I thought the line would be a little higher than that. A 4 point spread makes me a little nervous. I am sure Michigan St. will play with some urgency since they already have 1 loss in this young season. We better be ready to ball.
Kentucky opens as -4 vs Michigan St.
- Thread starter Gingercatsfan
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its going to be a mentally tough game no doubt about it.
We have the endurance to play 3 games in a weeks time.
We have the endurance to play 3 games in a weeks time.
I'd say that sounds right to me. This will turn into a scrap and bite type of contest. I'm really interested in seeing our defense against Mich St.
https://www.landof10.com/michigan-state/michigan-state-basketball-injury-updates-gavin-schilling
Schilling out. Which means Bridges is essentially the biggest player left who will be a factor, at 6-7.
It will be Nick Ward and Miles Bridges.. the only two players over 6-6. They are in trouble down low. Bam will beast on them, and if he gets into foul trouble (You better believe the officials will even up the depth issues), then Hump will deliver. After that, we still have Willis, SKJ, and Gabriel to work the middle.
We need Brisoce and Fox to shutdown the smaller guards, and Gabriel to shutdown the bigger guards. That's about it. Just don't be totally cold shooting and it's a win.
Schilling out. Which means Bridges is essentially the biggest player left who will be a factor, at 6-7.
It will be Nick Ward and Miles Bridges.. the only two players over 6-6. They are in trouble down low. Bam will beast on them, and if he gets into foul trouble (You better believe the officials will even up the depth issues), then Hump will deliver. After that, we still have Willis, SKJ, and Gabriel to work the middle.
We need Brisoce and Fox to shutdown the smaller guards, and Gabriel to shutdown the bigger guards. That's about it. Just don't be totally cold shooting and it's a win.
UK should touch the post each time down the court or they're being foolish. We have 2 bigs out. UK should go at Ward and Bridges and try to get foul trouble. There's no point in jacking threes and trying to win on athleticism when you can go inside relentlessly.
Anyhow, I look for UK by about 10. This MSU team is young and injured. We may have a good team at the end of the year but we're going to take some licks early on. Izzo's presser wasn't too thrilling if you're an MSU fan. He knows what he'll be up against.
You guys realize they lost more than we did last year, right?
No Valentine (top5 college player last year).
No Costello
No Schilling (injury)
No Davis
No Forbes
Langford and Goins, who will play, are still hobbled. It's Miles Bridges, and that's about it.
Meanwhile while we lost Murray and Ulis.. losing Skal really meant nothing. Our frontcourt is already exponentially improved after just 2 games.
No Valentine (top5 college player last year).
No Costello
No Schilling (injury)
No Davis
No Forbes
Langford and Goins, who will play, are still hobbled. It's Miles Bridges, and that's about it.
Meanwhile while we lost Murray and Ulis.. losing Skal really meant nothing. Our frontcourt is already exponentially improved after just 2 games.
It always seems that when we have a big size advantage we lose the battle of the boards, even though you would think we should crush the undersized opponent.
Michigan State, even though they are not a tall team, crashes the glass like Izzo teams always do. It wouldn't surprise me if they kicked our tails on the glass. Our guys ball watch to much. They see the shot go up, but they are not looking for rebounding position or for a guy to put a body on. Young teams go through this, but doing that against MSU is a recipe for a negative statline in the rebounding column.
MSU had a lot of turnovers against Zona, but they played like they always do, so our guys better buckle their chinstraps.
Not both but one of those 2 need to play big . If both do we win by 20 IMO. I am assumming Briscoe and Fox get there normal #'s in that.
Ha, it does always seem to be that way. Even as I wrote that I was like "Watch, they'll out-rebound us by 7". Izzo teams are strong, but the early word is that this team is not up to par (from what I've read). Much like Kentucky over the past 7 years, Izzo is finally having to deal with a mass exodus and a young team, along with several injuries to account for.
I think Briscoe, Gabriel and Hump will stay focused. It would not surprise me to see Bam and Monk have off games as they are still adjusting. Fox should be at the very least decent this game.
You shut down or slow down Bridges, which we have two players who can do this, and it will be very tough for them. They just don't have the bodies to stop us. Cansius popped us in the mouth early (glad they did) while we shot very poorly.. still won by like 25.
MSU has been a very tough opponent over the years. We are 12-11 lifetime. And a poor 4-6 the last 10 matchups.
This will be a bloodbath. It'll be close the first 5-10 minutes, then Kentucky will steamroll Michigan State.
