Kentucky basketball brought a reported $20 to $25 million on the 2025 roster this offseason – probably one of the most expensive, if not the most duration, in the history of college basketball – and ten games into the season it feels like the sky is falling in Lexington. So I come with news:
Probably yes.
The 6-4 record – with losses to Louisville by eight points and more Gonzaga last week with 35 (!!) points — is about as rough a start as possible given the expectations for the season and the high price tag. But it’s not just an over-extrapolation from a 10-game example in a 31-game regular season.
Kentucky has problems it can’t solve with its own personnel. That’s bad enough in itself (more on that later). But worse, even the correctable issues of effort, focus and defensive execution, or lack thereof, are so endemic that an abrupt turnaround seems unlikely.
Kentucky is experiencing a cultural disaster.
Tuesday’s 103-67 win over North Carolina Central was as emphatic as it should have been given the level of opposition, but even the struggles of that successful outing were emblematic of systemic issues that have taken root within this team.
I reviewed the film from that game – and every other game this season – and the receipts show just how far the Wildcats have to go from where they are now to reaching their ceiling. At the heart of this battle – ironically, among them being the heart, according to former Kentucky star DeMarcus Cousins – is perhaps the most flawed multi-million dollar roster in college.
“No Heart”
Last week’s loss to No. 11 Gonzaga in Nashville by 35 points, 94-59, marked the program’s third-worst loss in the modern era and the largest by final margin since a 41-point loss at Vanderbilt on Feb. 12, 2008, according to Sports Reference.
The loss caused a tweet from the aforementioned cousins saying that Britain ‘has no heart’ and that its display – or rather, the no-show – was ‘hard to watch’. In front of a large contingent of fans who skew Kentucky blue, that sentiment was shared as the boos poured down at halftime. Kentucky trailed the entire game and trailed 19-2 at the second media timeout.
Even the boos weren’t enough to rattle Kentucky. Below is a mix of two clips – one from the first half, one from the second half – showing first a lethargic defensive play in the paint, and then what would happen charitable can be called a half-hearted attempt on the glass to catch a miss.
Both resulted in easy buckets in the paint for the Zags.
The only consistency Kentucky has shown on tape is its inconsistency. Clips like this can be taken from any game this season.
Here’s another from the opening minutes of the Louisville game – which, for context, is one of the most intense rivalries in college basketball! – in which Kentucky big man Brandon Garrison approaches sharpshooter Mikel Brown like he’s a Ben Simmons-level non-threat from the three-point line.
Garrison has undoubtedly had a difficult time. He was effectively benched in Tuesday’s win over Kentucky after similar effort-related struggles. But he’s not the only player contributing to the laugh track of lazy plays.
Pope refrained from inviting individual players after the game, but the message was clear: He wants players competing against each other, and he doesn’t believe everyone meets that standard. That’s why former three-star and second-year player Trent Noah, who Pope admitted struggled in some areas and is “not a perfect player,” got his second career start against NC Central.
“He’s totally into it,” Pope said. “He is fully invested in it and will always give everything he has.”
Pope also added that his entire team “still has a lot of growing to do.”
“We don’t really know yet what it means to compete,” Pope said, adding, “Which is terrifying.”
What some would call terrifying, others would label as inexplicable. Kentucky’s identity is one of apathy.
Personnel problems
Most coaches would argue and believe that effort and hustle are correctable and can be coached to improve. This makes sense. However, the effort and energy spent coaching these correctable solutions at some point yields diminishing returns. Kentucky is close to that point.
Pope and his staff benching Noah and Garrison on Tuesday are examples of ways to hold players accountable. That’s a start. But Kentucky’s problems go deeper than this.
Among the 16 SEC teams, Kentucky ranks 11th in 3-point shooting percentage, and adjusted offensive efficiency at KenPom — while respectable at No. 31 nationally — is eighth among SEC teams, just below Texas and just ahead of Missouri. And the 83.6 points per game are the 87th highest in college basketball. Even if four of the ten matches are against top twenty opponents, it is difficult to conclude that it is anything other than a disappointment due to the high price tag attached to this selection.
Take the data below via CBB Analytics as further evidence of the roster construction issues. The only areas on the floor where Kentucky shoots above the Division I average are at the rim and in the corners. On midrange 2s, it shoots 11.9% below the Division I average; at 3s above the break it shoots 2.1% below the Division I average; and on shots in the paint that aren’t at the rim, it shoots 9.5% below the Division I average.
This is a shot chart where you not want to see many or no blue areas. And it’s a shot graph that’s overwhelmingly deep blue.
There are two ways I would suggest putting this on paper. The first would be by becoming an elite defensive playmaking team that can take advantage of its great transition offense and push the pace. The second would be to smash the offensive glass and generate second chance points. Neither seems like a viable solution because of the staff.
Kentucky’s turnover rate ranks 268th defensively out of 365 teams at the Division I level. For example, Florida and Alabama, which are legitimate SEC contenders, are worse off in this area, so on paper this seems like an obstacle that can be overcome. But Florida helps offset its lack of defensive playmaking and early struggles from 3-point range with a top-two in offensive rebounding and a defensive unit bordering on top-10. Alabama, on the other hand, is leaning on its top-three offense, top-10 pace and top-10 three-point percentage to erase its own lack of defensive play.
Kentucky has shown no signs of being able to dramatically change its habits and production in a way that would make enough of a difference in any of these areas.
Sophomore center Jayden Quaintance, who has not yet played this season, and junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate, who has missed nearly a month due to injury, project as net positives on defense after strong seasons last year at Arizona State and Alabama, respectively. However, neither can be expected to be saviors for this declining season.
An inflection point
Publicly preaching patience and playing the long game has been Pope’s modus operandi so far, even as the season teeters on the brink. But Tuesday night seemed to be a turning point for both coach and team.
At half-time, Pope judged his team to have defensive problems that were ‘unacceptable’, and he looked visibly disgusted as if he had just choked on a mayonnaise and tuna sandwich.
“We are really frustrated about that.” he said. “We must keep watch.”
Frustrations ran high for Pope during Tuesday’s game, and he broke a clipboard during a timeout. Wildcats guard Otega Oweh said after the game. Oweh said he had never seen Pope so angry in the two years he had lived in Lexington. But …
“It was justified,” Oweh added. “As players we have to be sick and tired of the same thing [happening] time and time again. It was what was right at the time.”
Perhaps some pride and attitude adjustment from the coach during the program can right the ship. That would be a start. But behavioral adjustments can ultimately serve as a Band-Aid for destructive defensive habits and dismal roster construction.
It is clear that Pope is not giving up yet, even as the reasons to do so pile up. He is convinced that the competitive juices have been flowing behind the scenes, but inexplicably haven’t been translated into the game settings. But it’s just as clear that a Kentucky team that was ranked in the top ten in the preseason is nowhere near that level and is grasping at straws to find answers that may not come this season.
“We have a standard that we have to meet,” Pope said Tuesday. ‘That is not the case, and that is what we must do. So we will keep fighting until we do.”
#Broken #clipboards #benches #blowouts #Mark #Pope #Kentuckys #big #roster #struggling