Despite today's loss, this team has improved some since the beginning of the season IMO. We have gone from being a horrendous shooting team to a poor shooting team who can have the occasional break out game or some in-game streaks of late. We are usually most consistent defensively, but as several have pointed out, our effort today ranged from lacsidasical to confused in terms of defending the high screens to free the shooters. Of course, a guy who goes 8-10 from three probably can be very confusing, especially in the cozy confines of Rupp against a team who has struggled to win on the road. Part of the growing process for our guys.
Don't confuse what I'm about to say with acceptance of a moral victory, but there should be a bit of cheer that we did fight in the second half, at one point cutting the lead to 13 or 14, I think. Still hard to overcome how we started the game. We're we unprepared as several suggest? I would say yes in terms of our mental prep, but it would be hard for me to say that White hadn't prepared them for what to expect from KY offensively and defensively. Of course, the burden falls on him when we don't perform and as the coach l'm sure no one understands that more than him. But it's not a stretch to say that our offensive inconsistency, among other problems, makes it difficult to find the winning line up, player rotations, and sub patterns night in and night out (see Billy last year). I don't think the guy's doing as bad a job as some may want to believe.
As for the players, their big deal (or deals) from where I sit are becoming more consistent on the offensive end, obviously. Shooting has gotten some better, but outside of Allen, who was invisible today for the most part, we don't have hardly anyone besides DFS who is a consistent threat outside. We have some who are streaky, but they can disappear as suddenly as they appear. So, shot selection, it would seem, may be a continuing problem. It would also not be a stretch to think that periodically lose their focus and/or belief in themselves, which is usually a maturity issue and they obviously have some ways to go in this regard. To me, Egbunu in particular, seems to exemplify this. When he's good, he's good, but when he's not, he's slow and unfocused (had a few passes to him that he was not prepared for today that should have resulted in easy buckets). Even though he's raw, he has the potential to develop into the guy who can play his best every night and not just some games and how well White and staff can bring him along will answer the questions some may have about that aspect. Another guy who I tend to focus on is Robinson. A great athlete who can do some good things offensively. But as explosive as he can be on the O, is too often slow on defense, falling a step behind when his guy penetrates or when he has to fight through a pick or switches. I can't swear to it, but he may be resting in the wrong end of the court, which may explain why his minutes aren't more.
All in all, I'd like to see us get something better going on the road, but it may not happen during the remainder of the regular season. I'd also like to see us close with our best streak in terms of playing more consistently in all phases. But I am not by any means ready to call it a season.
