It doesn’t take an expert to know that Kentucky basketball has struggled badly this season, but mostly on offense. The struggles on that end of the floor date back to Kentucky’s loss against Michigan State, where head coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans ripped Kentucky apart in a 17-point win. But when it really reared it’s head was the embarrassing performance in Nashville, where Kentucky lost 93-58.
Kentucky fans may remember Mark Pope’s comments about the team’s lack of competitiveness early in December. Well, now it has become a big execution problem, not necessarily an effort issue. Over the last month, Kentucky has picked up two power conference victories against an unranked Indiana team in Rupp Arena, and a 22nd-ranked St. John’s team who has yet to find themselves and were once a top five team coming into the season. Since those wins, which looked big for momentum at the time, Kentucky has suffered two more losses against quality teams. A 17-point embarrassing loss to Alabama on the road and now a brutal late-game collapse against Missouri in Rupp Arena. The Wildcats have reverted, and overall on the season, their offense has looked bad, only looking good against teams ranked 250-plus in D1. The team has no identity on the court, but Mark Pope says it’s there in practice, but it’s still not showing up when the lights are bright.
“We’re having a tough time translating,” Pope said. “This stuff they’re doing in practice, it’s not translating. I’m not exactly sure why, but we’re having a really tough time translating. …We’re working hard to really just simplify everything, just so, so simple. It’s a work in progress, and it is frustratingly slow. It just is so frustratingly slow.”…