Following last night’s disappointing loss, John Clay of the Herald-Leader said what many UK fans are likely thinking…this team just hasn’t reached an elite level yet and the clock is ticking on the season.
Will the Wildcats be able to get to where they need to be before March?
Here’s an excerpt of Clay’s thoughts:
This was the same Kansas that had gone through one distraction after another all week, from a loss at West Virginia on Tuesday night, to a publicized rape investigation in the dorm that houses the KU basketball players — though no Jayhawk is believed to be involved — to the Thursday suspension of top inside reserve Carlton Bragg Jr.
All that didn’t matter. As KU Coach Bill Self said afterward, he felt like his team, though depleted, was even more focused.
And now this is a Kentucky team that is now 1-3 against the four best teams on its schedule — a 97-92 loss to UCLA; a 103-100 win over North Carolina; a 73-70 loss at Louisville and now the six-point loss — and as you might have noticed, two of those losses came at home.
“Toughness and defense,” said Calipari after the games. “Those things are curable.”
Forgive the coach if he’s more optimistic, or putting on a more optimistic front than most of his team’s followers. You would have thought that after Tuesday night’s upset loss at Tennessee, the Cats would have been motivated and determined to turn it around Saturday. Despite all the hype of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” of having Michael “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” Buffer on hand, and Steve Zahn’s push to have the Rupp crowd break an indoor noise record for the Guinness Book of World Records (accomplished), the Cats went quietly in the second half.
