View Full Version : Coach Tubby Smith on Memphis game
SamKat
11-23-2006, 05:09 AM
"It looked like we kind of hit the wall there in the second half," said Smith, who credited Memphis with being quicker and faster. He could have thrown in more athletic and skilled, too.
"We're not making excuses," the UK coach said. "But I thought that's what hit us there for a while."
Memphis Coach John Calipari concurred.
"I'm going to be honest," he said. "They may have been spent."
Randolph Morris, who led UK with 18 points, acknowledged fatigue. "It definitely had an effect on my play," he said.
If Kentucky was tired, Memphis had the athletes and skill to exploit it. Smith called the Tigers "probably the worst matchup we could have had."
FatCatDaddy
11-23-2006, 05:39 AM
Why were we tired? Memphis played three games in three days the same as us, shouldn't they have been equally tired? Quit with the excuses Tubster.
trublue4life
11-23-2006, 06:09 AM
FatCatDaddy wrote: Why were we tired? Memphis played three games in three days the same as us, shouldn't they have been equally tired? Quit with the excuses Tubster.
We played 5 games in 8 days, a pretty ridiculous schedule when you throw in the travel time to Maui with the time difference, We left a lot on the court in coming back from 17 down to UCLA, while if you watched Memphis vs. Georgia Tech you saw that Memphis left practically nothing on the court. After shooting themselves into a big lead they basically took the 2nd half off as Georgia Tech blew them out of the gym. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, left a lot on the court that night and had basically the same result against UCLA that we had against Memphis. For whatever reason, mounting huge comebacks (both us and Tech) tends to take more out of you than playing with a lead from start to finish. Not making excuses, just stating reality. We looked like we lost our legs in the 2nd half. Memphis looked like they had more energy.
UKHAS7NCAA
11-23-2006, 07:28 AM
trublue4life wrote: FatCatDaddy wrote: Why were we tired? Memphis played three games in three days the same as us, shouldn't they have been equally tired? Quit with the excuses Tubster.
We played 5 games in 8 days, a pretty ridiculous schedule when you throw in the travel time to Maui with the time difference, We left a lot on the court in coming back from 17 down to UCLA, while if you watched Memphis vs. Georgia Tech you saw that Memphis left practically nothing on the court. After shooting themselves into a big lead they basically took the 2nd half off as Georgia Tech blew them out of the gym. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, left a lot on the court that night and had basically the same result against UCLA that we had against Memphis. For whatever reason, mounting huge comebacks (both us and Tech) tends to take more out of you than playing with a lead from start to finish. Not making excuses, just stating reality. We looked like we lost our legs in the 2nd half. Memphis looked like they had more energy.
Agreed Trublue
jaspcat
11-23-2006, 08:07 AM
Call it more energy, if you like, but I'd call it more heart. Our effort was zero in the 2nd half - defense was pourous and guys settled for mostly jumpers and no team ball.
After giving up some open 3s and easy layups inside, getting down 10+, our guys hung their heads and gave up. They could've boarded the plane with 10 minutes to go. We didn't lose our legs, we lost our confidence...and quit. That was a shameful performance.
Spanish Moss
11-23-2006, 08:21 AM
jaspcat wrote: Call it more energy, if you like, but I'd call it more heart. Our effort was zero in the 2nd half - defense was pourous and guys settled for mostly jumpers and no team ball.
After giving up some open 3s and easy layups inside, getting down 10+, our guys hung their heads and gave up. They could've boarded the plane with 10 minutes to go. We didn't lose our legs, we lost our confidence...and quit. That was a shameful performance.
That is how I saw it. A determined team overcomes fatigue. If you have heart you reach down deep inside your gut and pull it out. Coaching can make a player want to do that.
ukbob
11-23-2006, 08:25 AM
The UCLA loss was the killer here. I don't think we would have beat Tech, but leaving 2-1 would have given us something to hang the hat on. Playing Memphis after a tough UCLA loss was our worse nightmare matchup.
And I don't think we quit, I just think we were spent. I don't see much quit in this group at all. We just don't have the horses to pound it out underneath.
Not to pick on anyone but check out these stats....
Thomas...62 minutes...5 rebounds...6 points
Perry....82 minutes....9 rebounds...21 points
Team......23 off rebounds....Opponents....35
Turnover to assist ratio.....46-45
Terrible to say the least.
5 games in 8 days and travel to Maui is enough of a reason to hit a wall. It happens to NBA teams all the time, and they're full of the best conditioned athletes in the world.
We will know a lot more about this team after our next two games. I'm not convinced that a well-rested squad can't go down to Chapel Hill a week from Saturday and give them a game. Of course we need to bounce back against CoC first.
