ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg gives biggest reason behind Kentucky basketball’s 1-6 start
By SDS Staff
Published:
Kentucky basketball’s losing skid continued Saturday with a 62-59 loss to in-state rival Louisville, dropping the Wildcats to 1-6 on the 2020-21 season. Big Blue Nation is understandably frustrated trying to figure out what’s wrong with John Calipari’s squad.
Analyst and former coach Seth Greenberg shared his take on UK’s biggest issue during ESPN’s postgame show.
“It’s real simple. You think about the end of the game, who gets the basketball? They don’t have that guy that can go just make a play, get them a basket, who can get in the defense, draw a second defender, kick it out and get someone an open shot,” Greenberg said. “That’s first and foremost. Secondly, they gotta get something out of someone on their interior, whether it’s (Olivier) Sarr, whether it’s (Isaiah) Jackson, whether it’s (Lance) Ware, they’ve got to find a way to get something out of their interior. Great win for Louisville though.”
Greenberg continued his analysis of Saturday’s rivalry clash, praising Louisville and identifying more problems with Kentucky’s play.
“The other thing is, Louisville outscores Kentucky in the paint,” Greenberg said. “You think about this: Louisville’s playing without Malik Williams, all right, who is an elite frontcourt defender and a guy that can get them some easy baskets because he’s out with the injury. This is a Kentucky team, they’re trying to develop an identity, took better care of the basketball, that’s check one. They were giving up 21 points a game off turnovers in their losses. So they did a better job with that. They’re running offense now, but they’re running offense to get to the end of the offense, they’re not running offense to put pressure on the defense. You say it, they’re going to get better. The big question is what happened at the end of the game. Who do you give the ball to that’s going to go and make a play. To me, it’s got to be (BJ) Boston or (Terrence) Clarke. Both of those guys right now, they’re not tough enough mentally, physically or emotionally to take the ball and go and get in the paint and make a play.”
Cal’s Cats will look to get back in the win column when UK takes on Mississippi State next week.
[H/T 247Sports]
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
