TheCatsDomain.Com Message Boards: Who is to blame for Cat's early 2016 exit

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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 06-30-2016, 02:24 PM:

The Wildcats (27-9) made their earliest tourney exit in a season that included an NCAA bid since 2008, as rival Indiana sent them packing in Saturday's second round. All five of coach John Calipari's previous tournament entrants made it to at least the Elite Eight, with four Final Four appearances along with the 2012 national title.

Losing to the Hoosiers adds to the sting, and Calipari's group's play should be heavily credited for the result. But Kentucky's performance in 2015-16 was certainly lacking what we've come to expect, even with the mass departures from last year's near-perfect squad.

Briscoe, who started all but three games this season, was Kentucky's least consistent shooter despite taking almost exclusively two-pointers. He shot 43.9 percent overall and 48.1 percent inside the arc, averaging 9.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

Briscoe's production came and went, but one thing that never manifested was accuracy from the foul line. For someone who didn't mind contact, Briscoe's 46 percent free-throw rate was horrendous.

Skal Labissiere also failed to live up to expectations more than any of the others, to the point that many wondered if he'd been completely overvalued as a prospect.

The 6'11" center, rated as the No. 2 prospect from 2015, was in and out of the starting lineup during his freshman year. He ended up averaging 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, numbers well below what you'd expect from someone who was once projected as a top-five draft pick.

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Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 06-30-2016, 02:49 PM:

Well, let's see, if we want to wildly cast blame on anyone, how about the ref that called the tech foul on the Aussi player who inadvertantly bounced a ball too high, causing the Cats to lose that game, which gave the Cats a worse seed in the tourney. Had they won that game, they wouldn't have faced those pesky Hoosiers, who were a bad match up, personnel wise, for the Cats.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 06-30-2016, 03:41 PM:

We have lost 2 out of the last 3 games to Indiana. (2016 and 2011)