Kentucky will have to find a symbol of the internal conflict to win outright in the NCAA Tournament.
PITTSBURGH — This is Kentucky, so the best way to gauge the basketball team’s chances of making it to the 2024 NCAA Tournament is by looking at the commonwealth’s primary industry: Thoroughbred racing.
If the British basketball team emulates War Emblem, Winning Colors, Spend a Buck, and Bold Forbes, they could make it to the Final Four in no time. However, if Kentucky follows a Ferdinand, Secretariat, Wallaway, or Spectacular bidding strategy, Kentucky will receive no wins, no position, and no performance.
These horses are all great Kentucky Derby champions, but they enter the starting gate with completely different goals. Kentucky was at its best when it imitated the leaders and ran from the starting gate to the finish line. When England took an early lead, they had no wind in their hands with their quick style and brilliant quick passing. At this point, the scoreboard shows 100 points, with several players scoring in double digits.
However, Kentucky also proved to be not a very good team when it copied the second group of studs choosing to hang around for most of the race before starting a late rally.
With GB playing from the back, the fun, aggressive style of play is abolished, and the roar of hooves is replaced by the deafening sound of players dribbling the ball into submissions.
Like a blindfolded purebred athlete, this athlete, remembering that his path to the goal line is hopelessly blocked, tries to find a position where he can see an open spot before charging. Ignore your teammates around you. The horsemen on this basketball team know that truth better than anyone, especially after their last outing, a 10-length loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.
“We didn’t play like we normally do,” Reid Shepard said. “We weren’t trying to share the ball and hit a home run, we were just trying to regain control of the game.”
Tre Mitchell added, “Without changing the basketball, we’re a completely different team.” “When you watch the tape, I think you can tell right away. We are confident that this will be a particular priority in our preparations for March.
The big question heading into Thursday night’s Southern Kentucky NCAA Tournament opener against No. 14 seed Oakland is what approach coach John Calipari will take.
It’s safe to say he’s not going to take a two-legged approach, clinging stubbornly to a starting lineup that has consistently lagged behind in the early going. Fortunately for Calipari, he was rescued several times by Shepard and Rob Dillingham, who jumped off him as they climbed into the saddle.
But he and his players are well aware that something needs to change this NCAA Tournament. “Reed Shepard said to me, ‘Coach, I don’t know if we’re being selfish or not, but we’ve got a lot of good players and everybody’s trying to get us back in the game. ‘I don’t think we’ve been successful even though we’ve been there,’ he said. ‘It’s just as good to play like that,’ Calipari said Wednesday. “We’re talking about it now. However, the game has its problems and sometimes reverts to its old ways.
“Look, there’s a video. There were some highlights to show them that we are the best here. That’s when it’s not. And we basically have possession of the ball,” he said. “But they are not robots or machines. There are things they miss even if you teach them.
‘How do you deal with that? How do you deal with it when you’re in a bad mood during the year?”’ Calipari said. “Has there ever been a time when you were down for 36 minutes and then came back and won the last four games?” You got up, they ran away, and you have to start all over again? All this gives a young team like ours the necessary experience.
Only time will tell when Kentucky takes on a confident Oakland team with the weight of the world on its side Thursday night. If we get it right, the Big Blue Nation can rejoice under a blanket of roses that stretches from Woodman to Mabel. This is more comprehensive than Britain’s legendary “Pikeville to Paducah” statement of old.
But a wrong choice could lead fans to turn to the Commonwealth’s other big industry: high-alcohol bourbon. Mine is 1792.
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