John Calipari is facing (rightfully so) a great deal of criticism following last night’s low-scoring loss to UCLA.
CBS Sports says Kentucky looked incompetent on offense against the Bruins in an article breaking down the heat that is being directed at Calipari.
Here is an excerpt about the mounting criticism the UK coach is receiving:
This brought urgency to Calipari’s office in a way he’d never experienced before. It’s not that his job’s in danger. Of course it’s not. But Kentucky fans hold their coach accountable as much, if not more, than any other base in college sports. Ten games in, it’s hard to say there’s a lot to feel cheery about. Kentucky continues to stumble against legitimate competition. A 7-3 record with the caveat of that mark including a 1-3 record against power-conference programs is not going to cut it.
Calipari talked up his team’s offensive prowess in the preseason. There was believable promise there. He recruited to improve UK’s offensive blueprint. However, to this point, that proclamation is spotty at best. The Wildcats only managing 53 points against a good UCLA team playing three time zones away from where it will celebrate Christmas is alarming.
The Cats looked incompetent on offense, and that falls squarely on Calipari. In fact, Kentucky hadn’t performed this poorly, offensively, since its infamous and historically abysmal showing against UConn in the 2011 Final Four.
“You can’t go 5 for 13 from the line, not in a game like this,” Calipari said. “You can’t go four front end one-and-ones, so really you’re 5 for 17. You don’t have to make every free throw, but you can’t go those numbers.”
Kentucky’s offense was so poor, it dropped form 19th to 28th at KenPom.com in a matter of two hours.
