting this Kentucky Invitational thing.....they shot almost 60% and Louisville shot 35% and guess who was in the game for mostly 38 minutes? They are a typical Calapari team now, you and stupid at times no matter how you look at it. They look like worldbeaters for minutes at a time and then the open the door and let teams back in....

Not knowing exactly what happened first time around I like KU's chances....Withey is certainly big and strong enough to make AD think about things and the guards can play some D and stop penetration a little....UK is the team to beat but if they shoot 40%, which they might despite Calapari saying they didn't play their best, they will lose this one I think!!!

Prediction - KU 66 .... UK 64

 

[husky91]

KU doesn't have the talent to compete with the top 4-5 games without playing this way. A total credit to Self.

On an unrelated topic, met him in Hilton hotel bar (Sunday between games), was the nicest guy imaginable. Roy not so much. Another awesome guy is Lorenzo Romar.

KU showed some pluck and grit, but it would be a surprise to me if they played close to UK, but who knows, maybe Kentucky will come out tight and lose confidence or something. Anthony Davis just seems to be too good.

 

[TheChamps990411]

UK has a great team this year and i think they are one of the better teams of the last decade but there not an all time great team because theyre not deep enought to beat teams like the ones that were mentioned and honestly i think the uconn 04 team with its depth and length would problably beat them by 10+ points.

 

[ford82]

I think it is going to get very ugly. I hate Kentucky, but this is not a typical Calipari team. Anthony Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist make them a special team. I also think Louisville is more talented then people give them credit for, but obviously not as talented as Kentucky.

 

[upstater]

I don't think this UK team is a great team. Outside of Davis and Miller, they don't seem to know what they're doing out there. One could describe them as young. That being said, when you have a player like Davis, you can rely on him to get you over any hump in the game. Kansas best bet is to somehow get Davis in early foul trouble.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't think this UK team is a great team. Outside of Davis and Miller, they don't seem to know what they're doing out there. One could describe them as young. That being said, when you have a player like Davis, you can rely on him to get you over any hump in the game. Kansas best bet is to somehow get Davis in early foul trouble.

Robinson is far more physical than Davis, and Withy will give Davis problems as a shot blocker. He has great timing, like Okafor did. This is not a cakewalk for Kentucky. It's very young team with no real experience. It showed agaisnt Louisville. KU is better than Louisville and provides some of the same ball pressure D that caused UK problems. Kentucky should be favored, but I don't see a blow-out.

 

[Fishy]

Kansas is going to win.

 

[Huskies4ever]

They look like worldbeaters for minutes at a time and then the open the door and let teams back in..../quote]
That's because they are young. Not singling you out Mau, but this UK team is a great team. I hate them, their fans, and coach Squid, but I don't get the "they're not a great team". You don't make the championship game at 37-2 without being a great team. Duke in '99 was a great team. We were better. That said I hope KU wins.

 

[tzznandrew]

Kansas is going to win.

Please please please please be right.

I hold out hope when a team like Vanderbilt takes out UK. Kentucky is a very good team, but they are beatable. Maybe Self is about to move higher into my "respected and liked coaches" list.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I still can't believe that Kansas beat Carolina and Ohio State because they looked like the weaker team in both games. But they're solid and they play defense and they stick with it.

I do think Kentucky is being undersold on this board because of how much people hate Calipari. There wasn't a single second of that Louisville game where I actually thought Louisville was going to win. It's not like Kentucky even played particularly well - they shot a high percentage mostly because they could get a layup anytime they wanted.

 

[Lefty2one]

^^ I also think Louisville is a very average team. Going in I did not expect UL to have a chance and like you said there wasn't a single second where I thought they would win while the game was being played.

Anywho, this is definitely a different Squid team, mostly because Davis masks so many of the other weaknesses of the team. Just like when we had Okafor, Davis makes life easy for the rest of the team. This is the first Squid team that is known more for their defense than their offense and the first one in recent history where the PG isn't the best player on the team (hell, Teague is probably 5th or 6th best player on their team this year).

They run far more sets and less free lancing with the DDM which eliminates a lot of the terrible decision-making and half court atrocities that we've seen the last 5 years from Squid teams. The rule with recent UK/Memphis teams was "take away their transition game and you'll have a chance". That isn't the case this year IMO, UK is comfortable playing a half court game.

It's funny, going into this season I thought this was the worst team Cal had in his time at UK. I also thought this was the worst team Kansas has had in nearly 20 years. It's amazing that Kansas keeps winning in this tournament, their talent level is nowhere near where it's been the last 15 years. I don't think there's even a pro prospect on the roster outside of Robinson and while he'll likely be a monster in the NBA he doesn't exactly dominate the college game.

As for tomorrow I think UK wins by 5-7 points. Should be entertaining for most of the night.