In the second edition of our new op-ed, hold-nothing-back feature we're tackling a few pressing topics.
Accountability is respectable
Say what you want about the coaching staff, but don't say they pass the buck to others. This is a staff that almost always accepts responsibility when things don't go well. Mark Stoops is quick to accept blame for failings that can be attributed to him, even when he's only partly to blame. Shannon Dawson was quick, following losses this season, to second guess himself and acknowledge that some things could have been called better from a coaching angle.
Occasionally there's a statement to the effect of, "It was a bad call because it didn't work," and surely coaches tire of Sunday morning quarterbacks in the media -- perhaps myself included -- who don't look at everything they do.
Adam Creech/Special to Cats Illustrated
But by and large it's a staff that accepts blame and doesn't pass it.
By the same token accountability is demanded of the players. Stoops' reference on Monday to players who get hundreds of reps and don't excel -- a not-so-veiled reference to Cody Quinn, in the context of Derrick Baity's newfound playing time -- is evidence of that.
The staff was supportive of Patrick Towles during a lot of the fan and media criticism of him earlier in the year, and Stoops has been quick to praise Matt Elam even as yours truly leveled a bit of constructive criticism following the Mississippi State game. But at the same time he's spoken openly about Landon Foster's need to improve and has even kept him on the sidelines at times.
Accountability is a good thing and it's a good thing that Stoops holds himself to the same standard that he holds his players. That will earn a coach the respect he's got to have in the locker room and when hard times come, as they did in Starkville.
He's also demanded accountability of his players off the field. Those that don't get with the program -- or those that didn't -- weren't given endless opportunities. He's been willing to suspend key players. And that sets a great tone, too.
Will this year be different?
Will 2015 be different than 2014? We won't know until the end of the regular season.
When Kentucky was 4-1 with Auburn coming to town the Cats had a golden opportunity to push their SEC record to 3-1. We saw in Starkville that the Cats aren't ready for the biggest stages in the SEC -- not even Davis Wade, much less Bryant-Denny or down in Baton Rouge.
We've seen a leveling out over the past couple of games. Kentucky was fortunate to be 4-1. They're now 4-3 and that's probably right where they belong. Clearly better than Missouri and South Carolina, but not as good as most of the rest of the SEC.
The key right now is to reach the postseason.
Randy Sartin/USA Today Sports
Charlotte should give the Cats five wins. The next two best opportunities are Vanderbilt and Louisville. Tennessee this weekend will be very difficult. That's not to say Kentucky is going to lose, but the Volunteers looked a lot like the bunch folks expected to see before the season when they played at Alabama. There's always the possibility that Georgia could do a little 'Clemsoning,' a term that really applies more to Georgia than Clemson now anyways.
It's still likely that Kentucky gets to six wins. But pulling an upset in either of the next two games would really be a shot in the arm that undoes any bad taste following the last two losses.
Fans shouldn't be quick to draw parallels between last season and this season. One blowout loss on the road to a senior quarterback that's torched UK before it's the same was the debacle after last season's South Carolina win. But how the Cats respond against Tennessee will tell us a lot. If the game's close with a chance for UK to win late then it'll be a great sign for ultimate bowl eligibility. If there's anything even remotely similar to last year's game in Knoxville, you'll have a 4-4 team with an increasingly agitated fan base.
Blue-White Game: What I'll be watching
Every time this UK basketball team takes the court I'll be salivating at the opportunity to draw premature conclusions and overreact, just like anyone else. But, really, there are several story lines I'm most interested in following.
1.How will the guards play off one another? We know a little bit from what we've seen and read so far, but there's no substitute for real game action. The teams will be awkwardly split so we won't know too much after the Blue-White game, but even when two of the Cats' likely starting guards are together it'll be interesting to see who defers and how much, who makes who better, and what difficulties there might be to overcome.
2.Is Marcus Lee's breakthrough for real? Lee certainly has looked improved so far. That's consistent with reports. He looks good, he's got a bounce in his step, his confidence is up and he seems to have internalized the real need for him to play like a five-star recruit-turned junior. If he's a consistent energy guy (as he's always been) along with a defensive force and an improved offensive threat that at least finishes plays he should finish and occasionally knocks down a quick turnaround or mid-ranger -- well, Kentucky becomes much better.
3.What's Skal's mentality? I'm pretty confident that Jamal Murray knows how good he is, and he knows that he needs to be that good for Kentucky to win a championship. Not only that, but I'm pretty confident that he's going to realize what it means to be a "go to" player. But what about Labissiere? That's one thing I'm interested in seeing. Pretty quickly we're going to see whether Skal has anything resembling an alpha male, 'I'm gonna get mine,' in him. He won't be selfish about it. That's not how he's going to err. It'll just be interesting to see how aggressively he looks for his own scoring opportunities, and in turn, how much of that Kentucky needs.
4. Defensive intensity. Defensive strategy. Defensive dynamics. I'm interested in seeing that. If UK goes three guards or two guards with a Liggins-like Matthews defending, or even with two long and rangy "good" shot blockers -- it's going to be a very different defensive team than Kentucky's seen in recent years. Not entirely different, but John Calipari has talked about all kinds of possibilities in the context of not even knowing himself how he's going to coach this group up defensively.
