3 reasons we lost...

[Wildcats Fan Board]

1. Devin booker - wisc made its to biggest runs of the game when he was in. Ryan saw the mismatch, and took advantage of it! Wonder why it took cal so long to see this!

2. Rebounding - we love to have seen our bigs go after rebounds with 2 hands, rather that swatting the ball away! I have wondered all season why we do not box out!

3. Officiating - felt like I was watching an sec crew!!! God audio refs.

Holding the ball on offense almost made my top three, but I really don't see whom to ble that on; players, cal, or wisc's defense.

Thoughts?

 

[JerseyCat84_rivals57050]

4. Willie was no where to be found.

 

[chattanoogawildcat]

Originally posted by goten170:
1. wisc made its to biggest runs
2. we love to have seen our bigs

wow

 

[WCBcats]

Not grabbing the rebound on willie's tipped ball

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Kaminsky
Deckker
Youth

 

[RACdad]

Watching Willie tonight it felt like he had 1 foot out the door. But the rebounds cost UK the game.

 

[KYlady_rivals376851]

What I saw

Lyles nervous in the beginning
Booker mismatch was obvious
Cal should have called timeout when we were up by 4 and didn't score that first possession
Refs were TERRIBLE
We did NOT play our best game
Willie didn't show up at all.
Alex Poythress and Aaron Harrison injuries

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Phantom call on Aaron Harrison when trying to box out Dugan when the shot clock was at 1.

Ignoring the shot clock violation.

Phantom call for Dekker while he was driving.

Ignoring the non-establishing of Koenig when he go the ball back in bounds.

That's 8 points for Wisconsin, and likely an 10-12 point swing.


Refs made their impact felt. Ignoring this is really lacking the scope of objectivity in the game. Yes, UK failed to make plays in the last 4 minutes, but in a 1 possession game, giving four possession scores to Wisconsin DID make a difference.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Originally posted by Son_Of_Saul:

Phantom call on Aaron Harrison when trying to box out Dugan when the shot clock was at 1.

Ignoring the shot clock violation.

Phantom call for Dekker while he was driving.

Ignoring the non-establishing of Koenig when he go the ball back in bounds.

That's 8 points for Wisconsin, and likely an 10-12 point swing.


Refs made their impact felt. Ignoring this is really lacking the scope of objectivity in the game. Yes, UK failed to make plays in the last 4 minutes, but in a 1 possession game, giving four possession scores to Wisconsin DID make a difference.

It was either that or the Mob taking out one or two of our players. Look on the bright side.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Originally posted by KWilt43atbuzz:

Originally posted by Son_Of_Saul:

Phantom call on Aaron Harrison when trying to box out Dugan when the shot clock was at 1.

Ignoring the shot clock violation.

Phantom call for Dekker while he was driving.

Ignoring the non-establishing of Koenig when he go the ball back in bounds.

That's 8 points for Wisconsin, and likely an 10-12 point swing.


Refs made their impact felt. Ignoring this is really lacking the scope of objectivity in the game. Yes, UK failed to make plays in the last 4 minutes, but in a 1 possession game, giving four possession scores to Wisconsin DID make a difference.

It was either that or the Mob taking out one or two of our players. Look on the bright side.

Nah, I'd just prefer a fair game sometime instead of the predictable injustice that permeates the NCAA's system.

 

[katman55]

Trying to play stall ball with a 4 point lead was the primary reason we lost.

 

[tank2009]

This sums it up well!!!!

Officials should be ashamed!!!

 

[jes95407]

1. Overconfidence (side effect of the streak) - showed up in gradual decline in defense as season progressed


2. Pressure (side effect of the streak) - showed up with some of our freshman in the tourney


3. Outside Interests: (side effect of the streak) - showed up in officiating/comments about vegas, etc


If the NCAA tourney was played in November...no team in the tourney comes with 15 or 20 pts of the Cats. They were without a doubt the best team in the country, but the streak wears on you.

This post was edited on 4/6 12:32 AM by js40484

This post was edited on 4/6 12:36 AM by js40484

 

[dave5164]

Coach Cal said in the Post-game conference that he didn't want us to stall. I do believe that but if that is true then after the 1st 30 sec violation coach should have a called a timeout and inserted Ullis to finish with gameplan. Coach Cal could have also saw this right away in 1st violation and immediately just inserted Ullis with instructions for rest of game. I was so hoping we get Ullis in the game to finish that 3-4 minutes. I really like when Ullis is in directing the offense and making great passes and assets and when he is open he knocks down outside shots and 3 point shots. He is such a better shooter that I thought he would be coming in at UK this year. That was the mistake I saw was not getting Ullis in there to lead in last 3-4 minutes of the game. Ullis makes plays happen so much easier and is so smooth when making the pass or if he is open and knocking down the shot or 3.

