Sunday, February 26, 2006
Big dog or little cat?
Let's get one thing straight: I believe in Tubby and don't kneejerk in my opinions based on wins and losses.
That the Cats had the ball with a chance to win over the probable SEC regular season outright champs in the closing seconds means these guys are at worst in the conversation for an NCAA bid. Road losses in the SEC happen, especially in this, the downest of down years in a decade. Most of my game keys from yesterday were part of the equation, and the Achilles' heels ended up being a no-show from Joe Crawford and the defense in the second half.
But like a lot of fans, I am steamed about that final play.
Don't get me wrong, it could have gone in, and Sheray Thomas played a great game and certainly bears little ill will for a tough shot in a pressure situation. He should have used the backboard or gone left, but that is hindisight, and had the shot gone in we'd be talking about how clutch he was and what a great call Tubby made in going to the unexpected choice. This game wasn't lost on Thomas' shoulders. It was, however, another one given away when the team executed poorly down the stretch. And the final call reflects much of the fans' frustration with Coach Smith this season.
There has been an undue amount of grumbling this year about recruiting failures and a lack of "UK-caliber" talent. Some of it is warranted -- the junior class is effectively three role players and a team manager (Shagari) -- and the bulk is overblown. But the reason I'm steamed isn't so much that Tubby went to Sheray. From a strategic standpoint, it's a brave and potentially lucrative decision. If the shot falls, Thomas becomes a player other teams have to scout in certain situation, and with Glen "Big baby" Davis clogging up the lane, a shot from Morris is more likely a fadeaway jumper.
The reason I'm steamed has to do with recruiting, but not in the way you probably think.
When you have game-changing talent, and the Cats have it in Morris, Rajon Rondo and Joe Crawford, with Patrick Sparks' main talent being ridiculous cojones, you have to live and die by it. If you're going to recruit gamers, and if you're going to tell a future Morris or Crawford (or Brandan Wright or Tyler Hansbrough) that you want him to be "the man," then it seems logical to me that you'd want to give him the chance to perform in the clutch.
Morris, by Tubby's admission, was the decoy. Fine. Rondo is the ballhandler. Fine. But Crawford can drive, shoot and hits his free throws at a 70% clip this season. Is there any time at which Tubby Smith told Sheray Thomas, "Come to Kentucky and you'll be 'The Man'"? I cannot believe that is true.
So Tubby again confounds his critics and supporters alike by going away from (a) the proven players, (b) the players you recruited for this very moment and (c) the future of the program.
No one can ever say Tubby Smith isn't his own man, even with the wolves nipping at his heels.
That the Cats had the ball with a chance to win over the probable SEC regular season outright champs in the closing seconds means these guys are at worst in the conversation for an NCAA bid. Road losses in the SEC happen, especially in this, the downest of down years in a decade. Most of my game keys from yesterday were part of the equation, and the Achilles' heels ended up being a no-show from Joe Crawford and the defense in the second half.
But like a lot of fans, I am steamed about that final play.
Don't get me wrong, it could have gone in, and Sheray Thomas played a great game and certainly bears little ill will for a tough shot in a pressure situation. He should have used the backboard or gone left, but that is hindisight, and had the shot gone in we'd be talking about how clutch he was and what a great call Tubby made in going to the unexpected choice. This game wasn't lost on Thomas' shoulders. It was, however, another one given away when the team executed poorly down the stretch. And the final call reflects much of the fans' frustration with Coach Smith this season.
There has been an undue amount of grumbling this year about recruiting failures and a lack of "UK-caliber" talent. Some of it is warranted -- the junior class is effectively three role players and a team manager (Shagari) -- and the bulk is overblown. But the reason I'm steamed isn't so much that Tubby went to Sheray. From a strategic standpoint, it's a brave and potentially lucrative decision. If the shot falls, Thomas becomes a player other teams have to scout in certain situation, and with Glen "Big baby" Davis clogging up the lane, a shot from Morris is more likely a fadeaway jumper.
The reason I'm steamed has to do with recruiting, but not in the way you probably think.
When you have game-changing talent, and the Cats have it in Morris, Rajon Rondo and Joe Crawford, with Patrick Sparks' main talent being ridiculous cojones, you have to live and die by it. If you're going to recruit gamers, and if you're going to tell a future Morris or Crawford (or Brandan Wright or Tyler Hansbrough) that you want him to be "the man," then it seems logical to me that you'd want to give him the chance to perform in the clutch.
Morris, by Tubby's admission, was the decoy. Fine. Rondo is the ballhandler. Fine. But Crawford can drive, shoot and hits his free throws at a 70% clip this season. Is there any time at which Tubby Smith told Sheray Thomas, "Come to Kentucky and you'll be 'The Man'"? I cannot believe that is true.
So Tubby again confounds his critics and supporters alike by going away from (a) the proven players, (b) the players you recruited for this very moment and (c) the future of the program.
No one can ever say Tubby Smith isn't his own man, even with the wolves nipping at his heels.
posted by Agonica @ 12:34 PM
2 Comments:
At 9:47 PM,
small balls said…
"the Achilles' heels ended up being a no-show from Joe Crawford and the defense in the second half."
really? i was thinking more along the lines of the ungodly amount of turnovers in the second half. the fact that UK was not turning the ball over in the 1st and forcing LSU to do the opposite was the cats only shot in cancelling out the ridiculous rebounding differential.
well, that and the gaping black hole that was 31 LSU free throws to UK's 10.
At 5:23 PM,
Truzenzuzex said…
This game was a missed opportunity, but hardly a season-changer either way. Like SB above, I think more blame for the loss goes to poor ballhandling than poor stretch execution.
But it's hard to disagree with your main point - you have at least four "big shot" people in the game; you use one for a decoy, one to handle the ball and one to make the pass. Why pass it to a role player as the first option???
Another question: Why didn't we call a timeout and set a play for Morris, Sparks, Crawford or Rondo? We had at least 10 seconds with the ball in the front court. I was expecting a TO and a play - were we out of time outs or something?
The last play is a real head-scratcher for me. I understand Tubby's reasoning, but I don't think I agree with him. In fact, I'm damn sure I don't. It doesn't matter what I think, of course, Tubby is the coach. But like Pitino's decision not to challenge the famous inbounds pass to Laetner, this seems like a perfect example of a coaching goof that "seemed like a good idea at the time".
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