Kentucky just isn't a very good team right now

We've all heard it numerous times. "They are young and still learning, just give them time." How about the so popular, "this team will be dangerous in March." Kentucky is now only 11 games away from the SEC Tournament and to put it bluntly, they are not a very good team...at least yet.

First up of the 11 remaining games comes Mizzou in Columbia. This game has already shaped up to be a 'make or break' game for the Cats, which is a situation that a team of this talent level should never be in. More importantly, Kentucky still has to play 3rd ranked Florida twice, which could very easily result in two more losses, especially with the return of Chris Walker. If Coach Cal's squad were to drop both against Florida, the "greatest class of all time" would have crawled through the regular season schedule going 1-5 against ranked opponents. Another potential loss to Florida again in the SEC Tournament and Cal might find himself explaining why this season didn't work out again.

Yes, Kentucky could just start clicking and if they do they would be dangerous. But as of now, nobody seems to be threatened by this team who has now lost two of their last five games to unranked opponents in Arkansas and LSU. I would say just give them some more time but that is simply not an excuse anymore. Kansas' freshmen seem to be coming along just fine as Joel Embiid posted a double double and Andrew Wiggins went for a career high 29 points last night over 16th ranked Iowa State. Kansas looks like their becoming very good at the right time while Kentucky just can't figure it out.

The worst part about Kentucky this year is the problems we have aren't something Cal could fine tune in practice. This team just doesn't seem to have the will to win nor the toughness to fight back when teams hit them in the mouth. These are very concerning issues considering every team UK could face in the tournament would bring everything they have at them. As of now, the Cats still don't seem to have a leader. Alex Poythress has improved his game as of late, but sophomore WIllie Cauley-Stein needs someone to put up "missing" posters around Lexington to help find his game. Not to mention, the apparent lack of chemistry and teamwork this team displays. You never really see any pure enjoyment of the game out of these guys which is essential to being a championship team.

For some reason, this team just hasn't clicked yet. Plus, what have they shown to make us believe they will before the end of the season? Clearly the talent is there but seems to be far too many missing pieces for Kentucky to be a championship team this year. I don't want to go as far as saying this team might not even make the NCAA Tournament, but it could easily shape up that way if the Cats drop a few more and can't advance in the conference tourney.

I don't want an article full of pessimism, but this is the unfortunate truth for this team who should've been in every National Championship conversation with their talent level. In a nutshell, this team just doesn't have it. They don't seem to like to play with each other and don't seem to even have the will to win (although we've seen glimpses against Tennessee and Louisville). Overall, Kentucky just isn't a very good basketball team right now. Can that change? Yes. Will it? We'll find out.

@CodyDanielKSR