 

[Wall2Boogie]

1. Karl towns walk
2. Derek Willis not cheering hard enough
3. Lyles thick neck
4. Shady dealings in Vegas and they sent pat Adams a message to his pager tell him to call things for Wisconsin.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Originally posted by dave5164:

Coach Cal said in the Post-game conference that he didn't want us to stall. I do believe that but if that is true then after the 1st 30 sec violation coach should have a called a timeout and inserted Ullis to finish with gameplan. Coach Cal could have also saw this right away in 1st violation and immediately just inserted Ullis with instructions for rest of game. I was so hoping we get Ullis in the game to finish that 3-4 minutes. I really like when Ullis is in directing the offense and making great passes and assets and when he is open he knocks down outside shots and 3 point shots. He is such a better shooter that I thought he would be coming in at UK this year. That was the mistake I saw was not getting Ullis in there to lead in last 3-4 minutes of the game. Ullis makes plays happen so much easier and is so smooth when making the pass or if he is open and knocking down the shot or 3.

Cal went defensive unit in the clutch.

I would have preferred Lyles at the 4, with no Willie in the last 3 minutes due to UK's ineffective defense down the stretch. Easy to rethink everything in retrospect, but UK's offensive sets down the stretch were nightmarish. Perhaps a unit of Towns/Lyles/Harrison/Harrison/Ulis (or Booker) would have given UK the fluidity they needed.

 

[IIIBradIII]

Kids and coaches are expected to make mistakes. An officiating crew is expected to as well, but then ensure the mistakes even out. The officiatinjg crew blatantly gave wisc 4 pts that cannot be argued, and arguably 8 pts. This is 100% on that officiating crew. Coaches and players cannot be demanded to cover for officials' sins.

 

[The_Answer1313_rivals]

I'm not one to blame refs but it's true.

I mean it's not like a block/charge call. Shot clock violations are pretty clear cut. You either get a shot off or you don't and they clearly did not.

Tho I suppose Lyles should have been called for a Flagrant 1 before tho.


The rebounding was a bad matchup for us IMO. We are so good at offensive rebounding but they are so good at defensive rebounding. Their strength beat ours. The flipside was the offensive boards they got.........that was surprising.

 

[Kats23]

1. Bad defensive pressure/rebounding.

2. Poor in-game adjustments

3. Poor officiating

 

[RHFD]

Originally posted by kats23:
1. Bad defensive pressure/rebounding.

2. Poor in-game adjustments

3. Poor officiating

# 1 Yes
# 2 Yes
# 3 no there were bad calls on both teams.

 

[Graves51]

Stall ball at 60-56, and YES Ulis would have done much better running the offense!!!!

 

[UofKBlue]

You want to talk about points the refs gave Wisconsin but fail to point out the 3 points they took from Wisconsin on that awful charge call late in the 2nd half. Yes, the offensive player should never leave his feet on a pass, but no way was Harrison set.

Listen, the refs were terrible, but it wasn't like it was all one sided. Yes, the shot clock violation was highway robbery, but so too was the charge call that negated their 3 pointer.

 

[Blueathletics]

Originally posted by goten170:
1. Devin booker - wisc made its to biggest runs of the game when he was in. Ryan saw the mismatch, and took advantage of it! Wonder why it took cal so long to see this!

2. Rebounding - we love to have seen our bigs go after rebounds with 2 hands, rather that swatting the ball away! I have wondered all season why we do not box out!

3. Officiating - felt like I was watching an sec crew!!! God audio refs.

Holding the ball on offense almost made my top three, but I really don't see whom to ble that on; players, cal, or wisc's defense.

Thoughts?

The greatest rebounder of all time for his size, Rodman, said he NEVER worried about boxing out.....He first said rebounding was all about having the 'will' to do it

Secondly, he said he would learn the flight of the ball and the angle it was going to come off of the rim and got to that spot.....He said if he couldn't get there in time he at least would try to tip the ball to himself

So compared to Rodman, our guys are being taught the OPPOSITE; box out and grab the ball with both hands.....So many times you can't grab it with both hands so then what?

 

[Tannerdad]

Not in any order:

1. Switiching on all screens. Cannot do that against teams like them.
2. 3 possessions up 4 where we had shot clock violations. No timeouts or adjustment made. Killer
3. They were better at 2 positions. Kaminsky >>>>Willie. Decker >>>>All others
4. Rebounding. We were a piss poor defensive rebounding team all year and it killed us Saturday.

