COLUMN: Kentucky Needs Overseas Victory to Build Momentum Back in the Bluegrass

Kentucky basketball has faced a heaping amount of criticism through the first three weeks of the 2022-23 season.

If you've taken to social media since Nov. 7, you've probably seen posts referring to the Wildcats "not being good enough" or head coach John Calipari finally "losing his fastball" and getting out-coached.

There is some truth to that.

Sure, you can decimate the Howards and South Carolina States of the world, but when the going gets tough — à la Michigan State and Gonzaga — you can't fall flat, yet that's just what Kentucky has done.

Missed free throws and abysmal execution cost the Cats a victory over Sparty in the Champions Classic, while no real game plan and poor effort led to a smashing in Spokane by the Bulldogs. Not only did the players on the other side get the better of UK, so did the coaches. MSU head coach Tom Izzo ran some beautiful plays to keep his team in the game, while the Zags' Mark Few put on a clinic in getting his best players good shots.

So what's the big deal? Almost every team loses a couple of games early in the year, why hit the panic button?

We've heard the Kentucky roster and coaching staff speak ad nauseam about not having all of its team back and healthy with each other for very long. Oscar Tshiebwe was out for around a month recovering from a knee procedure, Sahvir Wheeler had to miss a couple of weeks dealing with a knee knock of his own, while Daimion Collins had to step away from the team for a bit due to the unfortunate and sudden passing of his father.

That's two starters and a role bench player out for the start of the season. Wheeler would return for the second regular season game against Duquesne on Nov. 11, while Tshiebwe and Collins debuted against Michigan State four days later.

Continuity this, continuity that, we get it. The team has now been fully healthy and together for the better part of three weeks...how long can an excuse like that remain valid?

It's not as though the team didn't know each other before game one against Howard, this isn't a pickup game of kickball at the top of the culdesac with the kids from a couple blocks down the neighborhood. In August, everyone except Ugonna Onyenso was together in the Bahamas playing a round of exhibition games.

And what about the heaping amounts of practice? Insert Allen Iverson joke here. Why does gelling as a team on the court appear to still be somewhat of an issue?

This was all exemplified on Tuesday in Kentucky's 60-41 win over Bellarmine, as 30 percent shooting and nine turnovers saw the Wildcats tied at 21 with the Knights, in what was one of the more depressing stretches of basketball Rupp Arena has seen in quite some time.

That game came following a six-day break, where there was plenty of talk about the team scrimmaging more with one-another in practice and really honing in on how the team should tick when it's on the floor, what rotations work best and more.

It felt like those six days off were...for a lack of a better word...useless?

There has been no clear progression from Kentucky through the month of November. Again, while it's early and there's plenty of time for the basketball maestro Calipari to make those patented "tweaks" and get the team firing on all cylinders, it's more than fair to worry about just how good this team is.

However...all of that can be wiped away with a stellar performance in London, England this Sunday against Michigan in the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase.

The Wolverines will enter The O2 Arena with a 5-2 record, having almost pulled off a major upset in a 70-68 loss to No. 3 Virginia on Tuesday. Head coach Juwan Howard has propped up the program he once played for, taking it to the second weekend in the NCAA Tournament two seasons in a row.

Led by star center Hunter Dickinson, Michigan once again has aspirations for winning the Big Ten and will provide the third true test of the season for Kentucky.

If the Wildcats can get the win across the pond in somewhat satisfying fashion, true momentum will follow. The monkey will be off the back of the players and Calipari. You play grueling schedules like Kentucky's for a reason, but it won't do much good down the stretch if you can't at least win a couple of your marquee matchups.

However, say the Wolverines come out on top. You may find it hard pressed to look at the glass half full. Anyone and everyone with something negative to say will more than happily say it, putting a boat load of pressure on the Cats when the next big matchup rolls around on Dec. 17 against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.

Kentucky must make a Buckingham Palace-sized statement on Sunday if it wants to get the season trending in the right direction.

A game recap of the Wildcats' 60-41 win over Bellarmine can be found here.

For what head coach John Calipari had to say post-game, click here.

Game notes on the win can be found here.

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