PHOTOS – Kentucky Wins Fourth Straight With Blowout of Vanderbilt

As all here know, I have been critical of Calipari’s handling of this team as well as the direction of the program on his watch. I remain critical of his handling of this program. However, last night’s game was a strong performance by UK and it was strong from start to finish, unlike the previous two games in this "turnaround" event.

I believe that a "turnaround" cannot be defined until there is at least a 5 game history and the Kansas game will provide the 5th game in this sequence.

The game at Tennessee remains the high-water mark for this team and this season. The two games at home against Georgia and Texas A&M were not nearly as strong as Tennessee, primarily because the team could not put a full game together either night. In each case, their first half was dismal while their second halves were strong, and strong enough to overcome the poor first halves. Therefore, the overall game performances were not sufficient, in and of themselves, to support a conclusion that this team had truly changed prior to the Tennessee trip or simply caught lightning in the bottle in Knoxville that particular day.

The two halves at Tennessee were strong and very strong, and were sufficient to defeat what I believe is the #2 team in the land on their home court. That is as impressive a win as any team can post this season.

I am not ready to declare a turnaround of the type that can propel a team into championship contention, but I am satisfied that this team has changed in a significant and positive way since the South Carolina loss.

I am anxious to see how this team does on Saturday against Kansas, and that match up should be quite interesting given that Kansas has lost their last 3 and are in a period of decline while UK is clearly on the rise. If my reading of these trends and tea leaves are close, these this game should be very close, with either team capable of winning by 1 to 3 points. However, I think a larger Kansas win would not bode well for UK’s turnaround process AND a larger UK win, say by 9 or more points, would reinforce not only the reality of the turnaround but signal a turnaround that could place this UK team in legitimate conversation for the Sweet 16 with the Elite 8 in play.

I would want to see more sustained improvement to talk of final four contention, but I can not rule that out based on last night’s game, the Tennessee game, and the two intervening games at Rupp.

One Response

TheProfessor says:

January 25, 2023 at 11:11 am

As all here know, I have been critical of Calipari’s handling of this team as well as the direction of the program on his watch. I remain critical of his handling of this program. However, last night’s game was a strong performance by UK and it was strong from start to finish, unlike the previous two games in this "turnaround" event.

I believe that a "turnaround" cannot be defined until there is at least a 5 game history and the Kansas game will provide the 5th game in this sequence.

The game at Tennessee remains the high-water mark for this team and this season. The two games at home against Georgia and Texas A&M were not nearly as strong as Tennessee, primarily because the team could not put a full game together either night. In each case, their first half was dismal while their second halves were strong, and strong enough to overcome the poor first halves. Therefore, the overall game performances were not sufficient, in and of themselves, to support a conclusion that this team had truly changed prior to the Tennessee trip or simply caught lightning in the bottle in Knoxville that particular day.

The two halves at Tennessee were strong and very strong, and were sufficient to defeat what I believe is the #2 team in the land on their home court. That is as impressive a win as any team can post this season.

I am not ready to declare a turnaround of the type that can propel a team into championship contention, but I am satisfied that this team has changed in a significant and positive way since the South Carolina loss.

I am anxious to see how this team does on Saturday against Kansas, and that match up should be quite interesting given that Kansas has lost their last 3 and are in a period of decline while UK is clearly on the rise. If my reading of these trends and tea leaves are close, these this game should be very close, with either team capable of winning by 1 to 3 points. However, I think a larger Kansas win would not bode well for UK’s turnaround process AND a larger UK win, say by 9 or more points, would reinforce not only the reality of the turnaround but signal a turnaround that could place this UK team in legitimate conversation for the Sweet 16 with the Elite 8 in play.

I would want to see more sustained improvement to talk of final four contention, but I can not rule that out based on last night’s game, the Tennessee game, and the two intervening games at Rupp.