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Men's Basketball

Kentucky vs. Alabama: Postgame Recap and Things to Know

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2 years ago

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UK Athletics

On Saturday, the Kentucky Wildcats went on the road to Tuscaloosa to play arguably their toughest game on the schedule against No. 7 Alabama. Instead of capturing their first marque win of the season, the Wildcats walked out embarrassed.

The Crimson Tide jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead, scoring primarily off of layups and dunks from Alabama’s big man Charle Bediako. John Calipari responded by putting Oscar Tshiebwe on the bench, after poorly defending the pick and roll and generally looking unprepared.

This also coincided with Cason Wallace picking up a second foul, forcing him to the bench for the last fifteen minutes of the half. Yet, the Wildcats didn’t fold and fought to cut the game to a one-point deficit, 19-20, with under five minutes to go.

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However, Jacob Toppin, who had been the primary defender on Brandon Miller, picked up his second foul, and Alabama took full advantage. The Crimson Tide ended the half on an 8-2 run and a 35-24 lead.

The second half is when things really took a turn for the worse. Alabama opened the half with a 15-3 run and Kentucky never punched back. The Wildcat’s offense looked forced and their defense gave Alabama anything they wanted.

In the end, Alabama blew out Kentucky 78-52, handing Kentucky their largest loss in the John Calipari era. Nate Oat’s team looked like many Kentucky teams in the first decade of the Calipari era: star freshmen, long & athletic, and just imposing their will against their opponent.

Let’s take a closer look at Saturday’s all-systems failure.

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Not Oscar Tshiebwe’s or Cason Wallace’s Day

Oscar Tshiebwe (16.8 ppg) and Cason Wallace (12.9 ppg) entered Saturday’s game as Kentucky’s two leading scorers. Against Alabama, the duo combined for just six points on 2-20 (10%) shooting and five turnovers.

The troubles for the two didn’t stop on the offensive end, especially for Tshiebwe. Wallace made some uncharacteristic reads, but as mentioned previously, Tshiebwe struggled mightily to defend the pick-and-roll. After the game, Nate Oats said as so and that it was an emphasis for Alabama.

“We decided to attack him early on ball screens. I don’t think he’s very good at guarding ball screens,” Oats said on Tshiebwe. “We got behind him three times right out of the gate.”

This shouldn’t be expected to be a regular occurrence, but it shows just how reliant Kentucky is on the two, specifically on offense.

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Worst Twenty-Five Minutes of the Season

After a quick start from Alabama, Kentucky fought back and pushed themselves back in the game, down 19-20. However, over the last twenty-five minutes of the game, the Crimson Tide completely dominated on both ends of the court.

In a game of runs, Kentucky could only hold off for so long and they never had a run of their own to answer. After a strong defensive start, the floodgates opened and Alabama scored 58 points in the last twenty-five minutes of the game.

From the sidelines, the coaches were provided an even worse seat for the performance. “Gotta regroup, we’ve got a game Tuesday,” Calipari said. “I don’t even know if I want to watch the tape, maybe the first half.”

Any Positives?

It’s hard to find any positives, especially in an embarrassing loss, but we will reach and find two.

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For one, Kentucky’s bench played fairly well and brought toughness. While Calipari has been in the process of limiting the rotation, he played five players off the bench, including four with 10+ minutes (Collins, Onyenso, Reeves, and Thiero).

The biggest star off the bench was Antonio Reeves, who scored a team-high 20 points, including four made three-pointers. This was his first game with more than 11 points since November, and it was encouraging to see Reeves perform this well against elite competition.

The second positive, Kentucky outrebounded and attempted 19 more shots than Alabama. When this happens, 26-point blowouts are not usually the case. With Kentucky having this many extra shots, they need to play more “deliberate” as Calipari has been reiterating recently, which is something that did not appear to be the case on Saturday.

This team loses if it stays down. With that said, it will interesting to see how they respond against South Carolina on Tuesday, with a matchup at Tennessee on the horizon.

