Davion Mintz says UK is "super locked-in and focused" to play Louisville. (SEC Photo)
Despite Kentucky’s 1-5 start senior point guard Davion Mintz says he’s fine and understands it is still early in the season.
“Every season I’ve played in, things didn’t always start off beautiful. There’s always going to be some form of struggle,” said Mintz, a transfer from Creighton. “But, that’s the best part about it –- how you fight back, how you answer to adversity.
“It’s very frustrating. I’m a huge competitor. I know that guys around here are huge competitors. I see a lot of the guys’ faces after a loss and I mean, it hurts. It sucks. But it’s still very early and we’re still figuring it out.”
That figuring out process will get tested again Saturday when UK plays at rival Louisville. After last week’s loss to North Carolina, emotions boiled over in the locker room and Sunday freshman Cam’Ron Fletcher was sent home for an unspecified period over his attitude.
“I don’t think it’s going to tear us apart at all. I mean, I still think we’re a huge family, a huge group,” Mintz said. “Coach has brought a guy (psychologist) in who spoke with us and helped kind of relax everybody, see where our heads are at, and kind of come together after individual meetings with him to figure things out.
“After a loss like that, who wouldn’t be upset? I mean, there’s super-high emotions. This is a big deal. I mean, this is our lives. When things are going rough, you’re always going to be upset. I’m sure all of you guys (in the media) that are asking me questions are upset when things aren’t going your way.
“I just love this team. I love where I see things going. I love the attitudes right now. It’s just special to see right now even when things aren’t the best right now. We’re still working together and trying.”
But does he understand why the Kentucky fanbase sees the sky falling with five straight losses and does not sense a turnaround coming?
“I can understand that. I mean, for them they’re used to winning and we are too. I’m here to say that the sky is not falling,” Mintz said Thursday. “It’s still blue and it’s all right. We’re going to figure this thing out.
“We signed up for this. We understand what we’re doing. We’re playing in the public’s eye, so there’s always going to be opinions when what you do is public. Hopefully we’ll still get support from you guys (fans), but if we don’t, we have each other.”
The sky might be blue but right now it is not Kentucky blue as UK has gone from a preseason top 10 team to a team not even projected to make the NCAA Tournament as of today. The Cards are favored over UK Saturday also.
Yet Mintz said the team has not reached a desperation point — or at least not yet.
“Right now there are top-25 teams who have lost two games. If you ask me, there’s not that big of a difference at this point in the season between two and five (losses), as in five is our number,” the point guard said. “We have time to pick it up and we have the correct staff and everyone around us to do that.”
Mintz indicated UK’s woes have not taken away from the importance of Saturday’s rivalry game.
