Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated broke down several teams’ potential fatal flaws come tournament time in his latest edition of Forde Minutes.
Forde’s concern with Kentucky revolves around who picks up the scoring when Oscar Tshiebwe is contained.
Here is an excerpt:
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Kentucky (2) followed its recent trend of falling behind by double digits in the first half and then rallying, but this time it couldn’t finish it in the final minutes at Arkansas. John Calipari presumptuously sent his bench players to the locker room with time still on the clock in case of a court storm, but there was none.
The potential fatal flaw: Who is the consistent second option? Level of concern: low-to-moderate.
Oscar Tshiebwe isn’t just a rock of consistency—he’s a boulder. The supporting cast comes and goes. Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks, Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington Jr. all have had great games, but they also have disappeared at times. Grady was a no-show against the Razorbacks and not much better in a Feb. 15 loss to Tennessee. Washington and Wheeler have battled injuries and have durability concerns. Brooks has scored in single digits in three of the last five games.
Maybe a rotating cast of second options can work, as long as someone has a hot hand. Kentucky needs to have someone ready, willing and able to step up and score when Tshiebwe finds himself surrounded in the postseason.
Personally, I’m more concerned about Kentucky’s perimeter defense and tendency to let opposing guards have big games (example: JD Notae).
