By: Ronald "Doc" Ball
Oscar Tshiebwe had 20 pts, 15 rebs in a losing effort
General ImpressionsA game of two halves, but one that was lost in the opening 10 minutes. It was an embarrassment for the program. How you come out with that little enthusiasm and effort is beyond me. Down 13 pts 6 1/2 minutes was not overcomable unless Gonzaga collapsed, which was not going to happen. Will give UK credit for coming out in the second half and playing with some heart and effort, but you need that at the opening tip, not the half time one. UK had 4 players in double figures, albeit Reeves making it with his irrelevant basket at the end. My hope was that UK would run and run a lot in both this game and the season. We have the depth but don't use it. See Livingston and Collin's minutes.
Jacob Toppin C Moved from a low D with a strong second half. Needs to see himself as a viable offensive weapon and work on getting his shots rather than waiting for them to come to him. We did play strong defense on Timme when Oscar and Lance had 4 fouls, but the lack on anything when needed in the first stanza is unforgivable. His 16 points on 7-14 with 0-4 treys would have been appreciated had more than 2 come before halftime. Tied Fredrick in minutes with 36. In that time he managed 3 rebounds. His assist to turnover ratio was upside down with 1/2.
Cason Wallace C+ One of the few who showed some heart. 14 points, including 2 of 3 treys. But like Toppin he had more TO (3) than assists (2) but did manage a team high 4 steals. 4 fouls limited his playing time to 35 minutes (sarcasm for those who missed it). During his time on the floor, UK was -15, worse on the team.
Chris Livingston C- His 8 minutes was forgetable. I had to look to see if he had any stats, which he did. 2 rebounds, a foul and a missed shot.
CJ Fredrick D+ Most know how I feel about giving Ds and Fs but this performance is worthy of that grade, although I don't blame him for the grade. As a shooter he needs open looks. 3 ways to get them. Create on your own, have you teammates set screens and have the defense slack off. Zaga wasn't going to slack off, and not sure CJ is quick enough as a rule to create, which means UK needs to do the things to get him open looks. 1-9 shooting, 1-6 from treyland is a recipe for defeat. 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 turnovers. Played all but 4 minutes.
Lance Ware B- Made his only shot, a lob dunk. Only grabbed 1 rebound in 10 minutes however that wasn't what he was being called to do. Rest Oscar, which he did. Bang people, which he did to the tune of 4 fouls. And his steal was a bonus (OK...I needed to give a B somewhere)
Antonio Reeves C- Second on the team with shot attempts. Went 4-13 overall and 2-7 from long range although one of zero consequence. Manage 10 points, had 2 rebounds an assist and a steal in 24 minutes.
Adou Thiero DNP
Ugonna Onyenso C- His one minute was not unforgetable. Had a pretty view of the guy going around him for the off side rebound. I know there is lots of Onyenso fever in big blue land, but it needs to be tempered.
Daimion Collins D+ A bunch of zeros in 4 minutes. No shots, no rebounds, no points, no assists. Did have a steal, a turnover and a foul. His +/- was -9 in those four minutes. That's just bad
Oscar Tshiebwe B Led the team with 20 pts and 15 rebounds, to nobody's surprise. Even surrounded by that poor showing, Oscar still managed to put up numbers. Of course that does not absolve him of some lackluster play, something I never expected, but he too came out of the locker room lacking energy. One of three players to shoot over 50%, along with Lance and Casson. Fouls hurt him, no doubt
Sahvir Wheeler C Why he shot 4 treys is beyond me. OK, take one if its open but FOUR. He hit 1 of them, and overall was 2-6 for 7 points. Led the team with 4 assists to 1 turnover in 17 minutes due to fouls.
Coaching D Unprepared, uninspired... and who draws up a play to get Wheeler a 3 pointer? Hey John, do that for CJ. And enough with the dancing and posing for the fans and camera.
Officials B Seemed way more calls on UK than GU (22-12) but we did commit more fouls. Missed calls went both directions, and nothing egregious.
Commentators B They rightly bashed UK for a lackluster performance.
Other The early season offensive woes is something that is getting old and tiresome. Supposedly returning players and a Bahamas trip was going to resolve that. Not so. UK shot 14 more shots and made 4 fewer baskets. That translates to 39% to 56%. We made 24% of our treys to their 37% which is completely understandable since most of theirs were open ones taken by good shooters. We got outrebounded by 10 (29-39) and we failed to block a single shot. The oddest stat though is we had 11 assists to their 8. Our bench contributed little, as in 12 pts (Lance 2, Reeves 10) as Cal fell back to the play 6-7 guys and wear the hell out of them. That's OK though as we will pay for it come March.
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