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Players Say They Think About Winning National Championship “Every Second”

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3 days ago

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November 18, 2024

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Kentucky basketball players celebrate after their big over Duke.
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The expectations at Kentucky are the highest of any school in the country, and there is good reason why. The winningest college program ever. Eight national titles, under five different coaches. Seventeen Final Four appearances. You get it, a lot of success.

Fans want the players to have those same expectations. Despite not having the elite talent or preseason hype of great Kentucky teams past, this year’s team still has their eyes set on doing something “people will remember forever”, winning a national championship.

Asked on social media, if hanging banner #9 was all the players thought about “every second”, Ansley Almonor had a response.

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“We do.”

It takes a lot to win a national championship, including some luck, but this team is certainly going to be loved for their desire to live out their dream of playing at Kentucky and their unselfishness. Those two things can take them a long way this season .

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Men's Basketball

Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart Seemingly Takes Shot at John Calipari, “Anybody Can Recruit”

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5 days ago

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November 16, 2024

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Mitch Barnhart sitting next to basketball coach John Calipari.
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John Calipari and Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart had their differences over fifteen years, but success can hide a lot of things. Not that they hated each other, but they each had vastly different personalities. As that success weaned towards the end of Calipari’s tenure, those issues started to be noticed publically.

If you need evidence of that, despite their efforts to dispute it, there is the infamous press conference where Barnhart talked about “entitled” coaches, shortly after Calipari publicly called for a new practice facility. Then, there were multiple times when Calipari expressed that the administration was not on the same page and that he was facing “headwinds”.

That said, Calipari is now at Arkansas, but those differences and some disdain remain. During an interview on the Kentucky Football pregame show, Barnhart seemingly took a shot at Calipari when asked about Mark Pope’s recruiting philosophy and prioritizing fit.

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“I tell people all the time, ‘Anybody can recruit, not everybody can evaluate,’” Barnhart said. “You can recruit. You can be phenomenal at bringing people to your program. But if it does not fit you, it’s really not helpful.”

Of course, Calipari is one of the best, if not the best, recruiters in college basketball history. At times, he prioritized talent and athleticism over fit.

Quite the coincidence.

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Men's Basketball

ESPN’s Jay Williams Gives Message to Kentucky Fans, “You’re Not Going to Like It…”

Published

6 days ago

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November 15, 2024

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ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams gives a message to Kentucky fans after the Wildcats win over Duke. "You won't like it."
ESPN

Back in April, opposing fanbases like Duke, told Kentucky fans to “cope with Pope” following the hire of Mark Pope and the corresponding initial shock. On Tuesday, those same fanbases had to watch as Mark Pope outcoached Jon Scheyer and Duke in the final minutes of the Champion’s Classic to get his first marque win in just his third game at Kentucky.

Of course, shortly after the game, Duke fans began to rationalize the loss by highlighting their team’s youth. While true, it sounded like an echo chamber of what Kentucky fans said for years under John Calipari. One notable example was former Blue Devil Jay Williams.

At halftime, while Duke was leading 46-37, Williams called this year’s Duke team the most talented since the 2001 team that he was a part of at halftime. To his credit, he complimented Kentucky on the comeback victory, specifically on their offense and maturity, but then 36 hours later he posted a message to Kentucky fans on social media.

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“Let me put you on to something,” Williams started. “Whether you like it or not, networks are going to sell Cooper Flagg. He’s going to be the number one pick in the draft. You’re going to talk about whether he won the or whether he lost the game, regardless of the outcome.”

“You’re not going to like it. There should be more kudos to Mark Pope and Kentucky,” Williams continued. “Regardless of whether you won the game or not, they’re still going to sell Cooper Flagg because he is selling the sport. Sorry.”

William’s statement is true. That said, it comes off as ‘sour grapes’ about losing. Cooper Flagg is a great talent and will likely be the first pick in the NBA Draft, but most Kentucky fans would say they would much rather have the win than the marketing.

Futhermore, Kentucky and its ‘brand’ has raised the level of multiple players and coaches, and will continue to do so. A deeper impact than Cooper Flagg will have on Duke in just one season.

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