 

[Crawfords Corner]

There are poor calls and then there are game changing calls. If you can't tell the difference then intelligence isn't a strong suit. A missed call 10 seconds in to the game doesn't carry the same weight as a missed call in a tight game with under 2 minutes left. To rationalize it tells people all they need to know about you. There was no gray area with either call. There was a failure to re-establish which gave a team 2 unearned points. Then there was a clear shot clock violation that gave the other team 2 more unearned points.

Did it cost UK the game? No, it did not. Their poor play took care of that. There was a failure all night to get 50/50 balls. Wisconsin simply wanted them more. They were -12 point from 3, -9 from the foul line, and -12 on the glass. There was some poor coaching decisions. There was a newly crowned AA named WCS that was a no-show. There was poor defensive intensity and too many missed assignments. It was, without a doubt, one of if not the worst played games by the Cats all season. If not for their strong will to win they would have been blown out like they should have been. Was it the undefeated record? I don't know, but it was simply not a very well played game. Kudos to Wisconsin for taking advantage and sealing the deal. Survive and advance. Kentucky didn't and left early.

 

[fuzz77]

Originally posted by Blueathletics:

Originally posted by goten170:
1. Devin booker - wisc made its to biggest runs of the game when he was in. Ryan saw the mismatch, and took advantage of it! Wonder why it took cal so long to see this!

2. Rebounding - we love to have seen our bigs go after rebounds with 2 hands, rather that swatting the ball away! I have wondered all season why we do not box out!

3. Officiating - felt like I was watching an sec crew!!! God audio refs.

Holding the ball on offense almost made my top three, but I really don't see whom to ble that on; players, cal, or wisc's defense.

Thoughts?

The greatest rebounder of all time for his size, Rodman, said he NEVER worried about boxing out.....He first said rebounding was all about having the 'will' to do it

Secondly, he said he would learn the flight of the ball and the angle it was going to come off of the rim and got to that spot.....He said if he couldn't get there in time he at least would try to tip the ball to himself

So compared to Rodman, our guys are being taught the OPPOSITE; box out and grab the ball with both hands.....So many times you can't grab it with both hands so then what?

You must have not watched Rodman play. Perhaps he didn't worry about boxing out because he did it instinctively...I don't know but I do know that more times than not he had position on his man to give him an advantage. If you allow your opponent to get position on you, you will rarely get the rebound.

 

[gamecockcat]

Here are some reasons I think we lost:

1. We were not very quick on the wings this year (or several years, for that matter). For all of our length, when teams were able to pull our bigs out, we were taken advantage of (UGa, ND, WI).
2. Other than Ulis, our guards are not very quick. Harrisons and Booker are all athletic, BIG guards. They are not especially quick and are mediocre one-on-one, on-the-ball defenders.They are very good about funnelling drivers into the paint where our bigs eat them up. However, against WI, the bigs were pulled away guarding their bigs who are threats to shoot a jumper. When their guards or 3 broke down our defender there weren't any UK bigs in the paint to stop shots.
3. Towns and Lyles are both very athletic and very good basketball players. None of our other bigs can claim that. WCS - very athletic, very limited as a basketball player (offensively, especially, but not an elite rebounder either, curiously). DJ - not very athletic and did not continue to develop this year. ML - very athletic, no clue how to actually play basketball at an elite level yet.
4. Inconsistent outside shooting. Booker was hot and cold all year but especially cold late in the year. Ulis was steady but not spectacular. Both Harrisons shot, what, 40% from the field for the year? Not exactly dead-eyes. Other than Lyles, no other frontcourt player was a threat to hit a 10-footer. No one.
5. Too many trips down the floor where the first 25-30 seconds of offense consisted of tossing the ball back and forth and the 2 half-heartedly jogging through the lane to the other side. Don't think we need to run 'plays' per se, but every one of these kids have played ball forever. How about letting them space the floor, make screens, pick and roll, backcut, etc. like they've been doing for the past 15 years? The lazy tossing the ball around the perimeter without even making a move towards the basket is just infuriating.


My thoughts on who goes and who stays:
1. Towns - gone
2. WCS - gone
3. Lyles - gone
Those 3 for sure, I'm thinking, although I think WCS is a project and will have to really improve to stick in the NBA.

