One of the things that bothers a lot of fans right now is just how little the players seem to care about getting throttled.
In the old days, a 25-point loss at Vanderbilt would result in a closed-door meeting and some fire. This group? They seem to have the unique ability to just accept 20-point losses as a minor inconvenience rather than a stain on the program.
And when asked what the players can actually do to fix this before a massive game at Arkansas on Saturday, Denzel Aberdeen gave an answer that will make you shake your head.
Where is the Championship DNA?
Remember, Aberdeen isn't a freshman. He was with the Florida Gators last season and helped them win a national title. He is supposed to know what it takes to win at the highest level. He was brought here specifically for that "Championship DNA."
So, when a reporter asked him: "What can you and your teammates do to rally and reverse this with a big game coming up this weekend at Arkansas?"
You would expect a fiery answer. You would expect specific accountability. Instead, we got this:
"Just move past this game. Don't think on it too much, but we do got to come in, watch film, see what we got to get better at. :ike we said, it starts in our first halves. Can't be down double digits anymore, especially in SEC play because a lot of great teams we got ahead of us. So, I think we just got to do a better job coming together and playing together and then just starting it off from the jump. Not trying to wait till the second half trying to come back and all that, but just starting the first half so we don't got to put ourselves in that position.""
'Just move past it?'
What kind of answer is that? "Don't think on it too much?"
That is the problem! Maybe you should think about it. Maybe you should obsess over why you keep getting embarrassed in the first 20 minutes of games.
Aberdeen says they "can't be down double digits anymore." Buddy, you have been down by 17 points in 7 of 8 road or neutral site games this year. You aren't "putting yourselves in that position" occasionally. You are doing it every single time you leave Rupp Arena.
They refuse to learn
They should already know to come out and play better in the first half. A middle school team knows that. Yet, this group continues to lay an egg in the first half against good teams over and over again.
It is infuriating because it seems they literally cannot learn. They say the right words, "we gotta start better," and then they go out and do the exact same thing three days later.
It begs the question: Do they actually want to fix it? Or do they just want to "move past it" so they can get back to chanting "Touch Money" in the tunnel?
Because right now, the fans are the only ones who seem to be losing sleep over this.