Kentucky Loses to Kansas State and Why You Shouldn't be Surprised

I tried not to write a ton of Kentucky blogs this season because I'm a massive pessimist and I know that isn't fun to read. However, when the team loses in the tournament I feel like I have to write about it, and considering this game was pretty entertaining I think I can come up with enough content to write this thing. The gist? Kentucky loses a game to a team less talented than them because they don't play winning basketball.

Before I really get into the weeds I want it to be known that I picked Kansas State to win this game. They've been the better team all season, and if I'm being honest I thought they would win by more than they did. With that being said, if you look at every other factor without looking at how these teams played this season it's clear that Kentucky should have won this game.

The first half was brutal for both teams. Turnovers and missed threes were the name of the game, and neither squad could go on a run. Kentucky probably should've been winning be a considerable amount after the first five minutes, but they just kept turning the ball over. Oscar didn't do much apart from get the ball stolen from him, and Cason Wallace was the only one keeping them in the game. This worried me not because Kentucky wasn't winning, but because Calipari isn't known for adjusting on the fly and I just assumed they would play the rest of the game this way.

In the second half I started eating my words when Kentucky came out of the gates hot, and it really looked like they were primed to take the game over. They were running the fast break about as well as they have all year, and for the first five minutes of the half they were playing the best defense I've seen from them this season. Then all of the sudden it fell apart. For some reason Calipari made the team slow down and run more half court offense, and the game crumbled from there. An eight point lead was decimated in seconds then Kansas State took the lead and never fell back behind by more than one or two points.The turnover problem persisted and the shooting problem persisted throughout the game. Kansas State, more specifically Markquis Nowell, finally found their rhythm near the end and that was enough to end Kentucky's season.

Here's why you shouldn't be surprised that Kentucky lost this game. To put it simple, Kentucky was always going to lose this game. Kansas State is a team full of guys who weren't highly touted recruits coming out of high school, so they've forged their team through fire to become one of the best teams in the country. They have a coach who connects with the players and is able to adjust on the fly. When Kentucky was on fire to start the second he settled his team down and they locked in on offense and slowed Kentucky down on defense. Kentucky and Calipari are not capable of that, and they have never been.

This Kentucky team was the fourth ranked team in the nation to start the year, and they had the reigning national player of the year joined by a crop of NBA caliber talent. Anything other than a championship this year would be a disappointment. Despite that, this hyper-talented team was never able to put it together. Calipari relied too much on Oscar even after it was clear that Wallace was this team's best player, and he never adjusted to that. CJ Fredrick never got better over the year, and Antonio Reeves and Jacob Toppin were inconsistent all season. This team didn't grow in the slightest. This was the same team in March that they were in October, and that's the Calipari way.

I don't care if you love the guy or hate the guy, but John Calipari is not a winning basketball coach. He is a business man and a salesman, and he sells a nice product to a bunch of high schoolers and hard headed Kentucky fans every year, but at the end of the day he only has one ring to show for it. Every once in a while he may get lucky and get enough talent that he's almost forced to win a championship, but that's not enough. Until Kentucky gets a real basketball coach, a guy running plays, adjusting, and putting his team in the best position to win, Kentucky will never be the Kentucky you grew up loving ever again.