North Carolina Tar Heels 82, Kentucky Wildcats 77

Well, if it wasn’t obvious, those “40-0” shirts were premature and, essentially, unwarranted.  Three losses against ranked teams will make those shirts fodder for rival fan bases.  On Saturday night in Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina Tarheels defeated the University of Kentucky Wildcats 82-77. This Kentucky team has some lingering issues that, hopefully, head coach John Calipari will address during the upcoming holiday break.

Dec 1, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Kentucky head coach John Calipari reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The biggest concern of late has been the disappearance of Julius Randle. Perhaps it’s too much to assume that he would be able to dominate for a season the way he started out. But, Randle seems to have hit a wall in the last few games.  The double and triple teams he was passing out of earlier in the season have begun to slow him down. Julius seems to be forcing things, particularly on the offensive end, and against North Carolina, either on his own or as schemed by the coaching staff, he completely abandoned the post. Either way, if Kentucky is going to reach its potential, Randle is going to have to get back to doing man’s work within 5 feet of the basket.

And there are the continuing and ongoing concerns regarding the Wildcats and their free throw shooting and the turnovers. The reason these two areas are so frustrating to the Big Blue Nation and you have to assume even moreso to the coaching staff, is that these areas are so basic and fundamental to the game that they should be no brainers. The Cats don’t need to all turn into Kyle Macy overnight, but hitting 29 out of 43 FTs (67%) is how you lose close ballgames. If the Cats, as a team, become just 75% from the line, they’ll make themselves very tough to beat going forward.

The turnovers, quite simply, have to stop. Kentucky has to stop forcing bad passes. They need to stop making lazy passes. They need to cherish the ball. They need to cherish every possession. I would ask Anthony Epps, of the spectacular 27 to 3 assist-to-turnover ratio in the ’96 tourney, to come in and talk to the kids about how great teams take care of the ball. The Wildcats are talented, but you cannot beat a team like North Carolina by gifting the Heels 17 turnovers and giving up 24 points in transition (UK went into the game only giving up 8.3 transition points per game)

Dec 14, 2013; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Julius Randle (30) and forward Alex Poythress (22) and forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) nd North Carolina Tar Heels forward Kennedy Meeks (3) fight for the ball in the first half at Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The time has come for Calipari to set his rotation and to clearly define each player’s role. I think that everyone would benefit from this, but none more than Alex Poythress. Early in the season, when he was the designated sixth man, Poythress was coming into games and showing that promise that everyone assumed was just under the surface last year. But as his playing time has fluxuated and his role seems less clearly defined, his play has suffered.  This team is going to need Alex to get it just like Terrence Jones “got it” in 2012.

The Harrison twins showed, for a brief moment against the Tar Heels, why they came to Lexington with all the hype. They’re both big and physical and we finally saw a quick first step from both guys. Cal and his staff are going to have to work on getting Andrew and Aaron in space and letting them create. Aaron almost singlehandedly go North Carolina into foul trouble by attacking the basket to start off the second half. Andrew finished with 17 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds against the Heels and Aaron had 20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and only one turnover. not a bad day for the Harrison boys at all.

All these problems are fixable, but the time to get them fixed is here. The preseason hype is gone and it’s time to get serious about becoming a better basketball team. Some people call this team lazy, but I think that they’re complacent. They’ve shown flashes of great play.  We’ve seen glimpses of what this team can do when they impose their will (Baylor and UNC were on the ropes). We all just need to see it for 40 minutes.  Calipari and his staff are going to have to figure out how to limit turnovers, exploit the size and speed of the twins, figure out how and where Poythress fits in and how to get Randle back on track. I believe in Cal and I want to believe in this team, but it’s time that we see what they can do.