UK will definitely be better in March than they are now and recent news is that Vanderbilt may actually become able to play - which should help. That being said, I get the comparisons to past years but, if you look at this roster, you'll notice that its lacking what recent UK teams have had - elite players. There's no Fox, Monk, Ulis, Murray, etc. No dominant big men. I think a lot of people saw Cal pulling in a lot of 5 star recruits last year and assumed it'd be the same but Knox was the highest rated at #10. This isn't how it used to be for Cal classes. I'm not expecting to illicit sympathy over this, just trying to explain why they don't look like most years and may not develop similarly.
Although A&M played poorly last night, in the end the refs stole the game from them. Down 1 point with about 4 seconds to go, an A&M guard threw a 3-quarter court pass to the rim for Davis. The most likely outcome would have been a game winning layup by Davis, but for his being tackled on the play by a UK defender. No whistle, game over.
While true, wouldn't y'all have one conference loss if all games were called perfectly? You may point to other bad calls earlier in that game but I'd do the same for the UK game. I'll agree that the missed call at the end of the game cost A&M the game though.
I don’t know the answer to your question. I guess that the answer is “maybe.” That play last night, which was right in front of a ref, stood out like a sore thumb. I do think that in the Gator/Missouri game, which was horribly officiated, more bad calls might have been made against Missouri. By the way, you might want to acknowledge that, in Rupp, every single call that goes against UK is a bad call according to the fans in attendance.
Haha, I hear ya! I don't mind that though. I see it looks obnoxious to opposing fans but the players have said it feels like support. It's emotional engagement in the game. I'm all for it.
Was a bad no call at the end. I am not sure if he would have caught the ball if the defender wasn't grabbing him, but he would have had a good shot at it. It wasn't the worst non-call, but it should have been whistled.
I think he is the worst ref out there. The fact that I know who he is tells it all. I watch a lot of games and know of very few refs.
Hate that its salt in the wound for some of y'all but he's far surpassed most UK fan expectations. Cal has consistently been calling him the team's "best player." I've always thought he'd play an important role at UK but figured he still had a shot of an odd year leaving him overshadowed or recruited over and I really figured his best years would end up being his junior/senior ones. I now think he'll get tons of playing time for as long as he stays at UK, no matter the roster, and that he may not end up being at UK for as long as I'd originally thought. Gary Parrish's latest mock draft has Shai a first round pick next year and nbadraft.net has him projected 11th - which I can't imagine.
When you go back and look at the pass, it was to the left side of the front of the rim, so it was easily catchable if not for the holding. Also, the UK defender wrapped his arm around Davis. IMO, it was a terrible no call.
I think it would have been very tough for him to catch, but this isn't the NFL. A hold is a hold. It was a bad non-call. The ref was in place too.
Terrible non call at the end. typical UK home cooking a useless ref with a whistle in his mouth too afraid to blow.
Just so everyone knows his name the ref with the great view of the play was Doug Shows. The other two were Chuck Jones and Darron George. Chuck officiated our FSU and Clemson games (both Gator loses). We haven't had Darron George since the Vol's game last year at the Dome. Before that was the 2016 T A&M game where we lost a close one.
Doug shows is a bad ref. However, officials are often afraid to blow the whistle on the last play of the game for fear that they will make a mistake. Texas A&M wins that game – if they just play better. No animus to uk there. Many professional gamblers look at players in the NBA who’s contracts are up to base their bets on. They know that those guys will go for stats because their personal money rides on it. Think UK kids who are planning to go pro the next year often deal with the same motivation. It works when the team and personal agendas line, but often they do not.
It should not have come down to a blown call by the refs. Texas A&M missed a bunch of free-throws which was probably the real difference in that game. Some credit also goes to Kentucky for battling back from a deficit late in their game. The wildcats, I believe, played their game without their point guard.
Funny that we got Darren George tonight. We rarely get him. And why is Karl Hess still allowed to officiate? He is dreadful. He makes Doug Shows look good.
Wouldn't shock me if this was a calculated risk that was intentionally done. Kind of like telling a DB to tackle if you think they are going to get a touchdown.
