Antonio Reeves had trouble finding a path to the basket against Arkansas. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Remember how incensed the Kentucky football coaches and players were last season when a SEC Network analyst labeled the team as “soft” and were determined to prove that was not true?
Well maybe it’s time for the Kentucky basketball team to do the same because the Cats certainly looked “soft” against Arkansas
Kentucky coach John Calipari didn’t use the word soft, but he certainly implied that when asked what happened that allowed Arkansas to dominate the second half.
I was just so disappointed. Turnover, turnover, dunk, layup,” Calipari said after the game. “I’m looking around, I’ve got to call a timeout a minute into the half, and literally like, ‘Come on, how did you lose that, how did you not get that ball?’
“But you know, that’s why I said, ‘Okay, here we are, let’s fight our way back.’ We did some good things and got it close, seven and six and five, but the game was a physical game. If you weren’t ready for that, you were going to get knocked off point.”
Kentucky got knocked off point a lot, too. Arkansas seemed to do whatever it wanted on offense and defense in the second half.
“They were physical, they drove the ball. Our rim protection was awful. I can’t get guys to body up and do this stuff, and they did a great job of bodying us up,” Calipari said. “The blocks were not like out of – they just jumped with two hands, they bodied up, and if you threw it into their arms, it was a block.”
Arkansas had more block shots and steals. It got to the rim with ease it seemed with almost no resistance while the Razorbacks knocked Oscar Tshiebwe out of the paint but also seemed to swarm other Cats.
“They were the aggressor. They were the more physical team,” Calipari said. “When we made runs and got it close, they made a play.”
And often it was by being the more physical team.
5 Responses
I think Kentucky players do not trust each other. They are thinking too much and because of that they are a step slow. There is a mental block between players and coaches. They are running out of time to get this corrected. Cal is too soft on this team. No breakfast club or early morning workouts! no real leaders on this team. We will soon know if this team will break through or not!
ben27, I agree completely. There is not a single player on this team that you can say is the leader, not one. There is not a single player that has come out and said, this is my team!! You need a player that will get in another players face and tell them to get their butt in gear or go to the bench. When Oscar gets lazy, he should have to go to the bench, just like some of the other players. Cal should quit worrying about hurting their feelings and tell them to play ball or sit beside me.
It is not about this team.
This program has been in decline for years with this coach’s players’ first priority, and soft play is the logical consequence of the decline.
If they played every game like they did in Knoxville ( a true heavyweight fight ) they may be undefeated. Really don’t know why they are so inconsistent – think the Prof will probably explain.
This team is no more inconsistent that most seasons, or most teams this or any other season.
All teams have a handful of games each year at each end of the spectrum, but the team’s quality of play is defined by its average performance level, not its very best, or its very worst.
To say, if this team played at its best every game it would never lose is as absurd as saying, if this team played at its worst every game it would never win.
Fans view their team through a prism of the team’s best outings, and those same fans view their team’s opponents through a prism of the opponents’ worst outings. We’re great, They’re Not. We should beat them!!!
Tennessee and Alabama both have season-average adjusted net efficiencies through 24 games above 0.3 points per possession. UK’s ANE is at about 0.15 ppp. Those are the numbers that matter. Can this UK team beat this Tennessee team? Clearly, they can, and we all know that they did. That is not the test.