You can’t make this stuff up. On Tuesday, Paul Finebaum took a call from a man named "Vance from Georgia." Vance calmly explained that he was on hold, and during his wait, a tree literally fell through his bedroom.
Instead of hanging up to, you know, deal with the natural disaster in his living room, he stayed on the line to talk ball.
That is the level of chaos we are dealing with right now. As cold as it was outside, Mark Pope's Cats are even more frigid, and Finebaum puts the head coach in his crosshairs.
"Why is this program continually getting blown out?"
Finebaum, who gets paid to stir the pot, actually hit on a very real concern that has nothing to do with hot takes and everything to do with reality.
He has been a supporter of Mark Pope these last 2 seasons, but even he is starting to wonder what is going on.
“I’ve been a big supporter of Mark Pope, but at some point you have to take a pause and go, ‘Why is this program continually getting blown out?’” Finebaum asked.
He is right. Losing is one thing. Getting run out of the gym repeatedly is another.
The stats are horrifying
We can talk about the good times, Kentucky has tied a national record with 8 wins against Top-15 teams last season. That is incredible. But the bad times are historically bad.
Kentucky has now trailed by at least 17 points in seven of eight games away from Rupp Arena this season. Read that again. Seven of eight.
In nearly a quarter (22%) of all his power-conference matchups since taking the job, Mark Pope’s team has faced a 15-plus-point halftime deficit.
“From what I can tell, they’ve been ineffective in the first half too often and they dig themselves holes,” Finebaum noted. “I think the way things are going in his second season, Pope has a lot to answer for.”
Kentucky keeps getting 'eviscerated' on the road
Finebaum didn't mince words about the optics of these losses. “He still has supporters and a lot of people that are behind him, but every time he goes on the road and gets eviscerated, it makes him more difficult to defend.”
"Eviscerated" is the perfect word. Vanderbilt didn't just beat Kentucky; they surgically removed their will to win in the first 20 minutes.
The mercenary mindset
And how are the players responding to this historic trend of getting embarrassed? Denzel Aberdeen shrugged off the 25-point loss in Nashville by saying it was time to just move on and not think about it too much.
Yeah, that is exactly the attitude you want from one of your high-priced mercenaries...er, players. When the house is falling around you, just like Vance from Georgia, maybe you should panic a little bit.
Instead, this team is just staying on the line, waiting for the next segment.