UK Athletics Photo
Okay, some of you might remember the story of Chicken Little, a European folk tale/fairy tale about a chicken who thought the world was coming to an end and used the phrase “the sky is falling” often in the story.
Today many Kentucky fans worry that the Big Blue Sky is falling after an 89-75 loss at Missouri Wednesday night. That just added to the anxiety losses to Michigan State, Gonzaga and UCLA had already created.
— This was Kentucky’s second worst loss ever in a SEC opener. The worst was an 18-point loss in 1965 at Vanderbilt.
— Kentucky had its largest halftime deficit (12 points) in a SEC game in 90 seasons of SEC basketball.
— Kentucky had not allowed 89 points in a SEC opener since giving up 97 in 1989 to Mississippi State when the Cats actually won 102-97.
Want more reasons to wonder if the sky is falling?
Kentucky has zero Quadrant 1 wins and only two wins against teams ranked in the top 115 at KenPom going into 2023, not what anyone expected from a team that thought it could be a No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament play and make it back to the Final Four.
This follows the worst season in UK history two years ago and the worst NCAA first-round loss in program history last year.
But when it really is time to start wondering if the sky is falling is when Oscar Combs, the founder of The Cats Pause who has covered/followed UK basketball for over 50 years, posts a tweet like this:
“This is fast becoming a season to forget. No excuses. Frankly, time is running out for the UK fanbase to stay connected. Sharpie? This is no knee-jerk reaction. Just so very painful to watch this program slide since 2015 FF (Final Four) 8 years ago,” Combs tweeted.
However, this tweet from Combs really told me that UK basketball was in a dangerous spot I never expected to see happen under Calipari:
“Without question, the topic of what happens after the Cal era at UK has to start resonating with the powers that be on the University of Kentucky campus,” Combs tweeted.
That’s hard to do considering Calipari has an $8 million plus per year lifetime contract. He has the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class signed for next year and is busy recruiting for 2024.
But UK’s play has to improve. Kentucky has played poorly in games before or had an opponent play its best game of the year. At Missouri, though, Kentucky just got whacked and looked beat from the start and that’s not what should be happening to the one-time “gold standard of college basketball” as Calipari called the UK program.
17 Responses
This UK team is the least ready to play against any opponent I have ever watched!? This lies on the coaching staff( mostly Coach Cal) do our players even like each other/ usually when a Cats team goes on a summer tour they become really close! Overrated talent & bad mix of players(Coach Cal) Cats will drop out of top 25 & never get back in it again this year! Pray we can finish with a 18-12 record! Watch out for our game against Loserville/ they have nothing to lose & we r as tight as a tick with NO half court offense(Coach Cal) Sometimes the coach you fall in love with becomes your university’s worst enemy! Happy New Year! GodBless GO CATS!!👍🙏🙏🇺🇸☕️🙀
All will become clear this Saturday! If we lose to Louisville at Rupp, The season will be a complete loss, but Cal will survive. It is BBN that will be fractured and broken. The sun will rise again, but Cal will never be looked at the same again. His legacy will be destroyed forever. BBN will rise again, but the trip will not be fun.
Ben, if this program is measured by final four banners as Calipari has said, this season has been a complete loss since November when it became obvious that this team is not a legitimate final four contender. Yes, losing to UL would be the final insult, but this coach has left a litany of insults to this program in his wake including but not limited to losing the winningest program record and the consecutive game streak with 3 point baskets. He brushed each of those insults off as not significant, but they were very significant to the Big Blue Nation.
This coach cares nothing for this program or the Big Blue Nation, and never has. He only cares about his ever-lengthening list of players he touched on their way to the NBA through this program. Even one person who never played a second as a Wildcat is on his list, and that ought to prove his priorities.
“This is fast becoming a season to forget. No excuses. Frankly, time is running out for the UK fanbase to stay connected. Sharpie? This is no knee-jerk reaction. Just so very painful to watch this program slide since 2015 FF (Final Four) 8 years ago,” Combs tweeted.
Misery loves company, and welcome to the misery crowd Oscar Combs. This has been my message, largely ridiculed for years, since about 2017 as this slide became apparent to this Basketball Benny.
Even Calipari’s "good" years have the fundamental flaws exposed, but largely unrecognized. Losses to West Virginia, UConn twice, and a first round NIT loss sandwiched around 2012 when he had the top 2 draft picks and "Senior Darius Miller with his KY roots, Mr KY BB & State Tourney Title on his resume. The other players were preserved from the con ruining them because of these 3." This quote should be attributed to a long time friend and huge Big Blue Fan who has observed and recognized the fraud for what he is for a slightly longer time than I have recognized it. I got the quoted message in an email from him this morning.
This man is destroying our program.
As for the chicken little analogy, it really does not fit, because in chicken little’s world, the sky was not falling.
