Chris Livingston had 13 points against Arkansas. (Vicky Graff Photo)
If you were looking for a bright spot for Kentucky in Tuesday’s 88-73 loss to Arkansas, it had to be freshman Chris Livingston.
He scored 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting and had two 3-pointers early in the second half that kept UK in the game for a few more minutes. He also had five rebounds in his 33 minutes.
“He has been playing well the last few games, doing little things, diving on the floor, rebounding, playing defense, had some good drives,” Kentucky assistant coach Bruiser Flint said Tuesday. “I thought he played well. The stat sheet may not always look good but he has been playing well.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari said Arkansas “crowded” the court on Livingston when it could and that forced him to miss some shots.
“The kid is getting better and better and more confident. He mixes it up, and that’s all I can ask,” Calipari said after the game. “He’s not the reason this happened tonight. He was one of the bright spots.”
Livingston certainly didn’t see himself as a bright spot after his team lost by 15 points to put itself back on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
“It’s disappointing. They beat us last year, so we tried to come out here and play with a lot more energy than we have been,” Livingston said.
He knew it was almost impossible to win with a defense that let Arkansas shoot 72 percent — 18 of 25 — from the field in the second half.
“I think we had six turnovers at halftime, but we had nine in the second half. There was a lack of fight and a lack of defensive intensity,” he said.
He put the blame on himself.
“I’ve got to be better. I didn’t rebound as much as I should. On the defensive end, we gave them second chance points and opportunities. With the lack of fight, I’ve just got to be better,” Livingston said.
“I give them credit; they’re a really good team. We still had a lot of breakdowns. Ball screen coverage—that kind of got exposed—and like in the Kansas game, our pick and roll coverage was really bad. Arkansas did the same thing. They made three passes then drove it and we weren’t really protecting the rim.
“On the other end, when we drove to the rim, there were consequences. For them, there were too many easy buckets.”
One Response
The Calipari player’s first emphasis. No one should confuse Calipari’s real message, ie "I will get as many players to the NBA as fast as possible" with the less toxic interpretation that fans want to assign to his mission, ie "I will make sure the players needs, getting to class, maximizing the college experience, making steady academic progress, and attending to the health and safety needs of a player" That has never been his purpose or his intent.
The players’ first emphasis has shifted the entire focus of teams from a collection of players with a unified goal of maximizing their collective ability to a collection of players seeking to maximize and showcase their individual skills (audition for NBA scouts).
This shift in focus shows up with a disjointed and confused play, and that is precisely what I have observed from his teams and those attributes of on-the-court play have been increasing year after year. This year is about as bad as I can recall from any UK team in my years as a member of the Big Blue Nation.
This discombobulation of the play shows up at both ends of the court, but since defense is inherently a team function rather than an individual function, the impact of this individualized focus impacts defense more than offense.
This team’s defense has been pitiful and is getting worse as the season wears on toward its conclusion.
This will not get better until a true team is created, rather than a collection of individual players, each focused on his individual interests "first"
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