Denzel Aberdeen knows Kentucky's effort hasn't translated into games

The Kentucky Wildcats have not looked good in any of their losses this season, and it's not just a problem of not looking good, they've gotten embarrassed in their four losses against top 25 teams. It has been on display in each loss, but once the team gets down early, they have a hard time responding. Now, many fans and media have been questioning this team's lack of effort during the game, which was on full display against Gonzaga in Nashville.

Kentucky's Denzel Aberdeen spoke with media on Monday before their next game in Rupp Arena on Tuesday night, and he responded to a question about the team's lack of energy and effort. Aberdeen says it's all there in every practice, but it just isn't translating into the real games.

"The mood is always the same with us, no matter win or loss. We're always gonna bring in the next practice. We're definitely gonna make a change as far as our energy and effort coming into these games, they haven't been where it's supposed to be, but we're definitely gonna make a jump from now on forward. ...We know we're not playing to the capability that we're supposed to be playing at right now, so it's just each and every day, we're gonna try to come in practice and just give maximum effort each and every time, and then fast forward it into the game."

Is there something wrong with this team? Aberdeen doesn't see anything wrong with the team itself, it's more so about executing. "I don't think nothing's wrong with the team. We just got a lot of things that we got to work on, as far as offensively and defensively. Other than that, I think we're still together. We're still coming together. We're still going to push forward."

Aberdeen was also asked why things haven't carried over into games. "Nothing I can pinpoint, just as far as coming down and making shots offensively, sharing the ball together, and defensively, we got to get stops. We've been getting scored on too much lately. So I think just them two, scoring and playing defense." Speaking of ball-movement, that has been one of the biggest gripes recently about what this team has been lacking in. The veteran SEC guard says it's about finding what works in certain situations. "A lot of different teams give different looks defensively, so just finding out what play certain play works for that specific team."

Kentucky has plenty of things to work on, and Aberdeen, who has been one of the leaders of this team, knows it starts with their effort in these games before everything else can work itself out.