A Few UAB/UK Post-Game Observations

Lwcat
Wildcats Thunder Administrator

Obviously, all UK fans are very disappointed in today's loss to UAB. Some UK fans are near meltdown, but none of this is a shock or surprising!

Watching the game and looking at the box score a few things are obvious.

1) UK shot about as good as they can...57.1% from the field and 48% from 3 point range (12-25..3 pointers is outstanding shooting)

2) UK shot a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line

3) UK out rebounded UAB 28-23.

4) UK also had 20 assists

5) Offensively, this was the best UK has played this year

OK...Then why did UK lose?

1) The Cats had 18 TO's....far too many and they came at bad times during the game.....UAB, in contrast had only 9 TO's......and virtually none down the stretch.

2) Poor ball handling, passing and decision making is a huge reason why UK lost this game. Harris alone had 5 TO's in only 12 minutes on the court. The fact is that poor ball handling, lazy passes, dribbling into traffic and overall poor decision making has been a huge problem for this UK team during virtually every game this year.

3) Others have pointed out UK's ineptness against a zone defense and I agree....the Cats have got to learn out to deal with a zone defense this year because they will see a lot of zones. Importantly, to attack a zone you need good ball handlers and without Meeks or Jasper.....it's tough sledding!

4) UK still isn't getting the ball to Patterson enough.....he had 9 shots from the field and made 8. Again, getting the ball to Patterson is a twofold challenge....first, the players have got to make it a top priority each time down the court and second they have to execute the passes without TO's. There lies the problem....the players forget about Patterson too much during the game and unfortunately UK isn't blessed with players who can break down the defense and get a good pass to Patterson very often.

5) The Cats are too often playing 3 on 5 against most teams this year....right now we have 3 SEC caliber players playing....Bradley, Crawford and Patterson. It is looking more and more unlikely that Meeks or Jasper will play much, if at all, this year.

6) The margin for error this year is very small....no matter who the opponent is. The Cats played their best game this year and still lost, but if they had handled the ball better they could have won this game....it was a tough loss as UK needs a win badly.

Lastly, we must give UAB credit....they were in a zone with their shooting in the 2nd half....they shot 70% including 64% from 3 point range. Yes, some of it was poor defense, but they also made some tough shots. As an aside, I felt the foul call against Patterson at the end of the game was a horrible call.

Cat fans....prepare yourself for a tough year.....I know everyone is tired of hearing it.....but the Cats simply don't have the talent this year. We are what we are......a team that will be lucky to reach .500 and get a NIT bid.