Like The Deserts Miss The Rain

I don't normally like to characterize wins or losses as "good" or "bad" (and how come nobody ever seems to call a game's result "indifferent"?) But it's obvious that UK's early season loss at North Carolina, for instance, will be viewed in a much different light than Tuesday night's effort at Vanderbilt.

Kentucky's 77-64 "L" in Nashville will surely have the team feeling a little more bubbly come Selection Sunday than it would prefer. By now, you also know that it drops the Cats down into the SEC logjam and could very well hurt their seeding in Tampa for the conference tournament. (Nobody wants 4 games in 4 days.) A win in Nashville would have separated UK from the pack.

But the biggest impression that I take from this loss is just how bad Kentucky misses Patrick Patterson. Glaringly evident, yes-- the Wildcats have just got to have that guy healthy.

I do give Vandy much credit for their defense on Jodie Meeks. He had a very tough night and struggled for open looks. Those 26 points were a testament to his willingness to work and continue to grind for the whole 40 minutes.

It was nice to get some points out of A.J. Stewart, and Kevin Galloway again contributed a bit of offense after only playing 3 minutes at Arkansas. However, Coach Gillispie said it best when he recognized that he doesn't need "a 6'9" two guard" (referring back to Stewart). UK got blasted on the boards, 37-26, and surely the no-show game that Perry Stevenson turned in was a big factor there.

But even bigger is the huge hole in the middle created by that nasty ankle sprain Big Pat is (hopefully) recovering from. His physical presence just brings a greater level of toughness, something Coach G likes to rhapsodize about, and gives the team a better overall balance. Jodie without Patrick is like Starsky with no Hutch. (Apologies for the dated reference).

The statistics alone probably make the best case anyway: Patterson usually gives you about 18 and 9 per game. It's just very problematic to replace those kind of numbers at this point in the season.

We all understand the nature of these ankle injuries, and so we play the "day to day" waiting game, as we must. But I just can't tell you how much I miss that guy.