LEXINGTON, Ky. — When things are going well, there is no place on Earth better to be a men’s basketball player than the University of Kentucky.
However, when things are going poorly, there is nowhere that it is more challenging to play hoops than in the UK fishbowl.
As you may have noticed, with Kentucky off to a historically bad 5-10 start, things are going poorly for the 2020-21 Wildcats.
I can’t help but feel sorry for the UK players who, as best as I can tell, have continued to play hard and scrap even as their season has all but gone off the rails.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the current Cats were already missing out on most of what makes “the Kentucky basketball experience” special.
They are not playing in front of 20,545 roaring fans in Rupp Arena.
They do not go on the road to SEC venues where “Blue gets in” and UK fans essentially create a home-court disadvantage for opponents.
Even on the rare occasions this season when things have gone well for the Cats on the court, the pandemic has shut down any chance for the Kentucky players to stride across campus the following day as conquering hoops heroes.
However, because they are losing, the current Cats are getting a full dose of the worst part of playing at UK, the searing scrutiny that follows defeat.
The Wildcats player I have the most sympathy for is Devin Askew.
As UK has lost three of its past four games during a stretch many see as the key to turning its season around, the true freshman point guard has endured a rugged go.
Over Kentucky’s past four games — road losses at Auburn, Georgia and Alabama and the home-court victory over LSU — Askew has made only two of 19 shots and is averaging 2.5 points a game.
After a so-so showing at Auburn (five points, three assists, two turnovers), Askew had a horrid game (0-of-6 shooting, five turnovers, a crucial, late miss from the foul line) as UK came from ahead to lose at the buzzer at Georgia.
Askew came back and shot poorly (0 for 5) in Kentucky’s win over LSU, but had a solid floor game (four assists, one turnover).
However, his impact in UK’s difficult 70-59 loss at No. 9 Alabama on Tuesday night was all but negligible, two points, two assists, one turnover and 0-of-2 field goals in 24 minutes.
“His struggling is — he and I talked again — he’s thinking too much,” John Calipari said of Askew on Wednesday night during the Kentucky coach’s radio show. “Really simple.”
With frustrations running high, assessments on Twitter, the message boards and in the media of Askew’s level of play have become harsh.
This is an 18-year-old who reclassified from the high school class of 2021 to 2020 to join UK a season early. Here in Lexington, Askew is some 2,299 miles from his hometown of Sacramento, Calif.
Given that, being under the microscope to the extent Askew and his play currently are cannot be a lot of fun.
Obviously, Askew is not a dynamic athlete in the mold of prior Calipari-era Kentucky point guards such as John Wall or De’Aaron Fox.
However, in the six games prior to his current doldrums, it was Askew’s improved play that had helped give the UK season a glimmer of hope.
Starting with North Carolina through the first Alabama game, Askew averaged 10.3 points and had 21 assists versus 12 turnovers.
He is not a “penetrate and pitch” point, but you don’t have to be that to be effective.
“Offensively, he can shoot it, I want him to shoot it,” Calipari said on his radio show of Askew. “But I want him away from the ball. Get us started, be an initiator, and then when it comes back to you, make plays.”
In the big picture, what’s gone wrong for Kentucky offensively in 2020-21 is that its roster is not well-constructed.
The parts don’t fit.
Neither Askew nor UK’s other lead guard, Creighton graduate transfer Davion Mintz, are “blow by you” drivers with the ball in their hands.
That would not matter if Kentucky had players on the wing capable of breaking down defenses off the dribble.
For the most part this season, UK has lacked that.
With the Cats also without a dependable, back-to-the-basket, low-post threat, Kentucky’s offense has been easy to defend — and hard to watch.
Moving forward, Askew, in an ideal world, fights through his current four-game slump to close this season on the uptick.
Then, unlike other recent-vintage UK players from California such as Jemarl Baker and Johnny Juzang, he sticks it out at Kentucky to become a quality, multi-year, backcourt staple.
A better-constructed Kentucky roster in which players boast complementary skills is the answer to many of the UK offensive issues that are currently being laid at the feet of Devin Askew.