We have some pieces in place this year that will give opponents fits, and we have competitive youth that should only improve. If these guys will completely sell out for the TEAM, then we'll be ok.
As you or someone else said on another thread, it is important to be delicate here, but fair is fair.
Sheray Thomas has always appeared to be stuck in concrete. I hoped another year to get healthy and the addition of improved S & C would make a difference, but I'm afraid what you see is what you get.
Bobby Perry's tourney run of last year is looking like a hot streak rather than an emergence. I'm afraid some among us may have been expecting too much. Bobby has a role on this team, but it will always be as about the 4th option.
ukbob wrote: The UCLA loss was the killer here. I don't think we would have beat Tech, but leaving 2-1 would have given us something to hang the hat on. Playing Memphis after a tough UCLA loss was our worse nightmare matchup.
And I don't think we quit, I just think we were spent. I don't see much quit in this group at all. We just don't have the horses to pound it out underneath.
Not to pick on anyone but check out these stats....
Thomas...62 minutes...5 rebounds...6 points
Perry....82 minutes....9 rebounds...21 points
Team......23 off rebounds....Opponents....35
Turnover to assist ratio.....46-45
Terrible to say the least.
wildcatdon
11-23-2006, 08:42 AM
all three teams got good practice on their layup drills and dunking during their games with us..
blueheretic
11-23-2006, 08:47 AM
Aike wrote: 5 games in 8 days and travel to Maui is enough of a reason to hit a wall. It happens to NBA teams all the time, and they're full of the best conditioned athletes in the world.
We will know a lot more about this team after our next two games. I'm not convinced that a well-rested squad can't go down to Chapel Hill a week from Saturday and give them a game. Of course we need to bounce back against CoC first.
We have some pieces in place this year that will give opponents fits, and we have competitive youth that should only improve. If these guys will completely sell out for the TEAM, then we'll be ok.
Excuses in full swing already.
I'm not in the mood for this crap this year.
You and I have been posting on the same forums for years. I have been both critical and laudatory of UK basketball at various times. I have been called both a Tubby Lover and a Tubby Basher. I have been accused of longing for Rick Pitino because I fairly point out his success here.
The season is young, and I have not given up on this team yet. If and when I do, you will hear about, and I will not sugar coat it. Be critical of the team all you want, but leave me out of it.
blueheretic wrote: Aike wrote: 5 games in 8 days and travel to Maui is enough of a reason to hit a wall. It happens to NBA teams all the time, and they're full of the best conditioned athletes in the world.
We will know a lot more about this team after our next two games. I'm not convinced that a well-rested squad can't go down to Chapel Hill a week from Saturday and give them a game. Of course we need to bounce back against CoC first.
We have some pieces in place this year that will give opponents fits, and we have competitive youth that should only improve. If these guys will completely sell out for the TEAM, then we'll be ok.
Excuses in full swing already.
I. Melvin
11-23-2006, 08:57 AM
Whatever.
But no one should beat the University of Kentucky by seventeen points.
Especially on a neutral court.
ukbob
11-23-2006, 08:57 AM
Aike wrote: I'm not in the mood for this crap this year.
You and I have been posting on the same forums for years. I have been both critical and laudatory of UK basketball at various times. I have been called both a Tubby Lover and a Tubby Basher. I have been accused of longing for Rick Pitino because I fairly point out his success here.
The season is young, and I have not given up on this team yet. If and when I do, you will hear about, and I will not sugar coat it. Be critical of the team all you want, but leave me out of it.
blueheretic wrote: Aike wrote: 5 games in 8 days and travel to Maui is enough of a reason to hit a wall. It happens to NBA teams all the time, and they're full of the best conditioned athletes in the world.
We will know a lot more about this team after our next two games. I'm not convinced that a well-rested squad can't go down to Chapel Hill a week from Saturday and give them a game. Of course we need to bounce back against CoC first.
We have some pieces in place this year that will give opponents fits, and we have competitive youth that should only improve. If these guys will completely sell out for the TEAM, then we'll be ok.
Excuses in full swing already.
:thumbup
Andrew
11-23-2006, 11:03 AM
Memphis played four in seven. A pretty negligible difference.
trublue4life wrote: FatCatDaddy wrote: Why were we tired? Memphis played three games in three days the same as us, shouldn't they have been equally tired? Quit with the excuses Tubster.
