ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg believes John Calipari has to make Davion Mintz his primary point guard. (SEC Photo)
ESPN SportsCenter anchor Michael Eaves, a western Kentucky native, needed about three minutes after Kentucky’s loss to Georgia Tech Sunday to ask the question almost every Big Blue fan has. He promoted a “much needed therapy session for Big Blue Nation” coming up and then asked ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg this question: “What the hell is going on?”
Greenberg has a concise, accurate answer.
“They are not very good. They don’t compete,” Greenberg, a former coach and John Calipari friend, said.
At 1-3, UK has gone from preseason top 10 in the Associated Press rankings to not even receiving votes this week. It is the first time UK has not been ranked going into its fifth game since the infamous 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons under Billy Gillispie and that’s not company any team wants to keep.
Greenberg just kept rattling off what was wrong with Kentucky on national TV in response to Eaves’ question — and it’s impossible to disagree with anything he said.
“They get open shots and pass them off,” Greenberg said. “Their decision making defensively is not very good. They are not competitive. They don’t have a point guard. I understand they are young but they need to be better
“There is an expectation at Kentucky and if you don’t fulfill that expectation you are accountable. I don’t see them getting much better until they start taking better care of the basketball.”
How could they? Georgia Tech, not a great defensive team, got 31 points off 21 Kentucky turnovers. No wonder the Yellow Jackets spanked the favored Cats so easily.
“Davion Mintz is going to be the point guard. Devin Askew is just not ready. Right now he is making drives and leaving his feet, does not know when to shoot, can’t get by his man. They have got to go with the experience of Mintz.”
But Askew is not the only weak link.
“Those wing guys have got to play lower and stronger. (Terrence) Clarke and (BJ) Boston are good prospect, but they have got to become good players. They have got to drive, score, not take plays off. They have to understand how to make play and then when they make mistakes compete defensively. They have got to recognize defenses.”
Calipari has said defense will be the team’s strength. The Cats are long and athletic. They can block shots. What they can’t do is stay between a player who has the ball and the basket, a roundball fundamental taught in Little League.
“The inability to defend the basketball … if you get beat off the dribble you are in trouble,” Greenberg said. “They cannot guard on the perimeter. They don’t take care of the basketball. Shot selection is awful.
“They just have to get better. They have got to understand they (opponents) are taking away what you do. It’s more physical. Take a play off and you get exposed. Right now the mental aspect for John Calipari is as important as anything else he is doing.”
It’s a long, long list of things to improve/correct. Can Calipari’s Cats do it? We all know the UK coach has molded teams that left a lot to be desired in November and December into March contenders. But so far this year just feels different because I never remember a team struggling in almost every area and that’s a lot of problems to get fixed in three months.
