Freshman Devin Askew is one of the Cats struggling to consistently make fundamental plays this season. (SEC Photo)
There is one big question that is floating around college basketball these days. It’s a question being asked by national analysts, local sportswriters and fans across the state of Kentucky. The question is, “What’s wrong with the Kentucky Wildcats?” It’s a great question to ask. At 1-6, after the most recent loss to Louisville, it’s obvious that something is very wrong in Big Blue Land.
But what is that something?
It would be easy to make excuses like COVID-19 has created a different world with very few fans at games and has limited social interaction for the team, created constant testing protocols and required extra vigilance but every other team is also dealing with those same issues. It would be easy to say the schedule is too difficult for a very young team but that shouldn’t be the case for any Kentucky team.
Another good excuse would be that Keion Brooks Jr. was expected to be a leader on this team and he has yet to step on the floor due to a leg injury. Again, it’s just an excuse.
One that’s recently popped up is maybe these players aren’t as good as they were projected to be when the season started.
Those are all great excuses. And that’s what they are, excuses. They help to justify why the No. 1 recruiting class in America and a team ranked in the preseason Top 10 being coached by a Hall of Fame Coach is sitting at 1-6 to start the season and, barring a miracle, won’t be playing in the NCAA Tournament this season.
But let’s try to really dig down into what’s happening. First, this team is not losing because they aren’t talented. That one can come right off the table. Just looking at Davion Mintz, Olivier Sarr and Jacob Toppin, three players with experience in other Division 1 basketball programs, tells you they have talent. Sarr was third team All-ACC last season averaging 13 points and nine rebounds per game, Mintz led the Big East in assist to turnover ratio while averaging 10 points per game and starting all 35 games for Creighton as a junior and Toppin played in all 30 games for Rhode Island last season as a freshman averaging five points and four rebounds per game.
Just that nucleus alone makes for a talented team. Also keep in mind those players didn’t forget how to play when they put on a blue and white jersey.
Now when you throw in the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the country — supposed can’t miss prospects like No. 6 BJ Boston and No. 9 Terrence Clarke — along with a cast that includes Devin Askew (No. 24), Isaiah Jackson (No. 31) and Lance Ware (No. 43) — any coach should have a good mix of talent to fill in around that trio of experienced players.
But unfortunately that’s not how the coaching goes at Kentucky. Instead of understanding what the trio of experienced players do well and building on that — using the younger guys as fill-ins until they gain more experience — this Kentucky coaching staff handed the keys to the brand new car over to the players that still had a learner’s permit and they promptly drove it into a utility pole.
In my experience young teams need to learn fundamental building blocks of the game. Things like how to pass the ball and what type pass to use — bounce or chest — depending on what the defender is doing or how to move without the ball based on what your team mate is doing. Another big plus for young teams is the ability to score without a defender on you — as in hitting free throws. The ability to hit free throws — like a kicking game in football — doesn’t seem very exciting but it sure wins a lot of games.
It seems to me that had this team spent all their time working on how to play the game fundamentally — how to pass, set proper screens, move without the ball, block out, don’t reach or leave your feet on defense and move you feet with the offensive player — instead of learning the NBA’s version of one-on-one backyard basketball they could be 6-1 right now instead of 1-6.
When a person is learning any new skill — like playing a musical instrument or a sport like basketball — there are fundamentals that have to be mastered before that person can actually perform that skill successfully. There are no shortcuts. No musician ever said, “I love playing scales everyday as I try to become a better musician”. No basketball player ever said, “I love running the same drill over and over again until I can perform that pick and roll in my sleep.”
But when the chips are down, and the game is on the line — like in the middle of a 7-minute scoring drought — those fundamentals that players can fall back on are what separates the winners from the losers.
So if anyone asks me what is wrong with this year’s Kentucky basketball team I tell them what many years of coaching has taught me — they either don’t know or refuse to play – fundamental basketball. And the only way to fix that is for the coaching staff to teach fundamentals — and then use the oldest motivator in the game — the bench — to ensure that they do them.
At least that’s what I think is wrong with this Kentucky basketball team.
— Keith Peel, Contributing Writer
