This Kentucky basketball team had a rough start to the season. They dropped their first four games against quality opponents, all of which ranked in the top 25, but they were in embarrassing fashion. Getting blown out for most of the game at Louisville, embarrassed in Madison Square Garden against Michigan State, showed no resilience in a rock fight against UNC in Rupp Arena, then had the biggest embarrassment of the season in Nashville against Gonzaga as they took a 35-point loss.
Since the Gonzaga loss, this Kentucky team has looked much different. A lot of that is due to finally getting healthy, as both Jaland Lowe and Mo Dioubate were on the court together for the first time since the Louisville game, as well as adding Jayden Quaintance to the fold against St. John’s on Dec. 20, but they’ve also had a different attitude, even without Lowe on the floor. He is the engine of this team, and in those three games against quality competition without him (was limited against Gonzaga), this Kentucky team showed no fight. They would quit when punched in the mouth, with no leader to be able to create on offense and provide a spark on defense. But, Kentucky has not looked that bad since. Even with him in and out of the rotation, the offense can struggle, but their fight hasn’t gone away, which was a problem a few weeks ago. They’ve found an identity to fall back on, and that is physical, aggressive basketball.
Mark Pope spoke with media on Tuesday ahead of the SEC-opener against Alabama, and when reflecting on the hardships of the season to get to this point of finally having an identity and getting their best players back on the floor, Pope thinks about that Gonzaga loss, which looks to be the turning point in the team’s mindset totally changing. They felt their own fans booing them, not because they were losing bad, necessarily, but because there was no fight. That night in Nashville made this team ‘redefine’ themselves…