[Old School Hound]

Kentucky looks to have something special cooking. Very fun team to watch. Cal finally has the players who fit his system well. UK has guys who can beat their man off  the dribble and create shots for themselves and their teammates. They take care of the basketball and pass the ball well. And on top of that, they have some guys who can shoot the lights out. Very dangerous team come March. Absolutely destroyed a good Miami team that advanced to the Final Four last season. Sheppard's a keeper!!!

[Van Hagar]

Fun is the word, and it’s been a while since we’ve said that about one of Cal’s teams, maybe since the Fox and Monk year. Wagner misses the entire second half and we don’t miss a beat. If the chemistry isn’t thrown out of whack when the bigs return, we could be looking at a memorable season.

[Granny Bear]

I agree!!! I actually had so much fun watching that game last night!!! And it has been a while since I had fun like that, watching a UK basketball game!!

[Old School Hound]

I agree!!!  I actually had so much fun watching that game last night!!!  And it has been a while since I had fun like that, watching a UK basketball game!!

There's just a different vibe around the UK team this year. Cal and the coaches seem to be really engaged and excited about coaching this bunch. A couple of the new hires seem to have really paid dividends. One is the Welch guy. And, of course, they just have much better players. I don't care who the coach is, if the players are just average, then the team is gonna be mediocre. There's a lot of talent on this roster, last night. and much of this talent really fits what Cal likes to do. 

The Cats had a 3.25 :1  assist to turnover ratio last night against Miami. They have four guys who have a combined assist to TO ratio of 3.3 :1 on the season. That's insane.   AS A TEAM,  they are at about 2.5 : 1 on the season. Only had 3 turnovers at halftime last night, even with that phrenetic pace at which they playing.  Kentucky is averaging 94 points a game on the season, one of the tops in the nation. Sheppard was something like +35 in the +/- differential last night. If I'm not mistaken, I think he is #1 in the country(or close to it)  in +/-  on the season.  As Cal kept saying in his post-game presser, lots of good stuff!  Fun style of play, too.

---

Btw, I heard Jack Pilgrim say that, with the way Sheppard is playing, he could very well be a one and done after this season. I think Jack sniffed some glue after the big win last night. I totally disagree with his take there. Reed will be around for a good while.

[Granny Bear]

Reed performs better than Jeff, IMO. He is everywhere on defense!

[Bluecat]

First team in awhile that actually plays unselfishly and on the defensive end. Very fun to watch. And they shoot lights out. A lot of positive energy where nobody is looking to just get theirs. Be interesting to see what this team looks like once our bigs get in the mix.

[Granny Bear]

When the bigs do get back in the mix, I hope the chemistry doesn't suffer. The first 7 seem to have a mental connection on the floor.

[Van Hagar]

I agree!!!  I actually had so much fun watching that game last night!!!  And it has been a while since I had fun like that, watching a UK basketball game!!

There's just a different vibe around the UK team this year. Cal and the coaches seem to be really engaged and excited about coaching this bunch. A couple of the new hires seem to have really paid dividends. One is the Welch guy. And, of course, they just have much better players. I don't care who the coach is, if the players are just average, then the team is gonna be mediocre. There's a lot of talent on this roster, last night. and much of this talent really fits what Cal likes to do. 

The Cats had a 3.25 :1  assist to turnover ratio last night against Miami. They have four guys who have a combined assist to TO ratio of 3.3 :1 on the season. That's insane.   AS A TEAM,  they are at about 2.5 : 1 on the season. Only had 3 turnovers at halftime last night, even with that phrenetic pace at which they playing.  Kentucky is averaging 94 points a game on the season, one of the tops in the nation. Sheppard was something like +35 in the +/- differential last night. If I'm not mistaken, I think he is #1 in the country(or close to it)  in +/-  on the season.  As Cal kept saying in his post-game presser, lots of good stuff!  Fun style of play, too.

---

Btw, I heard Jack Pilgrim say that, with the way Sheppard is playing, he could very well be a one and done after this season. I think Jack sniffed some glue after the big win last night. I totally disagree with his take there. Reed will be around for a good while.

I agree with you on the one and done thing. Let’s not get that carried away just yet. Plus, with NIL now the kid is gonna make piles of legal cash while he’s at UK. But I do have to admit, I can see a scenario where Sheppard makes an NBA roster someday, something I NEVER would have believed watching him in high school.

