[Cactus Jack]

You just can't overstate the value of having experienced players on the floor, especially in crunch time in a big time environment.

There are plenty of differences between this Kentucky team and teams of the past, but you get the feeling that most of the players on this team know that this might be the highest level that they reach and their opportunity to seize the moment whereas past teams might have known in the back of their mind that there would likely be much bigger and better things awaiting in life after UK.

For a guy like Jamal Butler or Andrew Carr, this is probably it. For a guy like Jaxson Robinson or Brandon Garrison, these are the moments that may make the difference in getting to the next level. Couple that with their experience and you get the impression that there's another level of hunger that might have been lacking before.

Brandon Garrison is a former McDonald's All-American on his second school that looks like he'll be one of our foundational pieces during his Junior season next year. Imagine taking someone we've had a huge hand in developing and the predictability that comes with it instead of an unknown freshman with more stars. Remember watching Johnny Juzang "throw daggers" for UCLA in the Final Four? Bryce Hopkins for Providence? Garrison will be higher on draft boards but won't be pushed down the bench.

How great was it to see Pope go for the home run on one of the final inbounds plays? Or just to see points off of an inbound under our basket? Heck, a sideout that wasn't something more than a bailout lob into the backcourt?

How about not having to hear cliches during the post-game presser?

It's definitely the honeymoon phase with Pope. I don't mean to be a complete pessimist, as there'll certainly be moments if he sticks around long enough, but he's knocked it out of the park so far.



The Ugly:

- I don't know the exact numbers from the point that Maluach started going out (due to stoppages) but Duke was in control and you can probably run any advanced statistic that you'd like but the point differential between periods where he was healthy and effective versus those when he was on the bench or receiving treatment and see a HUGE difference.

- Koby Brea cannot guard. He wasn't brought in to defend, but there's a reason the most efficient shooter in college basketball was the 6th man at a mid-major. With Butler, Oweh, Williams, and spurts from Garrison, it's not as if he's going to need to lock anyone down for us to win, but he was just getting cooked out there. He's coming off a back surgery and at the point in his career where what you see is probably what you are going to get, and he obviously brings a lot to the table, but there are going to be some nights in SEC play where the starter that a Mississippi State, Missouri, or Texas A&M tries to hide on offense just goes to work on him and Pope is forced into a decision. Late in games, he's probably too much of a target not to consider offensive/defensive substitutions, and when he's stuck out there, he might as well be on an island. Hopefully he's hot enough that we can bite the bullet and trade 3's for 2's.

- Andrew Carr was getting worked early as well. He has better length, defensive effort, and a higher basketball IQ than Brea, but you don't have to close your eyes and squint too hard to imagine a world where he's a defensive liability against more athletic bigs. Maybe it was Duke's familiarity from his time at Wake or the fact that they were trying to take advantage of Flagg and other match-ups they thought they had, but you could tell that they were looking for him early.

- Kerr Kriisa. I'm going to digress so I can draw an analogy. In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks knocked off the LeBron Heat "Superteam" in the NBA Finals. ESPN's "The Sports Guy" Bill Simmonds wrote an article about what NBA championship teams need and "irrational confidence". Without looking it up, the gist of what he said seemed to be that underdogs like the Mavs needed at least: one sure-fire Hall of Famer in his prime (Dirk), one Hall of Famer outside of his peak (Kidd), a solid role player (Tyson Chandler), and one player who wasn't even an All-Star but had the mentality that he's a Hall of Famer (Jason Terry). If you hadn't already guessed, Kriisa is most likely Jason Terry-- tons of irrational confidence. That isn't a bad thing. If the team is ice cold, there's five seconds left, and you need to draw up something for someone, even if he's 0-10 at the moment, Kriisa has the confidence in himself to create something and think he's going to make the next one. That's a double-edged sword. Tonight, he hit a big three that lifted us during a comeback, then took a not-so-great look from deep in the next two possessions. He's in his fifth year of eligibility, so what you see is most likely what you'll get; and trying too hard to tame him risks ruining what makes him valuable, but there'll probably be a game or two where he completely saves us and three to five more where he makes fans want to pull their hair out.

- Collin Chandler. I believe most of the hype and think he eventually spends around 2-3 years in the NBA if he stays healthy, but his time away from the game hurt his immediate trajectory. He probably leads the team in scoring as a Junior, but we need to pump the breaks on any real breakout this season unless it's in February or March (if at all). As is, he played two minutes and never really seemed in the flow. On a night where Butler was in early foul trouble and Robinson was less than his best, that was a bit telling.