Kentucky not a power in 2016
We are used to seeing the teams coached by John Calipari being in the Final Four, or at least threatening to do so. In the 2015-16 season, his Kentucky Wildcats seem incapable of doing that.
Calipari’s Wildcats entered the week ranked 20th, certainly helped by the fact that there are no real powers in the SEC to oppose them. The only real story to come out of the conference this year is the play of freshman Ben Simmons of the LSU Tigers, a youngster who has drawn comparisons to one LeBron James. Anyway, back to Kentucky and its middling basketball this year.
On Tuesday night, Kentucky had a chance to pick up a conference win against perennial doormat Tennessee. The Volunteers fell behind by 21 points at one juncture, and all seemed to be going according to plan. Instead, the Wildcats would fall apart as Tennessee put on a furious charge to rally and win, 84-77. For the Volunteers, the win put them at 11-11 and nowhere near an NCAA Tournament berth. Kentucky dropped to 16-6 overall, and while it will be in March Madness, you have to wonder if this group if a prime candidate for the one-and-done treatment.
After the game, Calipari was not pulling any punches about his team’s sorry performance in the second half, per ESPN.
“We had them down by 21, and they came back and beat our brains in,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “They ended up beating us by 30 in about 25 minutes, and it could have been 50. We’ve got a ways to go.”
Early in the campaign, it appeared youthful Kentucky would be just fine and perhaps challenge again for a national championship. In its third game of the season, Kentucky beat then-No. 5 Duke, moving to 3-0 on the season. However, the Blue Devils have fallen apart in ACC play and that win is losing its luster by the minute. The only other win of note for the Wildcats came on Dec. 26 against the No. 16 Louisville Cardinals, emerging victorious by two points.
Since then, it has been a parade of wins against horrible teams and a respectable overtime loss on the road against the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks.
If there is one thing to take from the season thus far for those who bleed blue in Lexington, it is that Kentucky has been or hung around with the toughest teams on the schedule. What should scare those same folks is this: the Wildcats are losing to teams they should crush. In the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament, that kind of scattered play gets you sent home really fast.
There are nine game left before the SEC tournament, and Kentucky faces seven unranked teams along with the No. 25 South Carolina Gamecocks and No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies. The Wildcats will have plenty of time to shape up, but the journey starts now.
