After losing to Missouri in a backbreaking fashion, Kentucky players weren’t sulking in the locker room. They weren’t hitting the court to get better. They weren’t self-reflecting.
They were on Instagram, hawking hats and posting highlights.
Kentucky basketball has totally lost its way
When you want to win, you have to make sacrifices. You have to give everything you have in games and in preparation. Kentucky basketball players have seemed to lose their way in both areas.
After the Alabama game, Mo Dioubate said they didn’t take it seriously enough to win. After the Louisville game, Otega Oweh admitted he needed to give effort 100 percent of the time.
Now you have players on Instagram after a crushing home loss that dropped Kentucky to 0–2 in the SEC.
Brandon Garrison shared a highlight of his alley-oop finish. That same player committed one of the crucial turnovers down the stretch, contributing to the collapse. Somehow, that did not make its way to the highlight reel.
Another reposted content selling hats. To be fair to Chandler here, there may have been contractual obligations involved, but could the timing have possibly been worse?
You lose a game you were leading by eight with four minutes left, on your home floor, to fall to 9–6, and the response is highlights and merchandise promotion?
The focus of this team is on all the wrong things right now. Too much attention is being paid to NIL checks, highlight reels, and individual branding.
In doing so, they are leaving THE brand, the University, behind.
No one is asking players to sit in a dark room or disappear from social life after a loss. But take a moment. Ask the question: Is this really the best look?
Because when players admit effort isn’t consistent, when the team doesn’t take scouting reports seriously, you can’t be online two hours after a brutal home loss living it up for the gram.
That is where Kentucky is now, though. They have guys not playing with enough pace on the court, and apparently not even listening to what is being coached.
When Missouri needed a bucket out of the timeout, Kentucky recognized the play. "It is a play we had prepared for, we just didn’t execute and gave up a layup. We had a bunch of that." You can't have a bunch of that in a very winnable game at home.
With 2 straight losses after a 4-game winning streak, it seems Kentucky cares more about Instagram and NIL than winning basketball games.