Post by CatDaddy on Feb 19, 2007 20:24:29 GMT -5
It's easy to fault Kentucky's players for their uninspired effort during a large part of Saturday's 72-61 loss at Alabama.
However, Kentucky coach Tubby Smith and his staff have to share an even larger portion of the blame for UK's abysmal early effort that let Alabama race to an 18-point lead before the Wildcats decided maybe they needed to put forth a better effort to get back in the game.
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.
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Kentucky went to Tennessee Tuesday and, once again, fell way behind only to rally and lose a close game thanks to several late-game blunders.
Then the Flat Cats looked like they could have cared less about winning early at Alabama. They got two points in 10 minutes.
"My head wasn't in the game," Kentucky junior center Randolph Morris said after the game.
Where was his head?
"I don't know. If I knew where it was, I'd have an idea of where to find it," said Morris, who had eight turnovers along with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Amazing!
However, Morris wasn't alone.
Maybe Smith's "head wasn't in the game" as well. The coach seemed strangely passive early when his team struggled to find any offensive rhythm. And if Smith thought the way to shake up his team's recent doldrums was inserting Sheray Thomas into the starting lineup in place of Bobby Perry, then his head was missing, too. Perry and Thomas are terrific young men. But they lack athleticism and scoring ability when compared to most Southeastern Conference power forwards.
Why not give athletic freshman forward Perry Stevenson a chance? He was effective early in the season before Smith decided his lack of physicality hurt the Flat Cats too much. But in nine minutes Saturday, Stevenson had three rebounds and two points. In 30 combined minutes, Thomas and Perry had two points and one rebound.
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.
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Kentucky's in trouble. The Wildcats are 18-8 overall and 7-5 in SEC play going into Tuesday's game against LSU, the conference's biggest disappointment this year. After that, UK still has road games at Vanderbilt and Florida plus a home game with Georgia. Odds are UK will go 2-2 in that stretch and be 20-10 going into the SEC Tournament. That's still probably good enough to get UK into the NCAA Tournament - but as an eight or nine seed.
The Wildcats are 0-5 against ranked teams this year - and 3-12 in the last two years.
.
.
.
It starts at the top. UK is not as talented and often plays with too little passion and intensity. Maybe my "head isn't in the game" on this, but it sure seems the blame for the decreasing talent, lack of effort and mounting losses has to go to Smith.
Unless Smith is willing to make major changes in strategy, recruiting and staff personnel before next season, this won't be the last time UK will be struggling at a time when championship-caliber teams are coming together.
www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=29330&format=html
-D
However, Kentucky coach Tubby Smith and his staff have to share an even larger portion of the blame for UK's abysmal early effort that let Alabama race to an 18-point lead before the Wildcats decided maybe they needed to put forth a better effort to get back in the game.
.
.
.
Kentucky went to Tennessee Tuesday and, once again, fell way behind only to rally and lose a close game thanks to several late-game blunders.
Then the Flat Cats looked like they could have cared less about winning early at Alabama. They got two points in 10 minutes.
"My head wasn't in the game," Kentucky junior center Randolph Morris said after the game.
Where was his head?
"I don't know. If I knew where it was, I'd have an idea of where to find it," said Morris, who had eight turnovers along with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Amazing!
However, Morris wasn't alone.
Maybe Smith's "head wasn't in the game" as well. The coach seemed strangely passive early when his team struggled to find any offensive rhythm. And if Smith thought the way to shake up his team's recent doldrums was inserting Sheray Thomas into the starting lineup in place of Bobby Perry, then his head was missing, too. Perry and Thomas are terrific young men. But they lack athleticism and scoring ability when compared to most Southeastern Conference power forwards.
Why not give athletic freshman forward Perry Stevenson a chance? He was effective early in the season before Smith decided his lack of physicality hurt the Flat Cats too much. But in nine minutes Saturday, Stevenson had three rebounds and two points. In 30 combined minutes, Thomas and Perry had two points and one rebound.
.
.
.
Kentucky's in trouble. The Wildcats are 18-8 overall and 7-5 in SEC play going into Tuesday's game against LSU, the conference's biggest disappointment this year. After that, UK still has road games at Vanderbilt and Florida plus a home game with Georgia. Odds are UK will go 2-2 in that stretch and be 20-10 going into the SEC Tournament. That's still probably good enough to get UK into the NCAA Tournament - but as an eight or nine seed.
The Wildcats are 0-5 against ranked teams this year - and 3-12 in the last two years.
.
.
.
It starts at the top. UK is not as talented and often plays with too little passion and intensity. Maybe my "head isn't in the game" on this, but it sure seems the blame for the decreasing talent, lack of effort and mounting losses has to go to Smith.
Unless Smith is willing to make major changes in strategy, recruiting and staff personnel before next season, this won't be the last time UK will be struggling at a time when championship-caliber teams are coming together.
www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=29330&format=html
-D
