Collin Chandler had been Captain Clutch for most of this SEC season. He threw the bomb to Moreno to knock off LSU, he stole the ball at Tennessee, and he hit the turnaround in Fayetteville. He was making 3's at a historic clip, hitting an incredible 45.7% of his attempts from deep in conference play.
Then he exploded for a huge career game against Vanderbilt when the Cats needed a big win after he struggled against Auburn. But this last week has been as bad as it gets for Chandler and Kentucky.
Collin Chandler went from Captain Clutch to a disappearing act
In the home stretch, when Kentucky needed to win 1 game to solidify its standing, Collin Chandler had some of his worst games.
Against Auburn, Texas A&M, and yesterday against Florida, Chandler was a combined 5-19 with 7 turnovers. So, what changed?
According to Mark Pope, it wasn't just the play of Chandler but everyone around him. "We were pretty stagnant today," Pope said before saying that every time a Kentucky player got to the rim and didn't make a play for a teammate, it was a shot away from a guy like Chandler.
How do you fix that is the real question?
Kentucky has been called selfish; there were rumors of locker room fights and players not liking each other. You have had players refuse to pass the ball even when it was to a wide-open teammate, even guys like Oweh were guilty of this. As a coach, how do you take a team that doesn't want to play together and make them play together?
I really believe that is what is happening in Lexington right now. You have a coach pushing all the buttons he can to get the team he envisioned at the start of the season. A team that would push the ball, move the ball with speed and tempo, play free and fun, and share the joy and the ball, with each other.
Instead, you have a team where a lot of guys put their heads down and drive straight at the rim, a place where this Kentucky team has struggled this year.
To answer the question of where did Collin Chandler go, you have to look at the entire team and wonder what happened.