Best And Worst Case Scenarios For Rest Of Cats' Season
[caption id="attachment_151938" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Image Via Chet White | UK Athletics[/caption]
We all knew how much was at stake when Florida came to Rupp last night. A potential 1-seed, all the momentum needed to finish the season strong, and most importantly, this team proving to the world that they can beat the nation's best teams. I could just say the Cats lost by double digits and leave it at that. In reality, this team is only a few steps away from reaching that elite level Coach Cal and the BBN longs for them to reach. Luckily for Kentucky, there is just enough time left this season for key improvements and learning before March Madness. Depending on how this team handles this loss, let's take a look at the best and worst possible scenario for the Cats to finish the season.
Worst Case Scenario
This scenario, to me, looks like the long shot for this team considering how much talent this roster has. But just because it's hard to picture this team having a collapse to conclude the season doesn't mean it can't happen so here's what that would look like.
Before we all look ahead to the season finale for the Cats in Florida, let's look at what could go wrong in their first five games. Other than Florida, Kentucky has only Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Alabama left to play. That should be five easy wins for Kentucky unless they can't grasp what they are doing wrong and learning from it.
I'm not going to sit and point out everything with this group. Most of it can be adjusted with some extra effort, passion, effort, and preparation. More importantly is that each of this team's six losses came in the final minutes where they fail to finish a rally or hold their opposition off. So what could that mean for this team down the stretch of the season?
To start would be if Kentucky doesn’t put this game behind them and focus on Ole Miss. There is a lot this team can learn from the Florida loss and could be a better team in the tournament from it. Kentucky has until Tuesday to take what they have learned, focus on Ole Miss, and win a tough game on the road against the Marshall Henderson led Rebels. I'm not going to say this team had their spirits broken after not putting Florida away on a big stage, but sulking on that loss and falling to Ole Miss for a second straight loss could kill the Cats' confidence.
What terrible timing that would be with rematches with LSU and Arkansas the following week after losing to each in the last month? For a young team such as our beloved Wildcats, coming off two straight losses with two teams that have beaten you up next on the schedule could be intimidating. Assuming we drop one of the rematches after losing two straight to Florida and Ole Miss, Kentucky would likely bounce back against South Carolina and Alabama with the cap to the regular season in Florida. If this scenario played out, Kentucky would enter this match with little confidence. They would have failed to beat the Gators at home and after losing momentum to close the season, find themselves on the losing end once again in Gainesville.
This situation would leave the Cats in the SEC Tournament with little confidence and doubt that they can beat an elite team after failing to do so this season. Another potential loss to Florida in the SEC Tournament and the Cats find themselves with a weak tournament seeding and never proving to each other and the world that they can finish against a premier program. Highly unlikely but that's the worst possible scenario for this team.
Best Case Scenario
[caption id="attachment_151939" align="alignnone" width="600"]
Image Via Chet White | UK Athletics[/caption]
Now let's look at the more realistic and optimistic view of what can happen with Kentucky from this point on. Last night, they did everything but win the game, which could be credited to the refs to some degree. For the first time this season, I truly loved the intensity and passion they showed for most of the game. Everybody bought in defensively and competed. Dakari pumped up the crowd while Julius pumped his chest. Up until the final minutes of the game, Kentucky seemed to want the big stage and stepped up to it. The mistakes they had were things that could be a simple fix with game film such as being in the wrong spot defensively and knowing what spots to be in at a certain time.
If Cal gets the minor issue with this team resolved, he can focus on closing the game out for the final weeks of the season. Assuming this team will get the smaller problems down, Kentucky could take that next step in closing out a game Tuesday on the road where they could easily find themselves being forced to finish. A win like that could do much for the team's confidence in proving to themselves that they can close a game out as well as showing they are learning from their weaknesses.
Kentucky shouldn't lose to any of their next four opponents if they play as hard as we now know they can and ensure they close the games out in each. Next up would be Florida on the road to conclude the season in the Cats' toughest environment this season. At this point, Kentucky could have rebuilt some confidence and taken the final few steps to becoming an elite team. Florida would be their chance to prove where they are at just in time for the postseason tournaments. The Gators will probably be looking to close out an undefeated SEC regular season. I am guessing no one will give the Cats much of a chance in Gainesville. But, stranger things have happened. For Kentucky to be able to hit the road and close out the game against Florida, who could easily be the top team in the nation, would spring this team into March Madness with more than enough momentum and experience to make a championship run. Finishing the SEC Tournament in the same fashion and adding to their uncountable SEC Championships would ensure what everybody has been saying all season, "You don't want to play this team in March."
Both of these scenarios are very possible, as is everything in between. It seems a lot more likely for the best possible scenario to come to fruition first, but that looks to be dependent on how the Cats bounce back against Ole Miss. There's still time to make the final touches for this team to make a championship run. Now they just need to make the possible a reality.
