Kentucky is broken defensively with no quick fix in sight (and ten games to go)

You want to feel good about the spurts. Down 12 less than six minutes into the game, Kentucky fought back to cut it to three a little over three minutes later. Back down 14 with eight to go in the first half, the Cats had it at four at halftime, then one a minute into the second.

And that was the closest it’d be the rest of the way. In fact, Tennessee had it back up to double digits three minutes later, never below seven the rest of the way. The Volunteers were in complete control from start to finish, never really feeling like a comeback was on the table. The lead time reflected that: 39:48 for the Vols, 0:00 for the Cats. 12 whole seconds of a tie ballgame, and it was the time it took UT to bring the ball up the floor after the opening tip and can its first 3-pointer– one of 12 on the night.

Again, it was the how that really left you with a ‘yeah, I got nothing’ feeling. Wide-open threes and casual dunks on the inbounds, turnstile on-ball possessions, guys looking at each other wondering why they’re guarding — and I use that term loosely — the same player. Ball-watching, half-assed boxout attempts, bobbled passes, muffed rebounds, missed free throws — just go down the list.

Take one sequence, for example, the night properly explained in two plays. Down nine with 4:41 to go, Reed Sheppard converted an and-one bucket for a chance to make it a two-score game for the first time since the start of the second half. Missed free throw. Tennessee winds the shot clock down on the other end, loose ball in the air, Zakai Zeigler soars in for the putback prayer from outside the paint. A potential six-point deficit flips to nine and momentum dies a sudden death.

A blown opportunity

Think of it this way: Rob Dillingham went for a career-high 35 points on a ridiculous 14-20 overall and 6-8 from three, four assists and two steals with just one turnover. It’s very likely the best game we ever see Mr. Shift himself play in a Kentucky uniform, not sure how he plays any better. And on the other end, Dalton Knecht finished with 16 points — his second-worst outing of SEC play — on 5-14 shooting and 1-5 from three. If you were to tell me those two things ahead of the opening tip I’d ask where we were celebrating after the game.

Instead, we’re wondering how in the hell a Tennessee team that scored 59 points in a home loss to South Carolina four days ago damn near doubled that inside Rupp Arena with 103. That’s the fifth-most ever allowed by Kentucky in a home game. Remember the VMI loss under Billy G in 2008? The Kangaroos going for 111 is the only other time the Cats have allowed as many points in Lexington since 1992.

Cats make history for all of the wrong reasons

Want some other ridiculous stats? Kentucky has never lost consecutive home games while scoring at least 90 in both — until tonight. The Cats have never allowed 94 in three consecutive home games — until tonight. Kentucky has never lost back-to-back games inside Rupp Arena as a top-10 team — until tonight. History was embarrassingly made Saturday evening.

That happens by allowing 48.6% shooting and 40.0% from three on 1.411 points per possession. That happens when you give up 42 points in the paint compared to your 30 — four combined points from Tre Mitchell (0), Ugonna Onyenso (2) and Aaron Bradshaw (2), mind you. And what happens if Dillingham doesn’t go nuclear? If he’s even slightly average, Kentucky is curb-stomped on its home floor. The Cats entered this one ranked No. 302 in scoring defense at 77.2 points allowed per game, then gave up nearly THIRTY more than that.

They’re now ranked No. 102 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, but hey, at least that top-10 spot in adjusted offense looks pretty.

Saying the right things (and a tough look)

“You’ve got to bounce back,” John Calipari said after the loss. “We are still one of those teams. … You can’t listen to the negative stuff. You can’t listen to all of the clutter. We are still a good team and now we have to get healthy and we have to get back on track. There are a lot of people that would like to have my team.”

“We’ll be OK. I’m not worried one bit,” Reed Sheppard added. “With the type of guys we have on this team, we’re fine. We’re going to keep getting better, we’re going to keep learning from it. These are definitely learning experiences. We’ll keep taking it day by day and game by game.”

“I don’t know what it is right now, but we’ve just got to find that fight in ourselves and stop letting teams come in and do whatever they want,” Adou Thiero said. “… We have yet to play with our full team, but not making excuses. We’re going to figure everything out and find that fight within ourselves. We’re a group of competitors, we don’t like losing. We’ll get it figured out.”

The right things were said after the game, though Coach Cal was willing to let Justin Edwards take his blows on postgame radio while he sent out Orlando Antigua in his place. Hard to justify that one after calling on Big Blue Nation to create a “10-point edge” by showing up loud and proud ahead of the two-game homestand vs. Florida and Tennessee — both losses.

“Have fun. Enjoy it. Don’t just stand there and try to analyze and criticize,” he said. “Just have a ball at the game.”

They did that. Rupp Arena was electric from start to finish. Fans started lining up at 4 AM to enjoy this product, going above and beyond to create an all-time environment. Not an empty seat in the house, ear-piercing cheers and equally loud boos directed toward everyone sporting that gaudy orange. And then when those fans stuck around afterward hoping to get talked off the ledge by the face of the program, they were met with a nice slap in the face.

Time is running out

This team has seven projected draft picks, a stacked roster capable of scoring whenever and however they want. One of the most dominant offensive teams in the program’s rich history. But they’re historically bad defensively with no tangible sign of sustained growth and just ten games left in the regular season. We can blame it on teams magically catching fire against the Cats until it becomes every team, every night. We can blame it on health and lineup inconsistency — “When (DJ Wagner) doesn’t play, we don’t win,” Calipari said — but again, there are a lot of people that would like to have my team. Wagner helps, but the team was still fundamentally broken defensively with him on the floor. Eight core rotation pieces should be more than enough to not give up 103 points in a regulation SEC game.

The Cats have now lost three of four and four of their last seven in SEC play, hopes of a regular season title almost certainly out the window. “We’ve got everything out in front of us,” except that. And it does feel like the goalposts are moving, another year of waiting until March and regular season games essentially not mattering once we get through the mental gymnastics of justifying every loss.

There is too much talent on this team to be as horrific as they are defensively. And it’d be a tragedy for it all to be wasted, those shortcomings setting up an early exit — unfathomable to consider entering the conference schedule.

The league is tough, but so is the NCAA Tournament. There is still light at the end of the tunnel, it’s just fading at an alarming rate. It’s on the Cats to find themselves on that end of the floor before this team becomes one of the biggest what-ifs in program history.