John Calipari (SEC Photo)
Kentucky fans have noticed the Cats’ lack of physical play during the three-game losing streak going into Saturday afternoon’s game against Notre Dame. Can the Cats get tougher and more physical? Can Kentucky survive the bumps that coach John Calipari says keep disrupting the team’s offensive flow”
Sporting News college basketball writer/analyst Mike DeCourcy believes the problem can be fixed.
“When they get Keion (Brooks) back, he’s a baller. I think his absence is widely understated,” said DeCourcy.
Freshman Isaiah Jackson has also caught DeCourcy’s eye.
“Isaiah jackson, I do not see lack of physicality there. He can hold his own,” the Sporting News columnist said.
What about Olivier Sarr? He’s shone a propensity to shy away from rough play.
“I think Olivier’s problem is he has never been on a good team and does not understand what it is like to be on a good team,” DeCourcy said. “And Brandon Boston can not go through walls but he can go over you. He’s physical enough.”
DeCourcy senses another problem that maybe can be fixed.
“The real problem is more about will than physical,” DeCourcy said.
He also says Calipari is a big part of the problem.
“They expect to have success and their schedule was not set up for success and that is on John,” DeCourcy said. “He was telling people don’t blame them, blame me. Then why do it (with the schedule he set up)? There was less prep time and less experience on his team so why put this team in this circumstance.
“That is a fair criticism of him. I do not understand what his goal was. He knew he had to play in the CBS Classic, Big 12 Challenge, Champions Classic and Louisville. I would have played four high school teams. They were locked into enough tough games.
“Richmond was a tough game. Against Notre Dame, they are really going to have to play good defense. Georgia Tech, the upside was not great. If they win, no one was going to applaud. If they lose, they get the reactions you got. That was not the best approach for this team.
“I thought they would find a way to get through it. I thought they would beat Tech and then I watched the game and wondered how Tech started so poorly based on how they played against Kentucky.”
