NCAA Basketball: Biggest takeaways midway through 2020-21 season
Heavyweight programs struggling
Sure, the variables for this NCAA Basketball season are unprecedented, but what has gone at the blue-blood schools, such as Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina is quite the head-scratcher. They aren’t failing in the department of talent, so it really makes you question what kind of coaching, or lack thereof, is going on at these schools. Without the fans and the students, they’re lacking that jolt of energy, but to be this underwhelming doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.
Let me take a deep breath for the Kentucky Wildcats before I say something I may regret because they’re so infuriating to watch. I will never criticize what John Calipari for he does to get players to come to his schools, as well as prepping them for the next level. That being said, in the middle of the recruiting and the NBA part is the College Basketball season, and he and the Wildcats forgot about that this year. I can’t blame the players.
Actually, I refuse to blame the players. Calipari has his team playing uninspired basketball, like robots going through the motions. Coach Cal made excuses for scheduling, publicized on social media for an in-house problem with Cam’Ron Fletcher, and continues to refuse to let players play through mistakes, which makes it impossible for guys to gain a rhythm. They unquestionably have enough talent, so this might be one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of College Basketball.
Going into the season, they probably had ten guys who would start for 90% of teams in the nation. Things happen during the course of the season, but for there still not to be any sort of camaraderie is mind-blowing. They obviously struggle to shoot the ball, but that didn’t stop Calipari from not playing Dontaie Allen, their best shooter, from the get-go. Allen single-handily won the Wildcats a game at Mississippi State, scoring 23 points in 32 minutes.
Before that game, Allen was a DNP in some games and collected a total of 19 minutes all season. Allen is finally getting consistent minutes, but not understanding what personnel you have and what you lack as a team, is one of the pivotal reasons why this team hasn’t hit its stride.
When Calipari is not toying with the myriad of options he has, the effort level and passion his players have for the game is enormously lacking, and quite frankly, regressing. They aren’t cutting hard, playing consistent defense, and as I stated before, they’re playing like robots going through the motions. They aren’t having fun and it shows because there is little to no flow.
The stagnant play is due to little adjustments and the unwillingness to change his style with this current team. I might sound like a disgruntled Kentucky fan, but I promise that I have no dog in the fight. I want to watch good basketball and players reaching their potential, but what is happening with so much talent at Kentucky, a 4-9 record is truly shameful.