The Wildcats are a great team, so your team has to show up, so that's a given.
If the Hogs DO show up tomorrow, I've found two key areas that, if won, can and very likely will lead to a win vs. UK.
1) play the Cats close in FG %: if we do come to play, we'll likely be shooting the ball well;however, we've shot very well and lost games this year bc we allowed the opponent to shoot absurdly high % from the field.
ISU: shot nearly 50%, ISU 64%
Tenn: 46% (solid night), Tenn 51%
OM: shot 47%, OM 56%
LSU: 42% (winnable mark), LSU 50%
As this team and program grows, we've gotta install some fail-safe adjustments to stop bleeding on defense. In all the games above, we shot good enough to come away with the win, but undisciplined, uninspiring defense cost us the game.
2) Critical: win or tie at the FT stripe.
If you go back and review the box scores of UK's close games, they've destroyed their opponents at the line. This is part of why they're such a great team. You can come out and beat them in FG%, but when the night is over, you lose bc they made 5-10 more FT's than you attempted!
This is why UK will be an upset possibility against smarter but talented teams. I've said this before that Bobby Knight would constantly preach disciplined D and good FT shooting because he felt converting more FTs than the other team attempts can put you in a great position to win when your opposition has a better shooting night.
UK embarrasses teams when they beat you in both. Agains UK, they converted on only 1 more FT but shot +10% better from the field.
If we hold them to 42% or less from the field and tie them at the stripe, we will have a great chance at knocking them off.
If the Hogs DO show up tomorrow, I've found two key areas that, if won, can and very likely will lead to a win vs. UK.
1) play the Cats close in FG %: if we do come to play, we'll likely be shooting the ball well;however, we've shot very well and lost games this year bc we allowed the opponent to shoot absurdly high % from the field.
ISU: shot nearly 50%, ISU 64%
Tenn: 46% (solid night), Tenn 51%
OM: shot 47%, OM 56%
LSU: 42% (winnable mark), LSU 50%
As this team and program grows, we've gotta install some fail-safe adjustments to stop bleeding on defense. In all the games above, we shot good enough to come away with the win, but undisciplined, uninspiring defense cost us the game.
2) Critical: win or tie at the FT stripe.
If you go back and review the box scores of UK's close games, they've destroyed their opponents at the line. This is part of why they're such a great team. You can come out and beat them in FG%, but when the night is over, you lose bc they made 5-10 more FT's than you attempted!
This is why UK will be an upset possibility against smarter but talented teams. I've said this before that Bobby Knight would constantly preach disciplined D and good FT shooting because he felt converting more FTs than the other team attempts can put you in a great position to win when your opposition has a better shooting night.
UK embarrasses teams when they beat you in both. Agains UK, they converted on only 1 more FT but shot +10% better from the field.
If we hold them to 42% or less from the field and tie them at the stripe, we will have a great chance at knocking them off.
