Here's a sobering thought: Kentucky has played two teams with a Ratings Percentage Index as of Christmas Day in the top 60. Kentucky lost both games: to No. 18 Kansas and, last weekend, to No. 58 UCLA.
Now to add a slap to the face: Kentucky has 13 remaining games against opponents with an RPI better than UCLA. Seven of those games will be on the opponent's court. Four of the next five games _ beginning with home games against (No. 33) Louisville on Friday and (No. 51) Georgia on Sunday _ are against teams with a better RPI than UCLA.
To turn a potential negative into a positive, the degree of difficulty remaining on Kentucky's schedule could be good. After the loss to UCLA, coach John Calipari seemed to suggest a victory over (No. 75) Virginia Tech the previous weekend went to the collective head of his freshman-dependent team.
Speculating the UK players' mindset, he said, " 'We're a top-10 team ... We're good. Watch me today on CBS.' "
This suggested a dilemma in scheduling: Too difficult might overwhelm a UK team considered the least experienced in college basketball history. But too easy might give the Kiddie Cats a false sense of their abilities.
ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg spoke sympathetically of Calipari trying to find this season's Goldilocks zone in scheduling: Ah, just right.
"Scheduling is the hardest thing to do in coaching," Greenberg said. "People think it's easy, but it's actually extremely difficult."
Another ESPN analyst, Dick Vitale, said before the UCLA game that Calipari had struck a good balance in the schedule: enough victories to embolden, but not too many defeats to discourage.
While acknowledging fan grumbles about too few marquee home opponents, Vitale said, "I think it was really part of a coaching genius to do what he did. Even though people might not agree. To do what he did schedule-wise with a purpose and a plan and it's looked like it's worked.
"The plan was to give these kids as much experience _ winning experience. You don't want losing experience. You want winning experience."
But can there be too much of a good thing when it comes to winning experience? Can it lead to an assumption of victory? After UCLA won 83-76, Calipari credited the Bruins for hustling for so-called 50-50 balls and displaying a greater will to win.
Greenberg agreed.
"I think UCLA had a greater sense of urgency," he said. "You can't pick and choose when you're going to compete and play hard. Sometimes you have to learn to lose before you learn to win."
Players, especially freshmen, must be taught to play to win rather than play to simply play, Greenberg said.
"A lot of these guys, they've just played to play," he said of freshmen in general. "The winning took care of itself because they were better ... . They all think it's easy. It looks easier on television than it does in reality."
Then there's the complicating factor of facing an array of adversities for the first time, Greenberg said.
"A lot of these guys are being coached hard for the first time," he said. "A lot of these guys are facing adversity for the first time. A lot of these guys are being taken out of the game for the first time because they're not playing hard enough (or) they're not paying special attention enough to detail. So I like the way he scheduled this year, especially in relation to this team."
Once the players acknowledge the need to play hard, the next hurdle is playing consistently with effort. As basketball parlance terms it, Kentucky is a work in progress individually and collectively. Kevin Knox struggles against Monmouth (1 for 9 shooting, seven turnovers), then stars against Virginia Tech (21 points, four assists). Quade Green stars against Virginia Tech (17 points, five assists), then struggles against UCLA (1 for 7 shooting, two assists, three turnovers).
PJ Washington fit plus and minus in the same UCLA game (two points in the first 33-plus minutes, seven in the final 6:42).
The scarcity of veteran leadership hinders Kentucky's aim at consistent effort, Greenberg said.
"They're freshmen," Calipari said of UK's inevitable ups and downs. "One game they play well. The next game they may not ... .
"Their responsibility is to come with fight and energy and fire to play. Not, 'I want to play well.' Nah. Come to play and fight and battle."
