It was yet another disappointing performance by the Cats in the SEC tournament, now 1-5 in their last 6 SEC tournament games.
One of the things that recent UK teams lack is tournament experience ... which is why the SEC tournament games are important contrary to what Cal keeps saying ... the best teams have been there before in their conference tournament and in the NCAA tournament ... the Cats completely lack that experience in those moments and thus the probability of over-coming that negative is statistically unlikely.
So, what are we to make of this KY team going into the NCAA tournament?
* The good news is, we can score the ball. We have a lot of guards that can score. This gives us the threat on any given night to get hot and beat just about anybody. The problem with that of course, is relying on that facet alone for 6 straight games is improbable to yield enough wins.
* Defensively, we are really bad. Why that is the case is multi-faceted ... physical, mental, but that's who we are. That means we have to literally out-score the other team.
* Our bigs, either aren't at all or consistently not producing enough points or defense in the paint. Ugo, for example, won't hold the ball for a split second he wants to get rid of it so bad. Z has to be more physical. Bradshaw needs 2-3 more years. Adou is physical but won't shoot open shots and drives into traffic. Mitchell isn't the same player as he was. Edwards is inconsistent. We have occasional defensive moments, and we can debate but our lack of scoring threat and consistency is a problem. One has to ask, were we a better team when Mitchell was playing well ... it's a predicament.
* In light of the above facts, given we have to outscore the other team, we cannot (a) get off to slow starts, (b) commit unforced turnovers, (c) have a bunch of empty possessions. We have to be a team that scores early, middle, and late. We did all three of these items poorly against A&M and got spanked. Some of this is fixable, but it requires both better coaching and better play by our players.
* Finally, while there are some exceptions, in general we have tended to wilt under pressure when (a) the game is physical, (b) the game is intense, and (c) the situation is too big. These are traits that the best teams excel at ... and even if we fix all of the earlier points, these factors are perhaps most concerning. Not everybody but it is a concern that at times we have players who disappear and/or wilt in the moment.
So, what do we do to increase our chances?
Some quick thoughts: It is clear that we must get off to better starts - it's obvious what would help. We must eliminate careless turnovers. Our best players are making some critical TO's leading to easy points. We must collectively, mentally want it more. I hope I am wrong, but I fear the moments ahead will be too big for some of our players. If they want to be pros, they have to act and play like it. Since we don't get enough stops, and have to outscore the other team, might we be better just playing small ball?
I would dearly love to see this team to go on a run ... and they can ... but it can't all just be based off of offense that gets us there. We have to overcome some of our negatives to make a run ... can we change who we are at this point in the season is the question.
One of the things that recent UK teams lack is tournament experience ... which is why the SEC tournament games are important contrary to what Cal keeps saying ... the best teams have been there before in their conference tournament and in the NCAA tournament ... the Cats completely lack that experience in those moments and thus the probability of over-coming that negative is statistically unlikely.
So, what are we to make of this KY team going into the NCAA tournament?
* The good news is, we can score the ball. We have a lot of guards that can score. This gives us the threat on any given night to get hot and beat just about anybody. The problem with that of course, is relying on that facet alone for 6 straight games is improbable to yield enough wins.
* Defensively, we are really bad. Why that is the case is multi-faceted ... physical, mental, but that's who we are. That means we have to literally out-score the other team.
* Our bigs, either aren't at all or consistently not producing enough points or defense in the paint. Ugo, for example, won't hold the ball for a split second he wants to get rid of it so bad. Z has to be more physical. Bradshaw needs 2-3 more years. Adou is physical but won't shoot open shots and drives into traffic. Mitchell isn't the same player as he was. Edwards is inconsistent. We have occasional defensive moments, and we can debate but our lack of scoring threat and consistency is a problem. One has to ask, were we a better team when Mitchell was playing well ... it's a predicament.
* In light of the above facts, given we have to outscore the other team, we cannot (a) get off to slow starts, (b) commit unforced turnovers, (c) have a bunch of empty possessions. We have to be a team that scores early, middle, and late. We did all three of these items poorly against A&M and got spanked. Some of this is fixable, but it requires both better coaching and better play by our players.
* Finally, while there are some exceptions, in general we have tended to wilt under pressure when (a) the game is physical, (b) the game is intense, and (c) the situation is too big. These are traits that the best teams excel at ... and even if we fix all of the earlier points, these factors are perhaps most concerning. Not everybody but it is a concern that at times we have players who disappear and/or wilt in the moment.
So, what do we do to increase our chances?
Some quick thoughts: It is clear that we must get off to better starts - it's obvious what would help. We must eliminate careless turnovers. Our best players are making some critical TO's leading to easy points. We must collectively, mentally want it more. I hope I am wrong, but I fear the moments ahead will be too big for some of our players. If they want to be pros, they have to act and play like it. Since we don't get enough stops, and have to outscore the other team, might we be better just playing small ball?
I would dearly love to see this team to go on a run ... and they can ... but it can't all just be based off of offense that gets us there. We have to overcome some of our negatives to make a run ... can we change who we are at this point in the season is the question.
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