Here, the UK basketball program is collapsing before our eyes. This process started with Calipari’s "players first" philosophy that placed the number of future NBA millionaires who pass over Calipari’s path as more important than the program itself.
The Sharpe fiasco was the capstone event but the philosophy has been working to destroy this program since the day he arrived. Those of us who recognized this earlier than others are NOT CHICKEN LITTLES!!!!!
I just hope the ROTC guys play Taps after our last loss this season.
Reality check:
1) Cal’s buy out is $52 million this year and decreases by a little over $6 million a year over the next 8 seasons.
2) Cal has had an excellent coaching career, UMASS, Memphis and UK.
3) He was ahead of the game for many years.
4) You don’t accomplish what Cal has without significant skills.
My basic thoughts:
IMO, Right now UK looks like they may finish down in the bottom 2-4 of the SEC. I get we have a few players that were over rated, especially at the 4. Maybe we don’t have the pieces to win it all, but we have way better pieces than we have TEAM performance. I don’t have a clue what is going on, they are not learning and adjusting as one would expect. My gut feel is there might be some player or two disrupting the team, a lot of ego, people pushing the NBA, and at times things just happen between people, but if that is the case you would expect that to come to a head? Maybe it is coaching, but there is a lot of experience and talent on the staff, losing kills them all, no matter how hard headed, you would think they will correct this. I can’t imagine the hard grind of SEC does not force this situation, what ever is root cause, to be corrected.
I get the COVID year. I hated the collapse last season, but I get the key player health issues. This year, so far I’ve never seen anything like it. It is awful late to be trying so hard to figure the pieces out with a coach that has done this so well for so many seasons.
With all this said, I will watch and root for UK every single game, no matter how bad it gets!
Come on Prof, you got your panties all in a wad – all we need is facilities like St. Mary’s !!
And UK is still a basketball school
It won’t be much longer and even with the success that Stoops has had, we will never be a football school. The whole country sees what is going on here and most of them love it! They don’t want Kentucky to dominate. They squeal with joy when they observe our agony. If this was the middle of November, sure, there would be things to figure out. This is the end of the year with conference play starting. If he hasn’t got it figure out by now, he will never get it. I think he just makes excuses and blames his team so he can keep on collecting that ridiculous salary. Will someone please catch Covid and go give Calipari a big kiss!
If you look at the basketball "train wreck" going on now compared to Stoops’ program, I would have to say UK is a football school, at least at this point in 2022. Stoops is getting more done with less than Cal is seems to me. All after Cal ran his mouth earlier in the year as to what kind of a school UK really is. Football baby!!!!! This UK basketball team is off the rails. Big problems in that locker room.
I just hope both teams can win Saturday
I think a lot of folks do enjoy seeing Kentucky struggle
I agree. I like seeing UL, Kansas, Duke, UNCCheaters, Tennessee, UCLA, Indiana, ….. LOSE and LOSE UGLY.
That is the nature of things, and there is nothing wrong with fans (and coaches/players) from these other programs finding joy in UK’s current struggles.
The burden is on each program to take care of its own interests.
This has been Calipari’s biggest failure during his tenure here. The decline of the UK program is on his watch, and Barnhart must share responsibility for allowing it to reach this point.
So, when I hear coaches and fans of these other programs praising Calipari, it has no affect on my view of the job Calipari is getting done here. I don’t care who decdied to honor him in their "Hall Of Fame" or any other distinction.
What matters is that the UK Basketball program be the Gold Standard for all of college basketball!!!!
Do you think the Alabama Nation of Fans feels any different about their football program? If a coach at Alabama is not keeping that program as the gold standard, do you know what happens to that coach? They don’t stay coach for long, just check on the litany of their coaches between the Bear and Saban.
Calipari cannot hold Saban’s J Strap!!!!
It has to have something to do with animosity among players. Wares starting . Toppins benched . Jacob isn’t near the player he was last year . Why is that?. You see them all stand and watch Oscar when he’s swarmed under the goal . There’s no fight in this team . No one tries to rebound other than Oscar . We get out tuffed in every aspect . If there’s fighting within bench them and make it be known . Then we the fans at least know what’s going on . Cal you can’t appease every player on the roster . Play those that work the hardest and try no matter what even if it means benching a five star spoiled brat that’s not putting out . Man up and and pull a Bob Knight with having a manager put feminine hygiene products in the guys lockers and tell the truth to them about how they’re playing . I hate losing . But losing from lack of effort disgusts me . Rant over . I’m still Bug Blue for life . But fellas have some pride man
KY IS NOT A BASKETBALL TEAM BUT A BUNCH OF ATHLETES LOOKING TO GO TO NBA. THATS HOW CAL RECRUITS.
They are not playing great right now for sure Vaughn
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