Accountability is respectable
Say what you want about the coaching staff, but don't say they pass the buck to others. This is a staff that almost always accepts responsibility when things don't go well. Mark Stoops is quick to accept blame for failings that can be attributed to him, even when he's only partly to blame. Shannon Dawson was quick, following losses this season, to second guess himself and acknowledge that some things could have been called better from a coaching angle.
Occasionally there's a statement to the effect of, "It was a bad call because it didn't work," and surely coaches tire of Sunday morning quarterbacks in the media -- perhaps myself included -- who don't look at everything they do.
Adam Creech/Special to Cats Illustrated
But by and large it's a staff that accepts blame and doesn't pass it.
By the same token accountability is demanded of the players. Stoops' reference on Monday to players who get hundreds of reps and don't excel -- a not-so-veiled reference to Cody Quinn, in the context of Derrick Baity's newfound playing time -- is evidence of that.
The staff was supportive of Patrick Towles during a lot of the fan and media criticism of him earlier in the year, and Stoops has been quick to praise Matt Elam even as yours truly leveled a bit of constructive criticism following the Mississippi State game. But at the same time he's spoken openly about Landon Foster's need to improve and has even kept him on the sidelines at times.
Accountability is a good thing and it's a good thing that Stoops holds himself to the same standard that he holds his players. That will earn a coach the respect he's got to have in the locker room and when hard times come, as they did in Starkville.
He's also demanded accountability of his players off the field. Those that don't get with the program -- or those that didn't -- weren't given endless opportunities. He's been willing to suspend key players. And that sets a great tone, too.
Will this year be different?
Will 2015 be different than 2014? We won't know until the end of the regular season.
When Kentucky was 4-1 with Auburn coming to town the Cats had a golden opportunity to push their SEC record to 3-1. We saw in Starkville that the Cats aren't ready for the biggest stages in the SEC -- not even Davis Wade, much less Bryant-Denny or down in Baton Rouge.
We've seen a leveling out over the past couple of games. Kentucky was fortunate to be 4-1. They're now 4-3 and that's probably right where they belong. Clearly better than Missouri and South Carolina, but not as good as most of the rest of the SEC.
The key right now is to reach the postseason.
Randy Sartin/USA Today Sports
Charlotte should give the Cats five wins. The next two best opportunities are Vanderbilt and Louisville. Tennessee this weekend will be very difficult. That's not to say Kentucky is going to lose, but the Volunteers looked a lot like the bunch folks expected to see before the season when they played at Alabama. There's always the possibility that Georgia could do a little 'Clemsoning,' a term that really applies more to Georgia than Clemson now anyways.
It's still likely that Kentucky gets to six wins. But pulling an upset in either of the next two games would really be a shot in the arm that undoes any bad taste following the last two losses.
Fans shouldn't be quick to draw parallels between last season and this season. One blowout loss on the road to a senior quarterback that's torched UK before it's the same was the debacle after last season's South Carolina win. But how the Cats respond against Tennessee will tell us a lot. If the game's close with a chance for UK to win late then it'll be a great sign for ultimate bowl eligibility. If there's anything even remotely similar to last year's game in Knoxville, you'll have a 4-4 team with an increasingly agitated fan base.
Blue-White Game: What I'll be watching
Every time this UK basketball team takes the court I'll be salivating at the opportunity to draw premature conclusions and overreact, just like anyone else. But, really, there are several story lines I'm most interested in following.
1.How will the guards play off one another? We know a little bit from what we've seen and read so far, but there's no substitute for real game action. The teams will be awkwardly split so we won't know too much after the Blue-White game, but even when two of the Cats' likely starting guards are together it'll be interesting to see who defers and how much, who makes who better, and what difficulties there might be to overcome.
2.Is Marcus Lee's breakthrough for real? Lee certainly has looked improved so far. That's consistent with reports. He looks good, he's got a bounce in his step, his confidence is up and he seems to have internalized the real need for him to play like a five-star recruit-turned junior. If he's a consistent energy guy (as he's always been) along with a defensive force and an improved offensive threat that at least finishes plays he should finish and occasionally knocks down a quick turnaround or mid-ranger -- well, Kentucky becomes much better.
3.What's Skal's mentality? I'm pretty confident that Jamal Murray knows how good he is, and he knows that he needs to be that good for Kentucky to win a championship. Not only that, but I'm pretty confident that he's going to realize what it means to be a "go to" player. But what about Labissiere? That's one thing I'm interested in seeing. Pretty quickly we're going to see whether Skal has anything resembling an alpha male, 'I'm gonna get mine,' in him. He won't be selfish about it. That's not how he's going to err. It'll just be interesting to see how aggressively he looks for his own scoring opportunities, and in turn, how much of that Kentucky needs.
4. Defensive intensity. Defensive strategy. Defensive dynamics. I'm interested in seeing that. If UK goes three guards or two guards with a Liggins-like Matthews defending, or even with two long and rangy "good" shot blockers -- it's going to be a very different defensive team than Kentucky's seen in recent years. Not entirely different, but John Calipari has talked about all kinds of possibilities in the context of not even knowing himself how he's going to coach this group up defensively.