[Wildcat_blue]

Kentucky looks to have something special cooking. Very fun team to watch. Cal finally has the players who fit his system well. UK has guys who can beat their man off  the dribble and create shots for themselves and their teammates. They take care of the basketball and pass the ball well. And on top of that, they have some guys who can shoot the lights out. Very dangerous team come March. Absolutely destroyed a good Miami team that advanced to the Final Four last season. Sheppard's a keeper!!!

Very well said!  I love Cal and if they win another national championship a lot will have to eat crow.  We’ll see how it all plays out in the end but as of now it’s exciting and we all feel the energy of big blue ready to roar!!!!!!

[Old School Hound]

Kentucky looks to have something special cooking. Very fun team to watch. Cal finally has the players who fit his system well. UK has guys who can beat their man off  the dribble and create shots for themselves and their teammates. They take care of the basketball and pass the ball well. And on top of that, they have some guys who can shoot the lights out. Very dangerous team come March. Absolutely destroyed a good Miami team that advanced to the Final Four last season. Sheppard's a keeper!!!

Very well said!  I love Cal and if they win another national championship a lot will have to eat crow.  We’ll see how it all plays out in the end but as of now it’s exciting and we all feel the energy of big blue ready to roar!!!!!!

I've always been a advocate of Cal. When Cal has his kind of players(plays that fit his system), his teams are really good. If Cal has a flaw, it's that he's stubborn. He won't adjust his style of play, even if he doesn't have the players that fit it. Instead of adjusting his style to fit his players, the players have to adjust to the style, and that's often disastrous.  Fortunately, this season, there is no adjusting necessary.

This team has guys who can beat their guys off the dribble and create shots for themselves and their teammates. The assist to turnover ratio shows that they are very adept at doing just  that. Gonna be a very fun season in Lexington. It takes some luck to win a national title but this team has all the ingredients to make a Final Four run, imo.

[Spud6]

This team is fun to watch and the fact that a Kentucky legends son is one that’s been a big part of this team makes it even more enjoyable.

[Old School Hound]

I appreciate you guys, and lady, joining in to discuss UK basketball. There hasn't been much interest in doing so the last couple of years . Talking and responding to myself last year had me feeling even more bat sh!t crazy than I already clearly am. Anyway, we should be able to have some fun discussions this season . We probably won't hear a lot from the Cal detractors, though, until they suffer their first bad loss. lol

[plantmanky]

Fire Cal

[Granny Bear]

[Old School Hound]

Fire Cal

You're about the silliest person I've ever come across. I've seen you post on three different boards and you post the same silly fecal content on all of them. The people on the baseball board calls you out for your crazy takes. At least when I post my craziness, I often have tongue firmly planted in cheek. Cal is a HOF coach for a reason. Cal seems to be getting his groove back. He looks 10 yrs younger than he did last season. Starting to win those blue chip recruits again, too. We might be beginning to see a repeat of those 2010-2015 Cal years. Go plant some shrubs and leave us real UK fans alone.

[Granny Bear]

Plantman isn't silly; he's colorful!!! I love to hear about his menu choices for football game nights!!

[Old School Hound]

Plantman isn't silly; he's colorful!!!  I love to hear about his menu choices for football game nights!!

Is he a vegetarian? Wonder if he eats those plant-based burgers?

[Granny Bear]

I tried one of those one time.  It tasted okay while eating it, but I tasted cardboard for the rest of the day!!
I won't do that again.

[Old School Hound]

I watched her play a lot of games. I've watched Reed play a lot of games. Lots of similarities. Fundamentally sound, great hands, super-competitive.

[Cactus Jack]

The significance of this win is fading fast. Unfortunately, the ACC isn't stocked full of ranked games that will let them make up much ground either. KenPom currently has them at #64 and they only have five remaining games against ranked teams (two against Clemson & North Carolina and one against Duke).

[Bluecat]

At the time this was a huge win but like you said it has lost its glare. Now the win over UNC was a big one. Of course everyone vents on the UNCW loss. Although I feel it was a bad loss, it hasn't really identified this team. It was a game I feel they lost due to getting over-hyped by beating Miami like they did. I do feel though this team is more focused and the ceiling is high for them.