A Quick Thought About This Team

[maysvilleky]

I’m not going to place blame on Coaches or players or really even be overly upset.

What I think these players are learning and have to fully understand is that playing for UK is a totally different animal than playing for Dayton, BYU or Wake Forest, etc.

All these players are coming from schools that had 1 or maybe 2 true rival games. Most of the time they were the underdogs when playing against a UK, Duke, Kansas, UNC, Mich St, etc. type school. They could get hyped for those games.

But at UK the teams treat you like the biggest game on the schedule. So you go in thinking you might have a breather against UGA or Vandy…but in reality those players are hyped up to play UK. And if you aren’t matching that intensity and hype, you’re going to get more than you bargained for.

And I’m not saying it’s just the players. Pope may have that understanding but how do you convey that to a bunch of young guys? Sometimes it’s a lesson they just need to learn. That’s my thought. I hope they are learning!

 

[NociHTTP]

Every game is important. It doesn't matter the conference or time of year. If a player can only get up for certain games, that's a problem. I don't think that's the issue with this team. Fundamentals and effort are lacking.

 

[pinecreek]

It’s a combination of everything mentioned here, the biggest factor being a team with 2/3 of it being “one and done at UK” portal players that aren’t NBA bound. Seems like it’s about right for what has transpired.

 

[YardCat]

I’m not going to place blame on Coaches or players or really even be overly upset.

What I think these players are learning and have to fully understand is that playing for UK is a totally different animal than playing for Dayton, BYU or Wake Forest, etc.

All these players are coming from schools that had 1 or maybe 2 true rival games. Most of the time they were the underdogs when playing against a UK, Duke, Kansas, UNC, Mich St, etc. type school. They could get hyped for those games.

But at UK the teams treat you like the biggest game on the schedule. So you go in thinking you might have a breather against UGA or Vandy…but in reality those players are hyped up to play UK. And if you aren’t matching that intensity and hype, you’re going to get more than you bargained for.

And I’m not saying it’s just the players. Pope may have that understanding but how do you convey that to a bunch of young guys? Sometimes it’s a lesson they just need to learn. That’s my thought. I hope they are learning!

I think the players are learning that every team on our schedule circles the UK game and that the other team regardless of name or ranking will do anything to beat UK.