Putting Kentucky’s loss to Florida into perspective | Matt Jones Postgame Monologue

KSR radio host Matt Jones opened up the postgame show with a lengthy monologue on the micro and macro viewpoints from a stunning 94-91 overtime loss to the Florida Gators.

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That’s a bad loss I mean let’s be real you lose at home second unranked team at home for the year and there’s a lot of different part you can focus on but I think the biggest thing is you lost a game that you had won I mean basically

The game was essentially over um you’re up four with 20 seconds left uh Ugo blocks a shot we can’t get the rebound they put the put back up and score it’s two point game we don’t call timeout we inbound the ball uh to Dillingham makes both free throws we win

You know makes both free throws game’s over he makes one uh we didn’t call timeout before the free throws so they come down we don’t foul Reed Shepard and I just rewatched the play was I have no idea what Reed was where he was on the floor but not

Even close to his man his man who’s been hot I think hit seven what he hit seven threes tonight he hit yes headband guy head yeah he hit seven threes uh he ends up open and makes a three and we go to overtime and I just didn’t feel like we

Had a shot when we went to overtime now with that said I mean if you had come back and won that that would have been a gritty win in overtime but uh we never really looked under control in overtime then Dillingham goes out and at that point you’re playing with essentially I

Mean think about this you had four 20 recruits and in the last three minutes of the game you were playing with none of them you were playing with four upper classman and Reed and we just didn’t have enough offense at that point and we lost the game you know there’s a lot of

Different ways you can go about it so there I think it’s like the micro level and then the macro level let’s start with the micro level you know I think Kentucky had two times where they should have won the game they went up 4131 you know we

Always talk about in UK football how the end of the first half and the start of the second half has at times for Mark Stoops been a very difficult period of time especially the end of the first half we were up 4131 with two M two

Minutes to go they score five we don’t score any and then they score the first six of the second half so that little period which in football is you know Freddy magard youed to always talking about is the most crucial time in football it’s not as important in

Basketball but it’s important and you go up from 4131 to 424 I think if they extend that lead to 10 or 14 you to excuse me 14 or 15 they win the game but then the second thing is you know they make some big plays down the stretch and they have that

Four-point lead and look you can micromanage decisions but I think there were a lot of really poor decisions down there okay first when they make the shot to cut it to two Kentucky had two timeouts call timeout make sure you find a way to get that ball to Reed Shepard or Antonio

Reeves Antonio reees is a 90% free throw shooter I think Reed Shepard is like 84 but it feels like he’s 90 because he doesn’t miss them when they matter instead you inbound to Dillingham now dillingham’s still a good free throw shooter he’s 77% but again percentages I’d like to

Have my 90% guy shooting rather than my 77% guy to shooting they don’t do that Shephard is taking it in bounds now I’ve seen some people say he shouldn’t have been the one taking it in bounds I think there’s an argument for having him take

It in bounds but you got to find a way to immediately get it back to him um but they don’t so Dillingham comes down another chance to call a timeout and say Well when he makes the first free throws Cal said after the game he didn’t want to call a timeout because he

Didn’t want to make Dyan him nervous Fair Point that’s okay he makes the first free throw now he doesn’t have to worry about losing in the game right so I think at that point that’s when you call a timeout and you say foul if he misses

Foul Cal said after the game he thought there was too much time left I just went and looked at it and I watched the last play with nine seconds to go the one Florida guard is dribbling at the top of the key he starts to penetrate he gets

Into the lane with seven seconds to go you got a foul right there you got to especially when you have a team that can’t defend the three but they don’t now this is where this isn’t uncal this is on Reed go look at that play I have

No idea what Reed Chipper’s doing and as good as he was tonight and he was great for most of the game he scored 24 points and was the primary driver of the offense but he was really bad on defense like really bad on defense probably I mean gave up what six of the

Those seven threes were on him I I don’t know what he’s doing on that last play if you go watch the play the guy who has the ball is double teed Reed is there’s no where Reed is guarding there isn’t a human being but he loses his guy his guy makes the three

We go to overtime in my opinion you have to foul there and if you look on Twitter I I put the their statistics about it essentially if you don’t foul you have a uh 177% chance of of losing and if you do foul you have like

