Kentucky "enjoying this journey together" as regular-season winds down

Anyone following this Kentucky Men’s Basketball team closely knows the impact the collective group has had on the Big Blue Nation. It’s a unit comprised of youth and veterans, wiry guards and athletic bigs, and plenty of fan-favorites. From the outside looking in, it would appear that this team has all the makings of one that genuinely enjoys being around each other and playing together as teammates.

From the inside projecting out, that still appears to be the case, at least in the eyes of Kentucky’s most veteran-ladened player, Keion Brooks Jr.

“We’re having fun. We’re enjoying each other, we’re enjoying the journey that we’ve taken together, and we’re not taking it for granted,” Brooks told the media during Tuesday’s pre-LSU press conference. “We’ve got a great group of guys that love being around each other, love competing with each other, love pushing each other to get better every day. That’s something that we take pride in and like I said, we’re enjoying this journey together and it’s been real fun.”

Fans see it before and after games — whether it’s TyTy Washington griddying his way onto the Rupp Arena floor or the entire bench reacting to a made bucket. KY Wildcats TV has blessed the BBN with plenty of highlight videos that take us behind the scenes, where UK players and coaches alike are seen smiling, laughing, dancing, and soaking in the situation they all find themselves in. Head coach John Calipari has said repeatedly how much he enjoys coaching this team. There’s a reason many fans have already classified this team as one of the most enjoyable in the Calipari-era — even with four regular-season games still left on the schedule.

“I think you have a little bit of everything,” UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua said on Tuesday in regards to why this team is so well-liked. “Obviously, we’ve got unbelievable young men that represent the university and the program really well. They’ve got a lot of personality, they’re well-liked, they’ve got unbelievable background and stories and come from special families and it’s a team you can tell really cares for one another. And that endears a lot of people that can appreciate that.”

That being said, there are always going to be people that want to see you fail. As someone who’s been coaching college basketball since 2006, Antigua knows how both viewpoints work.

“On the other side of that coin means there are a lot of teams that don’t like that because they don’t want to see the Kentuckys having success and having the success that we’re having right now. You’re gonna have some haters when you’re having the kind of success that this program is having.”

But the Kentucky players and coaches seemingly haven’t bought into that outside noise — or “the poison”, as Calipari often calls it. The team has worked all season long to get to this point where the continuity is peaking at the right moment. Brooks is taking preemptive measures to make sure it stays that way.

“We lead by committee,” Brooks said when asked if he needs to step up as the leader heading into March. “We got the coaching staff, we got other veteran players. I’m not gonna disrespect my other teammates that have put in the work and just say now we’re heading into the tournament it’s my time to take charge and be the leader. That wouldn’t be fair to them, it wouldn’t be fair to all the work they’ve put in, so I’m not gonna anoint myself the leader of the team with two months left in the season.”

Kentucky doesn’t have or doesn’t need a single leader. As Brooks said, it’s done by committee, and that mentality has worked quite well through 27 games. Everyone has a responsibility to hold each other accountable. That’s what helps build a championship-level group.