Sunday, December 11, 2005

What's going on?

Question: What comes to mind when you think of Kentucky basketball?

There are many thoughts that come to my mind when asking myself this question. Some of my answers:

-Pride
-Heart
-Tradition
-Fundamentals
-Defense
-Always being in the game, no matter who we are playing
-Toughness

These are just a few things that can be associated with UK basketball. But that was not the case today as our beloved Cats took on rival Indiana in Indianapolis, IN today. Here's what I saw instead:

-Lack of pride. I sometimes wonder if many players (and not just UK players) even care about who they play for. Are college teams no more than stepping stones anymore? Does the name on your jersey even matter anymore? It didn't look like it today.

-Lack of heart. This goes along with pride. It has become evident to me that this team has no pulse. No enthusiasm, no excitement, no drive to win.

-Lack of fundamentals. Honestly, a few players out on the court for UK today looked like they had never played basketball before in their life. No execution. No smoothness on offense. No defense.

-Not being in the game. Let's be honest, as soon as Indiana took the lead, we were out of this game. If there is one thing I can say about UK it is that no matter who we play, we will always be in the game. Not the case today. And against a good, but not that great team too. And they were missing DJ White, their best player other than Killingsworth. Losing by 26 point is just unacceptable.

-Toughness. This team has yet to prove that they are anything but soft. Out big men get tossed around like ragdolls. We are unbelievably easily intimidated by the opposing defense. We get beat to the ball a few times and we hang our heads insteadof sucking it up and getting tough.

What I saw today was not UK basketball. It was an imposter dressed in blue and white with Kentucky stitched across it's chest. And I don't like this team that continues to play like an average college squad at best.

I am not giving up on this squad. I recall in December 2002 when UK lost by 20 to Louisville, then turned around and won 26 straight. Of course, that was a different team with different personelle. I still think this can be a top 10 team. But not of they continue to play like they don't give a rip about the outcome.

Tubby has a lot of work ahead of him. The players have a lot of work ahead of them. Most importantly, someone has to step up and take charge of this team and claim it as their own. Last year, it was Chuck Hayes. This year, no one has taken on that role as of yet. But whomever that person is, they better do it quick or it is gonna be a long season.

Of course, many struggles can be blamed on the lack of an inside game. But lack of an inside game doesn't cause you to lose by 26 points. The problems run deeper. It seems to me like this team has strengths that they are not using to their advantage. We are fast, but we never press. We have one of the best point gaurds in the nation, but he never takes it to the rim until the outcome has already been decided. We have good shooters but we don't set screens to get them good looks at the basket.

I hate to blame Tubby, but I think he has dropped the ball a little this year. I am guessing Tubby has called of the press becasue we gave up quite a few transition points early on. I don't agree with that. I also have the feeling Tubby told Rondo to cut back on looking to take it to the rim. I don't agree with that either. These are our strengths, and we are not using them.

I think Tubby is going to have to step out of his comfort zone a little this year. His style is gonna have to change a little bit because I just don't think he has the big men to play his usual style. I'm not saying throw his philosophy out the window. I'm just saying that when the peg doesn't fit in the hole, don't keep trying to shove it in; it's not gonna fit. You gotta make some adjustments to make it fit. I think that will be the key to UK's success this year: play towards our strengths. If we don't do that, then I'm afraid it's going to be a long, rough ride, my friends.

posted by Wes @ 12:06 AM

6 Comments:

At 12/11/2005 01:10:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

actually, it happened last game preece.....

 
At 12/11/2005 02:21:00 PM, Blogger d blake said...

pitino's defense is basically designed around controlled fouling. if the refs "let 'em play," it works well. if the game is called tightly, it doesn't work so well.

 
At 12/11/2005 08:32:00 PM, Blogger d blake said...

not saying we should/shouldn't try anything... just an observation on pitino's defensive scheme.

i will agree with you that pitino's teams were much more fun to watch than tubby's teams. ultimately (it pains me to say this), pitino is the better coach who gets more out of his players. tubby, on the other hand, is about 3 times the man pitino is.

i don't know how you ultimately resolve that character vs. performance issue. i do hope, though, that tubby can pull out a national championship soon... not because it would make me happy as a uk fan and alum (though it would)... not because i want to the see the kentuucky masses appeased... but because I want to see a good man do well.

 
At 12/12/2005 10:58:00 AM, Blogger JTapp said...

Agree with Coop on everything he wrote. The pressure is on Tubby, like it or not. He needs to adjust, and show that he can motivate players and get them to fall in line. I have yet to see that in his time here.
Read the article yesterday that Rondo says some of the guys are getting big heads and have ego problems.
Tubby sounded frustrated with the way the team is quickly abandoning their cool and playbook when they get behind. It's his job to fix that all of that.
Tubby has to deal with all that stuff as well.
Beat Louisville. Beat Louisville.
Beat Louisville.

 
At 12/12/2005 02:34:00 PM, Blogger JTapp said...

My other thought is: we could be a 3 or 4 seed in the NCAA that no one would want to play.

And... if Rondo keeps showing his inability to shoot, there's no way he'll go pro this year. Call it the Wayne Turner/Ed Cota effect.

Imagine if he and Morris come back next year... more mature and hungry.

(I don't want to say "wait til next year" this early in the season. I'm not... I'm just speculating on possibilities...)

 
At 12/12/2005 04:42:00 PM, Blogger Wes said...

I would love to be a 3 seed

 

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