candidly, i wanted to give Roy and company all the excuses in the world. these kids are different, covid, etc. But the harsh reality is the other great programs have found a way to remain relevant and we have not. there’s really no more excuses at this point.
1. we were all talking about how good we’ve been defensively the last few weeks. truth is we played non p5 teams that are likely bottom half of their league and we didn’t blow them out. we couldn’t guard or give consistent effort against a marginally good kentucky team.
2. RJ Davis looks great against mediocre competition but disappears against anybody with talent. Caleb Love is the “worst, best player on the team” we’ve had in a long time. i don’t just mean that from a talent perspective but more so a leadership and effort perspective. not just him, but numerous times today there’s a loose ball and he actually backs away from it. watch it back if you dare but it happened and it says a lot about who he is.
3. we’ve got to figure out a way to be more productive on the boards. i get we aren’t playing 2 traditinal bigs but damn the 2nd chance points were embarrassing today. kentucky got 3-4 shots with regularity on possessions.
4. hubert looks like somebody who hasn’t ever been a head coach. i want to
be positive but i’m also a realist and i don’t see overwhelming talent that can mask what are natural growing pains for a new coach. i fear this gets worse before it gets better. i also fear that this is actually our version of good aka beating teams we should beat and then losing to anybody decent to good.