Not a betting guy but I'd take the pts with UK, wasn't blown away by MSU's first game and feel that Monk, Bam and/or Willis are due to have a breakout game.
FWIW, It was equal rebounding margin, but still impressive. However, Arizona is 10th, we're 2nd.. And I don't think their ranking reflects the abundance of players they lost this season. They are probably closer to un-ranked, after losing Smith and Trier. At the very least, the early pre-season losses totally shakes up the roster. Smith was a forward and Trier is a SG. Certainly doesn't help the rebounding abilities.
Arizona still has size, but I'm not sure any of it is that good..
Just looked around the time of my previous post.. I think ESPN must have corrected it.. I saw 34 to 34
Weird.. Arizona does have two 7 footers who played. But they must be garbage.
I like our rebounding abilities, with our lengthy players, and bulldogs like Briscoe and Gabriel.. Over a floundering Zona team. But we'll have to see more games, I guess.
Weird.. Arizona does have two 7 footers who played. But they must be garbage.
I like our rebounding abilities, with our lengthy players, and bulldogs like Briscoe and Gabriel.. Over a floundering Zona team. But we'll have to see more games, I guess.
UK has a negative rebounding margin after playing two little schools yet the line is now UK-5.
^^that was with a ton of freshman and very little in the way of returnees.
Briscoe, Willis, Hump, Dom, Mulder >>> WCS and Poy.
Briscoe, Willis, Hump, Dom, Mulder >>> WCS and Poy.
So what about Michigan state's one good player that is also a freshmen? Is he not going to be as intimidated as our higher ranked freshmen?
I get that MSU is coming off a tough loss to Arizona, and, well, it IS MSU - always play us close. Bridges is one helluva player; he'll be great in the NBA one day.
But, our guys should be pumped as well - Willis should want to come out on fire and prove he belongs in the lineup, after seeming to take a game off the other night. Briscoe will be Briscoe. Cal has had two games to view and figure out stuff that needs to be worked on.
What I think will happen is that we'll get punched in the teeth early; and, if this team is what I think they are - they'll come back. They'll fight hard to do it, probably foul out a couple of players, but ultimately, we should get this win.
crossing fingers
But, our guys should be pumped as well - Willis should want to come out on fire and prove he belongs in the lineup, after seeming to take a game off the other night. Briscoe will be Briscoe. Cal has had two games to view and figure out stuff that needs to be worked on.
What I think will happen is that we'll get punched in the teeth early; and, if this team is what I think they are - they'll come back. They'll fight hard to do it, probably foul out a couple of players, but ultimately, we should get this win.
crossing fingers
I'm not saying that at all geeez. This Michigan state team is not nearly as good as the last one UK played and their best player is a freshmen playing in his second game.
No, their 7 footers are not garbage. The reason why the rebounding stat line is odd is because one of their 7 footers is a Euro and he shoots 3's and hit a couple. So he's in poor position to rebound and he lacks post moves like most Euro bigs. It's mostly an issue of positioning.
They had another 6'11 guy but Zona has issues of injuries and guys leaving early too. Overall I'm a little disappointed we lost as I don't think Zona is that great but again, neither is MSU.
MSU is deceiving in these early games due to Izzo playing weird lineups. He always wants to play every combo he can so guys are used to playing in odd lineups if injuries or foul trouble occurs in March. It leads to losses and people always underestimate MSU teams. If he was more structured like a Coach K and played his usual lineup then I think overall you'd see MSU with a better Nov/Dec record. But that's my rant on MSU basketball. It frustrates many MSU fans, not just me but Izzo isn't changing for anyone.
Maybe not garbage, but nothing special at least as of now.
Didn't watch the game, but if Arizona's bigs were playing outside, then that answers the rebounding question. With PFs being out, Comanche just coming back from injury, and 7 footers playing outside, it's amazing the rebounding margin was equal. I like Kentucky's chances to win the rebounding battle.
By no means am I looking past MSU. This could VERY easily be a loss for us. But Izzo being "built for March" has to have an inverse property.. and that would be "Finds identity early in the season" (Or whatever you want to call it). They will take their lumps as they figure out their freshman, loss of production from last year, and injuries.
I like our chances, but Monk and Bam will have to play better.
One of Arizona's bigs played outside. The Euro guy, I don't remember his name. He has a smooth shot though and for a guy that's 7 foot, watch out. Next Dirk?
They had a traditional 7 foot and 6'11 center. We don't even have a center at the moment and won't until B10 season.
Again, I'd take UK by 10 roughly.
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