Kentucky Basketball: 3 takeaways from defeat to Kansas Jayhawks
By Andrew Tineo
Growing pains of a very youthful team
On a night that featured well below average offenses, Kentucky couldn’t be the one to break the narrative. All four of the teams combined for a horrifying 19% from beyond the arc. While the pains of being a youthful team can be an easy excuse, Calipari has won with teams like this before.
Even with Mintz and Toppin coming off the bench as two transfers, it’s clear that the talent in some positions isn’t the issue. When a poor shooting night happens once, that is common and bound to happen to any team. When it becomes a trend, that’s when the fanbase gets agitated.
Isaiah Jackson is really good at basketball. Other than that, Cal should soon begin to work his magic to figure this team out. He usually does and I’d imagine it’ll happen again, but man...Kentucky’s offense. pic.twitter.com/6vP1dzkPAo
— Bryan Kennedy (@BKennedyTV) December 2, 2020
Although it’s against Calipari’s recipe, a potential answer for the Wildcats is giving the experienced players more minutes. Toppin had a solid second half and Mintz had two of the team’s three-pointers.
When not struggling with foul trouble, Olivier Sarr is also very solid. When lineups start to shift, it can benefit teams for the better. Asking players like Devin Askew and Terrance Clarke to become critical rotation pieces might solve the issue. A lineup with Boston, Mintz, Toppin, Sarr, and Jackson seems to be a direction the Wildcats could go in.
Regardless of the direction they end up going in, it’s not time to fully panic yet in Lexington. However, questions about the team are certainly understandable and with more experience, these growing pains will more than likely go away.
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For Kentucky, they will be on the road once again, traveling to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech, as part of Hoopsgiving. For the Jayhawks, they will return home to face D-II Washburn.