Ah, February. The time of year when Kentucky gets hot, John Calipari * calculates * and we look at the calendar and realize with joy that March, the biggest month of all, is coming. MAY MADNESS BEGIN!
But what happens when it doesn’t work like that? When the season is over, so bad that no amount of * discover * can build a curriculum worthy of inclusion on the second Sunday in March? What should we – the spoiled fans we owe – do?
Well, there is always the option to stop caring about what happens. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably like me, and that means it was never an option. So the only thing left to do is … well, find out. Knowing everything we know now, it’s time to set some new goals for next month.
1. Five Hundred Point
Kentucky has set many new lows this year. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of that. But the lowest of the lows, the one we feared unbelievers throughout the season, has not yet been made official: ending a season below 0.500. That hasn’t happened since 1989, last year for Eddie Sutton, when the Cats ended up mired in a scandal at 13-19. Before that, you ask? It hadn’t happened since 1927. NINETEEN TWENTY-SEVEN!
As of today, the UK’s 0.316 “win” percentage would easily be the worst since the season of 27, which was the only one for Wildcat Basil legend “Not the Bourbon” Hayden in charge (the team ended 3- 13 in the south Conference).
Fortunately, the year is not over yet. And like Brent previously pointed outThe UK schedule in recent weeks has been in great difficulty since the January challenge. With five or six games remaining in the regular season, combined with up to four in the SEC Tournament and everything in between, going +7 to return to 0.500 before all is said and done is not out of the question. So this is objective # 1.
2. Beat Tennessee
Maybe naive, but after seeing the way the ‘Cats put Tennessee on the ropes for 30 minutes last week, receiving almost nothing from BJ Boston and Davion Mintz, I see no reason why Kentucky can’t give the Vols a chance. defeat in Knoxville next weekend. Of course, I also see no reason why they couldn’t come down and have their tails screaming again. But, for no specific reason, I’m feeling optimistic today.
Obviously, this game is irrelevant at this point for the consideration of March Madness. But it is the team’s last chance to prove itself that it can win a game against a top-notch team, and it matters if they want to do any kind of race in Nashville. Besides, I really hate Tennessee. So this is objective # 2.
3. Take Brandon to the League
No one will sit here and say that Brandon Boston Jr.’s mountain of criticism this year has been totally undeserved. He was supposed to be great, but he wasn’t. More than that, he sometimes played selfishly and seemed reluctant to adopt the team attitude first, essential to success in Kentucky. But at the end of the day, he is a 19 year old boy and is working as hard as he can to be the best he can be. It was a very difficult year for the boy and deserves 100% of our support.
No matter what happens at this point, it is clear that he is leaving the league at the first opportunity – and there is nothing wrong with that. He will be called up, and if recent examples have shown us something (see Hamidou Diallo, Keldon Johnson and even Tyrese Maxey), it is that university struggles do not forbid success in the NBA.
It should come as no surprise that in the last two games, BJ suddenly caught fire, shooting 9-13 from the bottom. He was just too good to be cold forever. It is now our job to fully support him, as he (hopefully) continues to evolve as a more confident scorer and stay with him even when he is away. This is what will put you in the best position to become a professional, and it will also put the UK in the best position to win. So this is objective # 3.
4. Keep the rest
Even if we assume that Boston, Terrence Clarke, Isaiah Jackson and Olivier Sarr are gone, it still leaves a lot of talented players that Kentucky MUST keep on the list if they want to avoid this year’s bump reform in 2021-2022. A core formed by Keion Brooks Jr. Jr., Damion Collins, Nolan Hickman, Oscar Tshebwe, Davion Mintz and a potentially reclassified Skyy Clark is totally scary and, unless Brooks explodes in March and takes off earlier, it seems like the reality is each more likely.
But here’s the key: everyone else. Obviously, Jacob Toppin, Devin Askew, Lance Ware, Dontaie Allen and Cam’Ron Fletcher are not being recruited, but, as we’ve learned, that doesn’t mean that they come back automatically. Kentucky has to keep at least four of them in the herd to build any significant momentum for the coming year. To ensure this, they probably need to do something before the end of the year. Hence goal 4.
5. Paint Nashville blue again
Could this end anywhere else? Every goal on this list is important going forward, but if the ‘Cats do not make an unlikely run for glory in the SEC Tournament, the misery of this season will be set in stone. There is no way to rationalize a NIT season (… or worse). Frankly, I don’t want to think about it, no matter how likely it is.
So it looks like goal # 5 – the new big goal – is still the old goal. Go to March Madness and see what happens. We are fans of Kentucky, we are very spoiled and we are not programmed to expect anything less. I say, so be it. Go Cats.