If you are a Kentucky fan, you don't need a scouting report to know what the biggest problem with this team is. You need a degree in English Literature apparentely.
Because right now, watching the Kentucky Wildcats is like reading a confusing, frustrating mashup of classic novels.
On one hand, Mark Pope is quoting Charles Dickens. On the other hand, the team is acting out a live-action performance of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Kentucky basketball's season is 'A tale of two halves'
Pope acknowledged the bipolar nature of this squad during his radio show on Wednesday night, the team that can look like a world-beater one week and then completely disappear the next.
“That’s why seasons are great, that’s why this journey is so great," Pope said, trying to put a positive spin on the chaos. "For us, it’s been a tale of two halves, a tale of two cities, the best of times and the worst of times in every game that we enjoy as Kentucky fans. That seems to be the trend.”
With all due respect to the coach, most fans aren't finding this "journey" particularly "great" right now. It is exhausting and frustrating.
The Jekyll and Hyde factor
The "Tale of Two Cities" quote is cute, but the Jekyll and Hyde comparison is far more accurate.
- Dr. Jekyll: This is the team that went on a 5-game winning streak. This is the team that fought back for wins against Indiana and St. John's. This is the team that looks connected, shoots the lights out, and mostly does so in the second half.
- Mr. Hyde: This is the team that showed up in Nashville...twice. This is the team that got blitzed by Gonzaga. This is the team that couldn't inbound the ball, looked disinterested on the glass, and let a Vanderbilt squad punch them in the mouth without punching back.
The problem isn't that Kentucky is "bad." It's because they are clinically unstable. You legitimately do not know which version is walking out of the tunnel until they hit the floor, and I mean in either half.
Pope calls it "the best of times and the worst of times." But in the SEC, you can't survive on that duality. You can't be Dr. Jekyll in the second half and Mr. Hyde in the first, and expect to make a deep run in March.
If Kentucky can't find a way to kill off the Mr. Hyde version of this roster, and fast, this literary journey isn't going to have a happy ending. It's going to be a tragedy.