1. Booker - may leave, definitely needs another year in CBB to improve his consistency shooting and defensive skills
2. Both Harrisons - may leave, definitely need to improve more; hear they are late first to undrafted now; what is the benefit to leaving then? Stick around and improve your status. Either way, not convinced either is athletic enough or elite enough at any one skill to stick in the NBA
3. Dakari - if he leaves, it's a major mistake; not nearly ready for NBA and will probably never get out of the D-league
4. Lee, Ulis, et al - all stay and should stay

 

[AGEE11]

1 - No call when two Wisconsin player fouled Lyles on his put back (third shot clock violation). Kaminsky and a guard each had on of his arms.

2 - 37 second shot clock to ensure Wisconsin scored

3 - Flop by Dekker


By the way, this was 3 straight possessions and erased our lead and put a good free throw shooting team that was gassed in a position to score from the stripe and win.

 

[SLONER67]

Originally posted by JerseyCat84:
4. Willie was no where to be found.

Yeah sorry, but I think Willie not showing up was a HUGE reason. I love the guy and am very thankful for all he did but if getting to play in the Final Four and a chance to win the title was his reason for coming back...why didn't he show the passion in this game? I have no question that Wisconsin's players and their execution had something to do with it but come on. WCS was "Defensive Player of the Year"...it sure didn't look like it in this game. Dekker ate him (and everyone else who guarded him) alive!

That was the most disappointing part for me. I love WCS and I support whatever decision he makes. Selfishly, I would like to think that this loss stung enough for him to come back his senior year and play with Poythress to finally get that elusive NC. At the same time, if he decides to make the jump (and he likely will), I wish him nothing but the best. Maybe he can get on with the 76ers and play along with Nerlens...that could be a pretty good pairing.

 

[SLONER67]

Originally posted by katman55:
Trying to play stall ball with a 4 point lead was the primary reason we lost.

Yeah, I'm not going there with the officiating excuse. There were enough bad calls on both sides of the ball. That no call on an obvious "Flagrant #1 foul for Lyles" was ridiculous. Lyles definitely should have been called for a Flagrant #1 and wasn't. How they could have reviewed that and still not get it right was beyond me.

The shot clock violation miss was huge as well but like I said...the calls were called bad on both sides pretty evenly IMO. The major difference was very poor rebounding and the "Tubby Ball" we played down the stretch. We decided to abandon attack mode and that was when I knew we were done. Wisconsin attacked from the beginning to the very end. We played on our heels nearly the entire game. We finally ran up against a team that was just good enough to take advantage of our poor execution and finally finish us off. Hats off to a well-prepared Wisconsin team.

 

[wildcatdonf]

ReboundingSecond half officiatingInability to get the ball to KAT

 

[SLONER67]

Originally posted by wildcatdonf:


Rebounding
Second half officiating
Inability to get the ball to KAT

I respectfully disagree on the "Officiating"...yes, officiating was poor but it was poor on both sides. I believe it was pretty equally bad on both sides.

We just didn't execute and Wisconsin did. We didn't prepare and Wisconsin did. The results speak for themselves. In the best of 3, I believe we win 2 out of 3...unfortunately, we'll never know because it is 1 loss and you go home.

38-1 is still very impressive...but I would (as pretty much all of us) much rather be 31-9 National Champions than 38-1 bowing out at the Final Four. Looks like Wisconsin got the last laugh for now.

I'm still love my Wildcats but this loss definitely stings a lot.

 

[SLONER67]

Originally posted by tank2009:
This sums it up well!!!!

Officials should be ashamed!!!

If the officials were 100% perfect on their calls, I still think we would have lost last night. We just simply didn't execute and they did. We didn't plan and they did. That was the difference everyone.

 

[C1180]

Lack of consistent shooters.

Lackadaisical rebounding


WCS deciding to be a no show for the game.

 

[minjo]

All of the reasons mentioned are valid, but throw away all and stress on blatant favoritism of the refs towards Wisconsin was the biggest factor. The mailn culprit? None other than Sin City bastards.

 

[Xzander]

3 shot clock violations are 1, 2 and number 3 reason why we lost.

Everything else we over came to take the lead with 5 mins left. get 6 more points and nothing else would of mattered.

 

[ManitouDan_anon]

Their bigs were better than our bigs ( except KAT )
We didnt rebound well. We somehow forgot how to defend a simple pick n roll . Cal got too impatient with the platoons , stopped playing 9-10 people and kept WSC and DJ in the game too much . So we were to easy to defend .
We gave away the game in the last 5 minutes . Pressure got to us ?

 

[Hoskins91_rivals]

Originally posted by C1180:

Lack of consistent shooters.

Lackadaisical rebounding


WCS deciding to be a no show for the game.

Shooting wasn't the problem. We had a good offensive outing for the most part. It was the end game execution that killed us. 3-point defense and rebounding were the two things other than that.