Matt Jones on Kentucky historic home losing streak: “This is not Kentucky basketball”

KSR host Matt Jones led off the KSR Postgame show with another melancholic monologue after Kentucky dropped a third straight home game for the first time in school history.

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It was I I was very very confident going into this game if you heard the the radio show yesterday I sort of thought you know Gonzaga is not good and they’re not this is not a normal Gonzaga team that the Gonzaga Talent is not anywhere

Close to what it was there are no jayen Suggs Chad homrs they they are none of those guys on this team this is a Nolan Hickman’s decent but remember you know he was going to come here and he’s now in his junior year that it’s not the

Same team so I thought you know you’re at home you get that atmosphere Kentucky fans this is a chance to kind of turn it around they beat Vandy and it that’s not only not what happened they once again got embarrassed and I think got embarrassed in probably

The most damning way yet on Cal Perry uh that was that was almost coaching malpractice out there to watch the way that that it played out you know it was Mark FW completely decimated this Kentucky team and I and I’ll go over a few of the things that stuck out to me

But this is now the seventh loss in the season on a team that has really an unbelievable amount of talent and they’re they’ve lost seven and they still have their two hardest Road games two losable Road games and a game against the first place team in the SEC

At home yet to come they have seven Road games and they haven’t even really gotten to the hardest part of their schedule yet it’s it’s a terrible loss and you’re going to see it on Tuesday they play Old Miss at N9 o00 in rup and

And I think there’s going to be a lot of empty seats I mean I don’t think it’s going to be empty but I think there’s going to be a lot of empty SE I think there’s going to be a lot of people who don’t uh who don’t go to that late game

After this and you know this is we we talked about this on the pregame show but this is the third loss in a row at home only the second time in school history it’s only the second time in school history that’s embarrassing so I’ll do what I did last time let’s talk

About the micro and the game and then sort of a bigger picture about the season first of all you know Cal Perry said when it was over they lost that game in the first half I I don’t know if I totally agree with that we were up six in the second

Half I mean we did come back after being down at half by 10 and had a six-point lead but let me just take that at face value and say you lost it in the first half well if you believe we lost it in the first half we lost it because I have

No idea how John calip Perry was coaching that team in the first half I want you to go back if you will actually don’t go back and watch it but he probably in the first 10 minutes played nine 10 different lineups the shuttling back and forth of guys was

Unbelievable and including some lineups that literally have no chance of scoring I mean at one point he had I think Dillingham Wagner uh Burks theier and Ugo I mean that’s just not a lineup that’s going to score a points it’s just not and you had sitting on your bench I

Counted Reeves and Shephard played a total combined the two of them of 19 minutes in the first half out of 40 can’t do that Reeves Dillingham and Shepard You could argue Reeves Dillingham and Shepard are maybe three of the best Shooters we’ve ever had I would argue they’re the best three you

Know threesome of shooting on one team that kuy ever had I don’t think they’ve ever had three guys on the team at the same time who could shoot threes better you want how many minutes they played together tonight a minute and a half a minute and a half three the best

Shooters ever one of which could be an All-American one of which had 21 points in the second half and one of which will be a top five to7 pick the coach did not play them together for more than a minute and a half that’s crazy to me

That’s Insanity to me when you have that level of shooting to not play them and the answer is well they can’t they can’t guard because because Gonzaga was too big did it look like our bigs could guard did it look like our bigs could stop them no so I don’t understand if

You think we lost it in the first half we lost it probably because Cal said earlier this week I’m GNA Play Everybody in the first half and then play the best people in the second half well how about we try a game where we play the best

People Billy the whole game how about we do that because you played 11 guys in the first half like it’s not going to work guys just going in and out nobody can get in a rhythm and not surprisingly we couldn’t make shots and we still couldn’t defend we gave up

The same amount of points essentially in the first half as the second half I mean they got some I guess they got a little bit more at the end so they was 42 and 47 but the difference is we scored 32 in the first half and that is you just can

Get no rhythm and then the last 10 minutes were an embarrassment Mark FW did the same thing every single time down the court and we had no answer if Ugo was in they put him in a pick and roll he could not guard it

Big Z is in pick and roll can’t guard it Bradshaw’s in Seal him down low score over we never adjusted I mean forget about Zone just nothing else no thought about even going small nothing let’s just let him do it over and over and over and they did I don’t know how many

Uh possessions they scored in a row but I think it was like nine they scored in a row now thankfully because Shephard and Reeves scored 36 points combined in the second half we able to stay in it but you know you got to get at least

One which brings us to the final play you know I I have no idea what that play was we’re this is probably the worst Kentucky team throwing lobs of the Cal era would you agree with that Billy wor team throwing lobs we’ve had there’s been a lot of bad ones that’s for sure

