Slow style of play from IU and the hoosiers hanging in there like a hair on a biscuit in the first half of the annual "rivalry" game. Its still a game till the second half starts then UK showed IU exactly what a (soon to be) great basketball team can do. What can you say other than UK didn’t act like a bunch of freshmen like they are supposed to be doing right now. If anything veterans Harris and Darius Miller are reacting like freshmen and like MOST freshmen in the NCAA they are watching from the bench. DeMarcus and his antics showed up again. This time he simply used the ball to pick up a kid. No worries he set him back down and appropriately acted as if he had done nothing. He didn’t get the foul he deserved but he did get to ride the pine for a while to make sure nothing is made out of it. Give the guy a break; he is a sasquatch without the hair. He is huge. Until you have stood next to him its hard to imagine a nearly 7 foot giant that has arms bigger than most peoples legs. I think he and Orton are seriously playing outside of their physical capabilities. They haven’t adjusted to the agility and finesse that is required to play with the best down low. I think that describes the foul situation pretty well. Big Cuz had only 16 minutes but managed 8 rebs and 14 pts while catching 4 fouls. A very solid effort from the guy who may be the man to go to when he is able to manage his psyche while playing on a high level.
How about Maurice (don’t call him Cheeks) Creek? What a freshman phenom. His 17 point first half, and our ability to foul away from the ball, kept IU into the game through the first half. Man o Man, in that second half, to see blue Jesus and his disciple Bledsoe so in sync brings a smile to my face. Walls 8 assists are a direct catalyst to the scoring we saw Bledsoe hitting; 4-5 from beyond the arc showed exactly how good Wall is in finding open people on the floor. He looks but doesn’t look and is impossible to read as a defender. His crisp passing has every UK player on alert so as not to be the kid JW breaks his nose with a strong pass. Pat just has that ability to be the guy night in, night out. Its almost as if he doesn’t exist minus his huge presence on the floor and his superior rebounding qualities. Those 15-20 points a night are worth something too, right? I still say we are missing two half players. One half is Darius Millers dark side where he isn’t afraid to be aggressive and the other is the sharp-shooting side of Darnell D. If either half shows up in any game we seriously have 6 super threats to guard.
Good signs abound especially once again in the latter half of the game: our team is acting like a bunch of veterans (minus Cuz) and not letting things get away from us. Cuz playing aggressive and NOT fouling out, Patrick proving again he is unstoppable and Bledsoe and Darnell hitting 3s. And the best sign of the game was DeAndre Liggins. I know some of the folks who follow this have told me they are ready for him to leave. I feel just the opposite, I want him to stay and learn under Cal (who else could do well with this kid?) and prosper as his own man. He got a raw deal with Billy G and it seems he didn’t do anything to improve the situation this season but it appears he is staying strong, proud, and ready to be a contributor to this team. His speed alone makes him valuable to us but lets hope he has picked up on some things from the two frosh guards. Good for you DeAndre Liggins I wish I could shake your hand and tell you way to hang in there and keep doing the right things and good results will occur. Congrats to the coach for being the first since Rupp to have such success in the beginning of the season. I can see us going well into SEC play with no losses. However Rupp’s first loss in the 31-32 season? Georgia, the first SEC team we will play. I can too see another not so rosy scenario where we win everything but to TN and FL. YUCK and F….
IU vs. UK wasn’t a super exciting game but it was once again entertaining meaning that we are having FUN again! I think that is really all us UK fans have been wanting. We have finally gotten over our bland brand of basketball and have some excitement again!
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