A 10 or something like that or nine it’s not a whole lot of percentages but it’s enough you’re basically twice as likely to win if you foul Tom ISO Mike shashy Bill self all those guys they foul every time we should foul but we did and we lose and it’s the

Second you know second loss to to an unranked team at home and that’s the macro part of this the big picture first of all our resume is now probably a five or a six seat we were according to Joel lardy the 15th best team on the on the

Brackets going into this game this probably puts us 19 20 21 it’s Florida’s first win quad one win in over two years Billy two years they hadn’t won a quad one game in two years they win one tonight that might be the game that ends up putting them in the tournament maybe

Um but now you have a resume where you know we’ve talked about it it’s just not that good and we still have to go to Tennessee we still have to go to Auburn I think we still go to Mississippi State those are all three tournament

Teams you know you got to think we be hard to win all of them so we’re pro we’re certainly not a one seed now probably not a two seed going to be hard to even be a three and you’re looking at that 456 where you’re at the mercy of the

Draw which is where we were last year if you remember so that’s disappointing this team’s better than that I know DJ Wagner was out I do think that hurts Kentucky a lot I think it makes it very difficult for them to guard and actually makes it

Difficult for them to score I mean we scored 84 in the first half but that’s with Shephard having a career high and Ugo having a career high we had two guys get a career high and lose it home to Florida that’s not good and it also is

Sort of Testament to this we continue to in the last few years just take losses that this program doesn’t take now I read everybody saying oh Matt you don’t get it College basketball’s different College basketball’s different blah blah blah I I just don’t buy that some of college basketball is

Different but great teams rarely lose at home and when they lose at home they lose to other great teams so go back and look through the years go back and look at the last seven or eight national champs the only one you’re going to find that lost home

Games a a few of them is Yukon last year and they lost to I think only one team that was bad we’ve now lost to Wilmington and Florida so I am disappointed and I’m not going to apologize for being disappointed I think if you’re a Kentucky basketball fan you

Should be disappointed this is Kentucky we always say this is the gold standard then be the gold standard be the gold standard we haven’t been the gold standard in the regular season the last few years we haven’t been the gold standard in the SEC tournament the last

Few years and we haven’t been the gold standard in the NCA tournament last time Kentucky made a final four Billy was 2015 every other Blue Blood program has made at least one if not multiple final fours since then North Carolina has and won a title Duke has Kansas has and won a title

Yukon has and won a title even UCLA has we have it and in the last few years we haven’t been very good in the regular season or the postseason if we’re being honest that’s not Kentucky now people who say well that happens everywhere in college basketball yeah maybe but it doesn’t happen to

Kentucky and to the schools that are like us does it happen to them maybe occasionally but you know what they’ve done and we haven’t won they’ve won yeah Kansas got blown out at home two years ago by us what’ they go do they won the title yeah yukon’s taken home losses but

They won the title we have won one SEC tournament game in four years we have won one NCA Tournament game in the last three years granted one of those or excuse me in the last three Seasons Four Seasons but one of them was Co year meaning the covid tournament that was

Cancelled it’s just not been Kentucky now that doesn’t mean I think things are falling apart there’s been a lot of positive this year this team is still good and this team is still fun but little things win and lose games and too often we don’t do them now

Too often we’re the ones making the play that loses so if you let Antonio reev shoot that free throw and have a 90% free throw shooter instead of a 77% that’s a 133% difference if you foul and there’s an 18% chance of of losing versus a 9% that’s a 9%

Difference and Billy what all those things add up to over the years you add up to losing games I still love this team I still think a lot of them play way above themselves Ugo had a career game tonight he was awesome Reed was bad on defense but he was great on

Offense Antonio Reeves had 19 again Trey Mitchell was bad but you know what it’s time for us to be Kentucky again I don’t think that’s beyond happening this year it still could but I want you to look at our losses we lost to Kansas underman okay we lost to Wilmington at

Home okay I bet on Wilmington sometimes they’re not great we lost to A&M I think they have three conference wins we lost to South Carolina they might be better than we thought and we lost to Florida who w at home who won their first quad one game in two years at some

Point that has to start mattering at some point that has to start frustrating folks and the fact that it seems like for some it doesn’t is honestly frustrating to me