We played 5 games in 8 days, a pretty ridiculous schedule when you throw in the travel time to Maui with the time difference, We left a lot on the court in coming back from 17 down to UCLA, while if you watched Memphis vs. Georgia Tech you saw that Memphis left practically nothing on the court. After shooting themselves into a big lead they basically took the 2nd half off as Georgia Tech blew them out of the gym. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, left a lot on the court that night and had basically the same result against UCLA that we had against Memphis. For whatever reason, mounting huge comebacks (both us and Tech) tends to take more out of you than playing with a lead from start to finish. Not making excuses, just stating reality. We looked like we lost our legs in the 2nd half. Memphis looked like they had more energy.
Stretch
11-23-2006, 12:58 PM
Jared Carter going down hurt us a lot inside. Morris can't play 35 minutes at a Memphis-type pace, period.
DCWildcat
11-23-2006, 01:05 PM
FatCatDaddy wrote: Why were we tired? Memphis played three games in three days the same as us, shouldn't they have been equally tired? Quit with the excuses Tubster.
As usual, the massive distinction between an explanation and an excuse gets ignored. Did Tubby even hint at trying to shift the blame? Because of he didn't, it's not an excuse.
We shouldn't have been tired. That is our fault. And Tubby didn't blame that on anyone.
Blame him for not getting the team in proper shape, but don't blame him for making excuses.
RP_McMurphy
11-23-2006, 03:19 PM
The problems are obvious to any and all who follow college basketball. Kentucky has at best mediocre talent on the frontline. Poor recruiting has left Kentucky barren of top notch talent upfront. One injury to Jared Carter has left Kentucky leaving it's starters in far too long during games. I warned folks that this was the case scenario back during the spring recruiting season. No amount of conditioning work will improve Perry's, Thomas's and Obrzut's talent level. This is not a attack on them but the honest truth that they do not have the god given talent level to compete at a high level in the college basketball world of today. Right now teams we play understand the talent problems we have and are attacking us right now in our problem area. Unless Kentucky magically gets a top notch inside player right now (sorry Ramon Harris is not that player). I see another 10-12 loss season.
phoenix
11-23-2006, 06:10 PM
RP_McMurphy wrote: The problems are obvious to any and all who follow college basketball. Kentucky has at best mediocre talent on the frontline. Poor recruiting has left Kentucky barren of top notch talent upfront. One injury to Jared Carter has left Kentucky leaving it's starters in far too long during games. I warned folks that this was the case scenario back during the spring recruiting season. No amount of conditioning work will improve Perry's, Thomas's and Obrzut's talent level. This is not a attack on them but the honest truth that they do not have the god given talent level to compete at a high level in the college basketball world of today. Right now teams we play understand the talent problems we have and are attacking us right now in our problem area. Unless Kentucky magically gets a top notch inside player right now (sorry Ramon Harris is not that player). I see another 10-12 loss season.
The talent level inside is obviously a problem, but we don't have to have top talent in every position to live pretty well. We discovered the inside vulnerability with the first game, and is it all players, or coaching and practice at this point? I am thinking it was a vulnerability that wasn't anticipated as such a big problem when the season started. There has not been time to fix it. 5 games in 8 days, resting in between games, and only one game against patsies. I am sure that opposing coaches had time to scout the Miami of Ohio game and plan at least part of their attack. I believe this vulnerability can be mended at least somewhat by practice and coaching. Hard to do in a string of games like this, and hard to defend hard when one of your offensive weapons is also part of the primary defense against o's attack and has no good backup in the position. I am thinking Tubby can patch this together to a usable defense. May need to rethink his schemes. Freshmen obviously need work on the defense when they are in there. I also think the whole team and Tubby will have to rethink their willingness to give fouls instead of layups, imo they gave way to many layups and when fouling did not foul effectively inside the paint at all, too many "and one's".
I think this is the best offensive team we have had for quite a while and offensively it is a deep team. Jasper may need to move up to starting guard but he isn't ready imo. Meeks needs to play a lot also, but he isn't ready yet. I think Tubby will shape the team into an even better unit as the season goes on, and I think we are good now, in spite of all the hand wringing, crying, complaining, finger pointing, faithless fans out here in netland. I think Tubby will get everybody squared up and make the interior much tighter as time goes on.
TrueblueCATfan
11-23-2006, 06:15 PM
blueheretic wrote: Aike wrote: 5 games in 8 days and travel to Maui is enough of a reason to hit a wall. It happens to NBA teams all the time, and they're full of the best conditioned athletes in the world.
We will know a lot more about this team after our next two games. I'm not convinced that a well-rested squad can't go down to Chapel Hill a week from Saturday and give them a game. Of course we need to bounce back against CoC first.
We have some pieces in place this year that will give opponents fits, and we have competitive youth that should only improve. If these guys will completely sell out for the TEAM, then we'll be ok.
Excuses in full swing already.:shrug::shrug:
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