You can forgive bad shooting. You can forgive an opponent getting hot at the right time. But one thing Kentucky fans can no longer excuse is the glaring — and now undeniable — lack of effort.
The film doesn’t lie. In fact, it exposes the problem in HD.
One defensive possession in the first half, involving Brandon Garrison, tells the entire story. And the irony is painful: he’s the same guy who was reportedly barking at teammates to “focus” during a timeout.
Here’s the sequence that has the entire fanbase buzzing:
16:54: Michigan State’s Carson Cooper misses a jumper.
16:52: Cooper grabs his own offensive rebound. Garrison stands and watches.
16:51: Cooper misses again.
16:48: Cooper grabs another offensive rebound — uncontested.
16:43: Garrison is subbed out.
Two offensive rebounds in a matter of seconds. No box-out. No resistance. No effort. It was so bad Garrison was immediately pulled… though for reasons unclear, he later returned.
This isn’t just one bad moment.
This is the moment that captures everything wrong with Kentucky basketball right now.
The Hypocrisy Crisis
Combine that with Otega Oweh’s surprising admission that he needs to start giving “100% effort,” and Kentucky’s culture problems come into full view. The players calling out the lack of effort are the same ones dragging the team down.
That’s where the hypocrisy hits hardest.
Garrison — the player with the most glaring effort failure — is the same one reportedly challenging teammates in the huddle? How is that message supposed to land when the film shows the opposite?
When your so-called leaders aren’t boxing out…
When guards admit they aren’t playing hard…
When basic effort is optional…
This isn’t a talent issue.
This is a culture crisis.
Mark Pope insists he knows how to fix it. But the fix doesn’t start with X’s and O’s. It starts with something far more fundamental:
Effort. Urgency. Accountability. Every single possession.
Because if a player can’t be trusted to fight for a rebound…
can he even be trusted to stay on the floor?
