LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Although Kentucky has been winning, the way it has been winning gives pause. After the 69-60 victory at Texas A&M on Tuesday, John Calipari spoke about much in the game that tempered his enthusiasm.
Failure to execute a called play (the ball did not go to Nate Sestina, who was open in the corner). Reckless risk-taking (charging in the post rather than passing out of a double-team). Not following instruction (Calipari said he repeatedly told Tyrese Maxey not to drive toward a teammate that had just passed him the ball).
Calipari went as far as to say he was worried about his team.
UK coaches have spoken of the team's small margin for error. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said that Kentucky should not feel alone.
"This year nobody has a margin of error because there are no overpowering teams," Bilas said. "The teams that have gaudy records have done so by virtue of consistency rather than power."
Bilas's point: There's no team like UK in 2015 or the national champions of 2012 or North Carolina in 2009.
"Most teams are not going to be able to absorb a bad performance," he said.
UK associate head coach Kenny Payne spoke recently of the looming NCAA Tournament.
"We're at a critical point ...," he said. "This is the moment now we have to be headed in the right direction."
Payne lamented the six- or seven-minute "lulls" that Kentucky experiences in games.
"We have to clean that up ...," he said. "We train all this time for this time of year. Right now, we want to be playing our best basketball leading up to going into the NCAA Tournament."
Kentucky's small margin for error is reflected in how competitive most games are. Going into the rematch with Auburn on Saturday, Kentucky had played 28 games. Of those, 22 had a margin of seven points or fewer inside the final seven minutes. A single possession could erase a lead inside the final six minutes of 14 of those games. The last time UK remained comfortably ahead down the stretch was against Missouri on Jan. 4.
What does that say?
"That they don't have overwhelming talent," Bilas said of the Cats. "I don't think you need to be a basketball savant to see that. They have really good players. But there are not as many lottery picks on this team as they've had."
Kentucky's first NCAA Tournament game will be either March 19 or 20. Is there enough time to eliminate the "lulls" and increase the margin for error? Bilas thought so.
"Teams can get a lot better in a short period of time," he said. It helps to be healthy and relatively fresh going into the NCAA Tournament, he added.
For Kentucky, a loss early in the SEC Tournament wouldn't hurt, said Bilas, adding, "That means you get to go home and practice and come into the NCAA Tournament with a little bit of an edge."
In the postgame news conference at Texas A&M, a reporter asked Calipari how good he thought Kentucky could be. The UK coach joked about the Cats being projected as a four-seed "and moving down."
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, however, did move Kentucky up to a three-seed in the pairings he updated on Friday.
Bilas attempted to provide perspective by pointing out that perfection is an unreachable goal. No team plays to its optimal level every game.
"That's never happened in the history of the game," he said. "The mark of a really good team is to win when you don't play your best. That's where the teams separate themselves."
