There are agendas to push every time Kentucky plays. A win and the program is back. A loss and the program is hurtling for despair.
The ebbs and flows and ups and downs of a freshman-laden team trying to find itself are both riveting and nauseating.
It gives you moments like Saturday when everything just hits together like a perfect note.
Kentucky didn’t just beat Alabama. It destroyed the Tide. Kentucky led by 37 with over eight minutes to play. It employed a death star lineup of Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, Antonio Reeves, Zvonimir Ivisic and Justin Edwards that took Alabama’s soul every single possession.
Edwards had his “I’m here” game with 28 points on a perfect 10-for-10 shooting. Reeves, Mr. Steady Eddy, delivered 24 points on just 10 shots. He dished out five assists. Dillingham was electric, totaling 16 points and four dimes. Ivisic will get some blocks, but he can’t really defend. He can, however, score that thing. He had 18. Sheppard only had eight points, but he might have been the best player on the floor for stretches with six rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Enjoy this team, man. For all its warts and flaws, it can also be the best show in the sport. Dillingham is the most enthralling player in college basketball. Sheppard has become a star out of nowhere. When he plays, Ivisic puts on a show. Adou Thiero plays so dang hard, every single night.
Every game doesn’t have to be an indictment of the state of the program. History says Kentucky’s defense might be a tripping wire in the Big Dance, but does historical data even matter in a year when very few can buckle down and get stops? Just 56 teams have a defensive rating under 100.0 on KenPom. That’s the lowest mark of the internet era.
If you can score, you have a chance.
Maybe it all ends in flames in the Round of 32, but maybe there’s something really cool brewing.