@CodyDanielKSR
Image Via Chet White | UK Athletics[/caption]
We all knew how much was at stake when Florida came to Rupp last night. A potential 1-seed, all the momentum needed to finish the season strong, and most importantly, this team proving to the world that they can beat the nation's best teams. I could just say the Cats lost by double digits and leave it at that. In reality, this team is only a few steps away from reaching that elite level Coach Cal and the BBN longs for them to reach. Luckily for Kentucky, there is just enough time left this season for key improvements and learning before March Madness. Depending on how this team handles this loss, let's take a look at the best and worst possible scenario for the Cats to finish the season.
Worst Case Scenario
This scenario, to me, looks like the long shot for this team considering how much talent this roster has. But just because it's hard to picture this team having a collapse to conclude the season doesn't mean it can't happen so here's what that would look like.
Before we all look ahead to the season finale for the Cats in Florida, let's look at what could go wrong in their first five games. Other than Florida, Kentucky has only Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Alabama left to play. That should be five easy wins for Kentucky unless they can't grasp what they are doing wrong and learning from it.
I'm not going to sit and point out everything with this group. Most of it can be adjusted with some extra effort, passion, effort, and preparation. More importantly is that each of this team's six losses came in the final minutes where they fail to finish a rally or hold their opposition off. So what could that mean for this team down the stretch of the season?
To start would be if Kentucky doesn’t put this game behind them and focus on Ole Miss. There is a lot this team can learn from the Florida loss and could be a better team in the tournament from it. Kentucky has until Tuesday to take what they have learned, focus on Ole Miss, and win a tough game on the road against the Marshall Henderson led Rebels. I'm not going to say this team had their spirits broken after not putting Florida away on a big stage, but sulking on that loss and falling to Ole Miss for a second straight loss could kill the Cats' confidence.
What terrible timing that would be with rematches with LSU and Arkansas the following week after losing to each in the last month? For a young team such as our beloved Wildcats, coming off two straight losses with two teams that have beaten you up next on the schedule could be intimidating. Assuming we drop one of the rematches after losing two straight to Florida and Ole Miss, Kentucky would likely bounce back against South Carolina and Alabama with the cap to the regular season in Florida. If this scenario played out, Kentucky would enter this match with little confidence. They would have failed to beat the Gators at home and after losing momentum to close the season, find themselves on the losing end once again in Gainesville.
This situation would leave the Cats in the SEC Tournament with little confidence and doubt that they can beat an elite team after failing to do so this season. Another potential loss to Florida in the SEC Tournament and the Cats find themselves with a weak tournament seeding and never proving to each other and the world that they can finish against a premier program. Highly unlikely but that's the worst possible scenario for this team.
Best Case Scenario
[caption id="attachment_151939" align="alignnone" width="600"] Image Via Chet White | UK Athletics[/caption]
Now let's look at the more realistic and optimistic view of what can happen with Kentucky from this point on. Last night, they did everything but win the game, which could be credited to the refs to some degree. For the first time this season, I truly loved the intensity and passion they showed for most of the game. Everybody bought in defensively and competed. Dakari pumped up the crowd while Julius pumped his chest. Up until the final minutes of the game, Kentucky seemed to want the big stage and stepped up to it. The mistakes they had were things that could be a simple fix with game film such as being in the wrong spot defensively and knowing what spots to be in at a certain time.
If Cal gets the minor issue with this team resolved, he can focus on closing the game out for the final weeks of the season. Assuming this team will get the smaller problems down, Kentucky could take that next step in closing out a game Tuesday on the road where they could easily find themselves being forced to finish. A win like that could do much for the team's confidence in proving to themselves that they can close a game out as well as showing they are learning from their weaknesses.
Kentucky shouldn't lose to any of their next four opponents if they play as hard as we now know they can and ensure they close the games out in each. Next up would be Florida on the road to conclude the season in the Cats' toughest environment this season. At this point, Kentucky could have rebuilt some confidence and taken the final few steps to becoming an elite team. Florida would be their chance to prove where they are at just in time for the postseason tournaments. The Gators will probably be looking to close out an undefeated SEC regular season. I am guessing no one will give the Cats much of a chance in Gainesville. But, stranger things have happened. For Kentucky to be able to hit the road and close out the game against Florida, who could easily be the top team in the nation, would spring this team into March Madness with more than enough momentum and experience to make a championship run. Finishing the SEC Tournament in the same fashion and adding to their uncountable SEC Championships would ensure what everybody has been saying all season, "You don't want to play this team in March."
Both of these scenarios are very possible, as is everything in between. It seems a lot more likely for the best possible scenario to come to fruition first, but that looks to be dependent on how the Cats bounce back against Ole Miss. There's still time to make the final touches for this team to make a championship run. Now they just need to make the possible a reality.
@CodyDanielKSR
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