Former Cat and current New Mexico assistant coach Scott Padgett thinks one close win could be all UK needs to gain momentum. (SEC Photo)
If he has a chance, Scott Padgett still watches University of Kentucky basketball games. You remember Padgett? He was on UK’s 1998 national championship team and hit what current UK coach John Calipari now calls a “dagger” in the NCAA Tournament comeback win over Duke.
He was an assistant coach at UK under Calipari for the 2009-10 season and was head coach at Samford for 2014-20. He’s currently in his first year as an assistant coach at New Mexico.
Padgett watched Tuesday when UK made 14 3-point shots but still lost 81-80 to Arkansas to drop the Cats to 5-13
“They just need that one big play to put them over the top,” said Padgett. “A lot of young teams have never experienced something like that and you have to figure out how you win games down the stretch. The best teacher is failure but you do not want to fail all the time. They got to find a way to win one of those games.
“The only way they are going where they want, the NCAA Tournament, now is to win the SEC Tournament. They have shown improvement the last three or four games even though they have not found ways to put games away.”
Padgett, like Calipari, was encouraged that UK didn’t miss multiple shots or make unforced turnovers — except for the final play — to overcome a 12-point deficit the final six minutes and actually take the lead.
“They just have to find a way to get over the hump. It’s hard to do period and even harder when you are a young guy and even harder when you are in the rut they are right now.
“That’s going to be a tough game to bounce back from. To do all they did and not win is harder to bounce back from than when you lose by 20.”
Padgett says the way UK plays against Auburn Saturday will show a lot about this team.
“If they come back and really fight it will show the character they have,” Padgett said. “They have some obvious weaknesses this year. They don’t have a John Wall or De’Aaron Fox or somebody like that who can just get in the lane and get a bucket or throw a lob to somebody else for a dunk. Shooting is a struggle most nights.
“Usually Cal has has all summer to figure out the strengths of individual players and then build situations to fit that. He is still hunting for that and you are starting to see a little better offense from a movement standpoint.
“I really don’t think they are way off but record-wise they are so far off from even being an at-large (NCAA) team. Cal just has to find a way to keep his guys going and this next game will show a lot about if he can or not.”
