Really an awful performance in all areas. I think the criticism of Pitino will likely get out of hand in the media over the next couple of days, but it will be hard to feel sorry for him. The biggest thing that stands out to me is the 7 assists. There was virtually no ball movement for long stretches of the game and a ton of wild drives in to the lane (Morris, Mason, Dorsey, even King) that were really ugly. I think that the criticism of the interior defense is warranted, but it's not just Konate and Diedhiou...King, Buggs, and Murphy were awful in this area too. Buggs, in particular, had an atrocious game and the mental errors were glaring. He seemed to have turned a corner against Temple to me, but this was the type of game that makes you think it's just time to move on. From a team defense perspective, I think the teaching of the guys to basically stand tall with their hands up needs to be re-evaluated. A number of times, the defender in this straight up position has found himself out of position to rebound a miss because they aren't in any type of athletic stance which leads to the shooter or someone else having a much better shot at the O-board.
I expected some bad losses like this one to occur this season thought this was probably the worst bad loss Pitino could take as more eyes will be on it. That said, I didn't expect to see a team that doesn't appear to be coached well which has been the case in the past two games. The other thing that is apparent to me is that this team lacks in any sort of a physical edge, which has unfortunately been a trend so far in the Pitino era. I would have said Mathieu was our toughest player last year and this year I'd say it's Dorsey. We badly need a forward or center that plays with an edge.
The second game in a row where it's really tough to come up with a bright spot. I still believe in Pitino's potential, but today certainly was a day that tests that belief.
