Kentucky basketball: No more excuses from Coach Cal and the Wildcats
By Drew Koch
This year’s Kentucky basketball team has run out of excuses.
I for one am done with the excuses for this year’s Kentucky basketball team. Kentucky is 2-3 versus the RPI Top 50 and 4-5 against the RPI Top 100. Kentucky’s best victory of the season, believe it or not, was against the Louisville Cardinals.
Early in the year, the excuse of inexperience was tossed about. You’d hear expressions like, “This is the youngest team John Calipari’s ever had.” Now while that may be the case, Cal has never had a problem playing freshmen. The narrative is the same every year. Calipari recruits talented players, they struggle a bit early, but hit their stride late. It’s time for this year’s team to hit that stride.
Health
Then we’ve heard the excuses regarding the health of this year’s UK team. Jermal Baker has an injured knee. Calipari basically dismissed the idea of Baker returning to play this year via SECCountry.com after Saturday’s loss. “I don’t think he’s close,” said the UK coach. “I haven’t seen him jump at all yet, so I don’t think he’s close.”
Okay, now that we can assume Baker is out for the season, how about the other Wildcats. Jarred Vanderbilt played in his second game of the season and appeared to move well on the floor. Quade Green returned after a three-game hiatus with a back injury. Kentucky is as healthy as they’ve been all season. Barring any new injuries, the health of this Kentucky basketball team is no longer an excuse.
Three-point shooting
Lack of three-point shooting is no longer an excuse. This team is not good from the perimeter. This is a known fact. This season, there are only 4 teams in the NCAA that have taken fewer three-point shots than Kentucky.The Cats will not beat teams from deep. But if they drive the ball to the basket and draw contact, the opportunity to convert their free throws will be there.
Free throw shooting
Which brings us to our next excuse, free throw shooting. This year’s Kentucky basketball can get to the charity stripe. They are 2nd in the SEC in free throw attempts and 28th in the nation. However, the Wildcats rank 276 out of 351 in free throw percentage. They are No. 11 in the conference. Free throws are mental, period.
This team is currently shooting 67.8% from the foul line. There is no excuse for this team to shoot that poorly from the charity stripe. Nick Richards is the third best foul shooter on the team. PJ Washington‘s average has dipped below 60%. If this team hopes to have any chance going forward, the freebies can no longer be an excuse.
Poor officiating
Oh my goodness, this is one you’ll hear fan bases use all the time, “The refs cost us the game.” We all saw the inexcusable ‘no call’ against Washington in the final seconds of the loss to Florida. That was an egregious mistake. You know what? So was the missed call on Wenyen Gabriel against Texas A&M at the end of the game.
Referees make mistakes. The human element is part of the game. It always been and always will be, Believe it or not Big Blue Nation, the majority of the calls are correct. It’s time to stop blaming the officials and just go play ball.
There’s more reasons for Kentucky’s struggles this season, but these are the points commonly used to describe UK’s shortcomings this season. I can take sympathize with a lot of Kentucky’s struggles this season. Are they young? Yes, but Cal’s had tons of young teams before. This team has got to stop making excuses for its poor play, own their mistakes and play through them. The moment this team begins to take accountability is the moment they will realize their true potential.