All-American center Oscar Tshiebwe knows Kentucky has to fight more than what it has been. (Vicky Graff Photos)
Oscar Tshiebwe had numbers that looked okay — 19 points and 12 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes — against South Carolina Tuesday night but once again Kentucky lost.
This time it was 71-68 to what has been one of the Southeastern Conference’s worst teams this year and the heavily favored Cats never once had the lead.
Remember Tshiebwe recently said he told coach John Calipari he needed to quit being so hard on players and also earlier this season said there were times when players did not know the plays.
After Tuesday’s loss, what he said about this Kentucky team was both enlightening and troubling.
“I just say we have to be willing to play. Some of us coming in are taking things for granted,” Tshiebwe said.
Boom.
That’s almost how it seems Kentucky has been playing. Listless and like it was entitled to win instead of putting out the overall team effort it takes to win.
What Tshiebwe did not do was blame Calipari or his staff.
“I give credit to the Coach. He did a great job. I just tell them, the coaches, they cannot do it for us. They just come out with the game plan with who we are going to depend on and how we are going to play offense,” Tshiebwe said.
“They can’t do it for us. We need to go out and fight. We come to Kentucky for a very good reason, we come chasing greatness. And if you come not willing to fight it’s going to be tough.”
Fight was the key word he kept repeating and maybe what Calipari had stressed after the game.
How can UK improve defensively now that it has the SEC’s worst ranked defense?
“We just got to go fight. I was down a little bit because that was really tough for me. First thing we can start on defense. I mean defense wins the game,” Tshiebwe said.
What can he do to help coach up teammates?
“I just come in and fight. You came for a very good reason,” Tshiebwe said.
Too bad the fight seems gone from this team now that it is 1-3 in SEC play and really has only played one game against one of the top teams in the SEC so far.
4 Responses
Why wouldn’t they take things for granted? They watched Cal let Shadeon Sharpe take everything for granted last year!
The culture of UK basketball has become a joke under Cal and will not change until he is gone.
Players got to have some pride
Let’s be real…no player can criticize their coach and stay on the team. The game has passed by Calipari. What worked 15 years ago isn’t working now. Things won’t change until there is a change at the top. Barnhart first, then Calipari and an entirely new staff. This season has been lost. Fire Barnhart and Calipari now, let Antigua coach the rest of the season. Hire a new AD before the end of the season. Start the vetting process for a new coach, interview candidates as soon as their team’s post season ends, and make a hire by the end of the Big Dance. This gives the new coach the best shot at keeping the 2023 recruits on board while working the portal to fill holes that need filling. Pulling the plug on Calipari now saves him from further embarrassment, gives him time to get away from the game, and then go after the Texas job if he wants that. Waiting until the end of the season makes an ugly situation even uglier for everyone.
The goal is the quickest path to the NBA. Nothing else comes close in terms of goals, priorities, or a sense of urgency. Sharpe/Calipari proved last year that the achievement of the goal requires absolutely no effort, no wins, and no emphasis on the program’s success (or failure). This has been happening to a slightly lesser degree for many years, but Sharpe finished the deal. Now they all know their goal does not require UK to be successful.
Lose a big game! No biggie, we just move on to the next one. Lose a big game in March. No biggie, we just move on to our "decisions" about the NBA. But, in reality, these NBA decisions were made months earlier, well before the time for the annual charade of making the decisions arrives. The entire process of a season was nothing more than a charade as well. There is a ready-made litany of excuses all ready to trot prior to the first game and to trot out after every loss, and the number of losses does not matter at all.
The problem with Calipari at UK has been his priorities from the beginning..