This year I mean this one they’ve been terrible and you run a lob a lob to theier you look a dude play great I’m not Downing theier but you have again on your team an All-American a top seven pick and a dude who has 21 points in the second half and

The first option is a lob which we’re not even good at to a guy who’s like our fifth or six six offensive option how is that a play and then if you’re going to run that play go back and watch it it’s on social media

Ugo why is he in why is he in I guess he’s in for the tap in but he literally it’s his man that stops the lob Ugo is standing on top of where the lob is supposed to be it’s his man that stops it because he’s in the way

You you cannot set up a play like that Cal after the game said I wanted it to be a lob and if that wasn’t there are Reeves three I will live or die with Reeves or Shephard taking the shot and sometimes dilling him or when Wagner’s

Healthy a drive I do not want a team that can’t lob throwing a lob to a to to a dude that’s a terrible final play when Gonzaga got the ball in needed a basket what they do the thing that works get the big guy down low isolate score we

Never adjust it and when we get the ball we’re doing stuff I don’t think we’ve run that play all year that I can remember certainly not in a key situation so you lose you also did you they end up fouling up three and win we didn’t foul up three and lost so

The malpractice of the decision against Florida plays itself out in Reverse this time you when the game was over Cal Perry said blame me don’t blame the players put it on me don’t put it on the players I give him credit for saying that he’s right but it is on him this

Year’s on him th this team should be good and by the way I kind of am tired of him saying don’t blame the players this fan base hasn’t blamed the players this year this fan base loves these players they do this is the most Oscar was an extremely likable player but I

Think you could make an argument that the fan base likes this team as much as any they’ve liked since you know Fox Monk and Ma they love them Shepherds from Kentucky the way we shoot the way we get up and down they love them the complaints are towards Cal and they have

Been all year and he continues to say put it on me but then he gets defensive when it is put on him and it’s becoming toxic and it’s not become becom toxic because of me it’s not becoming toxic because of ksr it’s not becoming toxic really because of the

Fans it’s becoming toxic because the amount of underachieving is now historic and you know historical perspective matters people can say the game’s changed and and it has to some extent but North Carolina went to Miami and won today Kansas is going to take care of business and win against Baylor at home

Today like these other teams when it comes down to it are making the plays and we’re not the Kansas game four minutes to go we’re up we lose Florida game four minutes to go up lose A&M three minutes to go up lose tonight tied four minutes to go

Lose it’s the same thing over and over and over I don’t mean to say this every time but we do need to put it in context in the last four years we’ve had the worst the worst regular season in the history of the program the worst we’ve had the worst tournament

Loss in the history of the program and we now have lost three straight home games for only the second time in the history of the program and the first time in 55 years throw in we have three home losses to unranked teams I don’t know the stats

But that can’t have happened more than once or twice in history and calip Perry who set records that were historic on the good side early in his career is Now setting records on the bad side on the back end of his career we can’t act like that’s not happening and I can’t

Anymore you know it doesn’t do any good to like talk about a change today they’re going to play through the end of March and this team I still think has the talent to do something you know crazy in March I become less and less confident every day that it’ll happen

But they do have the talent but I said after the Tennessee game it’s basically now to the point that March has to go well well you know now I’m to the point if it doesn’t go well you know I just don’t know how you can keep doing

This I mean the fan bases had it there were booze tonight there was a time nobody ever booed at rupina there was loud booze you can hear it you can hear it on the television you know it’s it’s sad because this fan base cares more than anybody they care this

Year more than they do I think in the average year and they just continually get LED down and the path now becomes extremely difficult not making the tournament is in play it’s in play with the schedule that’s left not making the tournaments in play but even if you make

The tournament we’re now looking like 6 S 8 9 10 11 seed well now you’re going to have to pull off an upset maybe even in your first game certainly one or two in the first weekend and considering this Talent on this team and considering what they will do some of

Them at the next level and considering what this fan base continues to bring night in and night out it’s an embarrassment and if we don’t have a good March I don’t I don’t think it can can continue I just don’t this fan basee does not deserve the last four years now

Don’t get me wrong Cal Perry from 2010 to 2017 is one of the best runs in my opinion in college basketball history they did have you know it’ been nice if they could win one more but if you just look at the whole overarching it was

Amazing 18 and 19 not amazing but still really good 20 season gets cancelled and Cal and other people like to say well we had a shot we did have a shot but we were a four seed that year all right I think revisionist history has us as a one seed

That year we were a four seed going into that tournament but with all that said I’ll start at Co this has not been Kentucky basketball it’s not and we have to universally agree to that and universally say we got eight regular season games and a postseason to turn it around or we’re

Probably going to have to do something else