COLUMN: Kentucky Basketball is Not Where John Calipari Thinks it is
Kentucky basketball has missed another opportunity to send its season trajectory on an uphill slope, instead opting for a rancid 63-53 loss to UCLA on one of the biggest stages in all of sports.
The loss keeps the Wildcats without a win against a ranked opponent, while simultaneously sending Big Blue Nation into mass hysteria, wondering when coach John Calipari will turn back the clock to the good ol' days.
Taking a look at the box score, you only need a few seconds to pinpoint where things went wrong for UK:
- 32.8 percent shooting as a team
- 5-13 from the free throw line
- 18 turnovers
If you laid your poor eyeballs on a television, you saw stagnant offense. UCLA sent everything — including the kitchen sink — at Oscar Tshiebwe, holding the National Player of the Year to an irritating eight-point performance. Antonio Reeves and Cason Wallace each shot 2-13 from the floor, while CJ Fredrick barely managed to stay upright in his six minutes of game time.
"We miss so many open shots, it becomes demoralizing," Calipari explained after the loss.
With 4:31 remaining in the second half, Kentucky was down 55-53. Freshman forward Chris Livingston had been a sparkplug of sorts, trying to yank his teammates out of quicksand on the offensive end. Lance Ware played with an edge in what was his first bit of action in a couple of weeks, providing some of the only intensity the Wildcats showed for 40 minutes.
Unfortunately, none of that matters if you can't put the ball in the basket. UK failed to score the rest of the way, missing its last 11 shots of the night.
Even if you didn't watch the game, all you needed to see was the post-game press conferences afterward.
UCLA skipper Mick Cronin clamored about getting home to sunny Westwood, where he'll be able to grill out for Christmas as a part of his recruiting pitch. He called the game a "bloodbath" while reminiscing on the old Big East days, all while smiling away as his Bruins won their seventh game in a row.
Calipari, on the other hand, continued to live in a blurred reality of where his team stands after 10 games in the 2022-23 season.
"We're not a bad free-throw shooting team. We were today," he explained.
Statistics beg to differ.
Kentucky is now shooting 66.3 percent from the charity stripe. That ranks as the 287th best clip in the nation. If that’s not bad, then what is?
“We're one of the better 3-point shooting teams, and we missed,” Calipari continued.
Statistics beg to differ.
While UK is a top-40 3-point shooting team, that has meant nothing when the lights have shined bright. In their four games against Power Five opponents, the Wildcats are hitting deep balls less than 30 percent of the time.
So how much of Calipari’s statements are belief in his team’s ability, and how much is delusion?
He couldn’t hide his disappointment after the loss, but he also made sure to note that his team “had a chance to win the game.”
Sure, that’s true…but his team didn’t find victory. They lost. On a big stage. Again.
The good part for Calipari, is there’s still plenty of ball left to be played. The SEC features some heavy hitters, so multiple opportunities to land some marquee wins are on the horizon.
Say the Cats hit their stride in January, go on a run and find themselves with a chance to win the conference, Calipari will be sure to call back on the gloom that filled the air in the Madison Square Garden press room on Saturday.
But say they don’t. Then what? All that will remain is the writing that’s appeared on the wall since November, with no signs of washing away.
Patience is thin in the Bluegrass. Calipari and the Wildcats need to find the answers necessary to satiate a hungry and tired BBN.
