Kentucky basketball is not on a break or a sabbatical, and the program sure isn't in the dumps.
The Wildcats drop a couple of road games in the Southeastern Conference and suddenly people are worried they aren't as good as last season.
Gee, really. That Wildcat team was talented enough, deep enough and well-coached enough to win the national championship. They made the Final Four and lost to Wisconsin in the semifinals. No sin in losing to that Badgers team.
Their top-seven scorers declared for the NBA Draft soon after the Final Four.
Of those seven, four were lottery picks, and Kentucky fans can find them on NBA rosters as well as Aaron Harrison, who made the Charlotte Hornets roster as a free agent. Second-round picks from last year's Kentucky team, Andrew Harrison and Dakari Johnson, are in the NBA Development League.
The obvious thing about top recruiting classes is they eventually leave, and even John Calipari has to start over. Once he gets them on campus he has to develop a team's personality and chemistry.
Only once has he really come up short, and that was the 2012-13 season when the Wildcats finished 21-12, 12-6 in the SEC (a very weak SEC that year) and lost in the first round of the NIT when they couldn't play at Rupp Arena because it was doing something UK couldn't, playing a part in the NCAA Tournament (it served as a host for second- and third-round games).
The Kentucky team that will be in Walton Arena tonight is still developing and could be very much improved by the end of the season, but for that to happen this year's crop of thoroughbreds needs to realize sooner than later this isn't high school.
After losing to Auburn on Saturday, Tigers Coach Bruce Pearl said the Wildcats frontcourt isn't as physical as last season.
That is pretty much what Calipari has been saying for weeks.
Last season, freshman Karl-Anthony Towns was playing center for Kentucky before becoming the No. 1 draft pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he is averaging 15.6 points and 9.5 rebounds as a rookie.
Willie Cauley-Stein was the Wildcats power forward. He was the sixth pick of the NBA Draft, and now he's averaging 5.0 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Sacramento Kings.
No one, not even recruiting guru Calipari, can replace that in one season.
Not to mention forward Trey Lyles was the No. 12 pick by Utah, where he's averaging 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds, but the real tale of the tape was Devin Booker, who was a backup freshman guard.
He was drafted No. 13 by Phoenix and is averaging 8.7 points per game for the Suns.
Those guys are playing against the best basketball players in the world and more than holding their own.
So if you wonder what happened to Kentucky, it was the NBA, but that's the downside to recruiting guys who are going to be student-athletes for a year, two at the most. Even Calipari has to refill the water bottle sometimes, and not all recruiting classes are the same.
Besides, Calipari may have created the perfect storm for one-and-dones, but Duke came along and rained on his parade last season, and this year LSU has the best freshman in the country in Ben Simmons.
Right now both Kentucky and Arkansas are coming off losses (the Hogs at LSU) that, to be honest, should have been wins. Both were on the wrong end of a huge free-throw shooting differential.
Both are still building unity and both could win the game, but in no way, form or fashion will Kentucky not be all out to avenge that loss two years ago, and Mike Anderson and the Razorbacks know this is a statement game for them.
Could be a lot like old times.
Sports on 01/21/2016