Can the 2020-21 Cats become UK’s ultimate ‘Team Turnaround’?
The standard of performance for the Kentucky men’s basketball program has long been clear:
It is excellence.
Yet, paradoxically, there is an affectionate place in UK basketball lore for teams that have fallen far short of excellent yet refused to submit and rallied to salvage meaningful seasons.
After starting the 2020-21 season 5-13, John Calipari’s current Cats are seeking to earn a place on UK’s list of “Team Turnarounds.”
Interestingly, the paths taken by at least five of Kentucky’s prior turnaround squads bears some resemblance to the rocky road the 2020-21 Cats have traversed:
1975-76
The set up: Joe B. Hall’s fourth UK team entered the season having lost four starters from the prior year’s NCAA Tournament runner-up (26-5).
The adversity: Started the season 0-2. Lost first three SEC games. Lost only returning starter, big man Rick Robey, to injury after 12 games.
The rally: Led by the all-sophomore front court of Jack Givens, James Lee and Mike Phillips plus veteran guards Larry Johnson and Reggie Warford, UK won its final 10 games. The run was capped by beating UNC-Charlotte 71-67 in Madison Square Garden to claim the NIT championship.
1978-79
The set up: From its 1978 NCAA championship team, Kentucky had lost its starting front line, Givens, Robey and Phillips, plus sixth man Lee to graduation.
The adversity: In an extreme version of the “January slump” that came to be identified with the Hall coaching era, UK lost five of its first six SEC games.
The rally: Needing to win the revived SEC Tournament to make the NCAA tourney, Kentucky rode the torrid shooting of guards Truman Claytor and Kyle Macy and the dynamic play of freshman Dwight Anderson on a stirring run.
In order, the Cats defeated Mississippi, Alabama and upset No. 8 LSU to reach the finals.
Up by six at halftime against Tennessee in the championship, UK — playing without Anderson, who had been injured in the prior game — ran out of petrol and fell in overtime.
1984-85
The set up: Kentucky had graduated four starters — twin towers Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin, guards Jim Master and Dicky Beal — from its 1984 Final Four team.
The adversity: What turned out to be Hall’s final UK team started the season 1-4. It lost four of five in SEC play in January. Then the Cats finished their season losing three of four.
The rally: Unexpectedly invited to the NCAA Tournament at 16-12 as a 12 seed, UK rode the star power of junior forward Kenny Walker to upsets of No. 5 Washington and No. 4 UNLV before bowing out in the Sweet 16 to top-seeded St. John’s.
2010-11
The set up: Kentucky lost five NBA first-round draft picks — John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton — off a team (35-3) that reached the 2010 NCAA Elite Eight.
The adversity: John Calipari’s second UK team was dismal in close games during most of the regular season, losing six times by four points or less.
The rally: In the last days of the season, Kentucky defeated No. 13 Florida and No. 21 Vanderbilt at home, then won at Tennessee in tight outcomes. Its confidence turbocharged, UK won the SEC Tournament and then rode the clutch shooting of Brandon Knight to its first Final Four appearance since 1998.
2013-14
The set up: Due to NBA Draft early entries, transfers and a graduation, Kentucky lost five of its top six players from a team (21-12) that lost in the first round of the 2013 NIT.
The adversity: A so-so regular season ended with a thud, as Kentucky lost three of its final four games, concluding with an 84-65 blowout loss at No. 1 Florida.
The rally: Apparently galvanized before tournament play by Calipari’s famous “tweak” of the UK offense, the Cats — starting five true freshmen — rode an epic clutch-shooting run by Aaron Harrison to the NCAA Tournament finals as a No. 8 seed. There, Kentucky fell 60-54 to Connecticut.
2020-21
The set up: Due to NBA Draft early entries, a graduation and a transfer, Kentucky was without eight of its top nine scorers from the 2019-20 squad (25-6) that won the SEC regular-season crown.
That meant UK entered a season disrupted by a global pandemic with an all but entirely new roster.
The adversity: Started the year 1-6. Went on to lose seven of eight SEC games in one stretch, falling to 5-13 overall. Lost five times by three points or less.
The rally: Still very much to be determined how much of one there will be.
Almost certainly, Kentucky (8-14 after Saturday’s loss to Florida) will have to win the SEC Tournament to make the 2021 NCAA tourney.
It might be unrealistic to expect a team that has struggled so much in tight games to prevail in, potentially, multiple such contests under tournament pressure.
If however, the current Cats could somehow win the SEC tourney — going from 5-13 to the NCAA Tournament — they will secure a unique place in Kentucky Wildcats basketball lore:
As the owner of the most dramatic “Team Turnaround” story in UK hoops history.
